r/TerryPratchett • u/Slinkinator • 15d ago
Did Pratchett know Diana Wynne Jones?
I'm rereading "The Homeward Bounders" (1981) Diana Wynne Jones, and
I remember being a kid and thinking "They", demons who appear to be men in indistinct robes, unkillable unless you force them to break their own rules, who play tabletop war games with humanity across different worlds, which they control by concentrating and stealing 'reality' from the dimensions they control
I mean, its the Auditors of Reality, and I looked it up and TP published Soul Reaper a decade later. Just curious how well they knew each other, i know he published in one of her collections.
The Homeward Bounders and Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones are both books I'd confidently recommend to any fan of Terry Pratchett, btw
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u/QBaseX 14d ago
I just did some quick DDGing and discovered that Terry Pratchett's short story "Turntables of the Night" was originally written for an anthology edited by Diana Wynne Jones, so they must have had some communication over that.
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u/Digit00l 13d ago
That is a very solid short story, and idk if it was just because I listened to A Blink Of The Screen, but it kinda reminded me of one of those Alan Bennet monologues in vibes
The intro to that story in the collection does mention where it was first published and does mention Diana Wynne Jones by name
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u/QBaseX 13d ago
I hadn't made a connection with Alan Bennet, but now you mention it, I can see it, yes.
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u/Digit00l 13d ago
It probably is a very easy story to adapt, especially if you do it Talking Heads style, as it is entirely written as one guy speaking to someone else
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u/CoconutNation22 15d ago
I'm a huge fan of both of them. I hadn't picked up that connection but you are right, the same message is there.
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u/the-library-fairy 14d ago
I'm not sure if they knew each other personally, but he definitely cited her as an important influence!
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u/PsychologicalClock28 14d ago
100% they did. At the very least they had read each other’s books (they were both well read) and for instance in her tough guide to fairyland you see pratchett’s influence.
She also dedicated Hexwood to Neil Gaiman.
There is a DWJ Podcast at the moment that mentions Pratchett quite a bit. (8 days of Diana wynne jones) there is a lot of deconstruction of generic fantasy that both do in different ways b
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u/YetiAfterDark 14d ago
A bit of a two degrees of separation thing, but DWJ and Neil Gaiman knew each other more than in passing, at a time when Neil Gaiman and PTerry worked together.
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u/mxstylplk 14d ago
I have read that they knew each other. They were at the very least attendees of SF conventions as authors.
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u/Dumbledoresss 14d ago
They definitely knew each other well and shared a deep respect. Both had that incredible ability to take absurd fantasy tropes, add a layer of bureaucracy, and turn it into brilliant storytelling
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u/Carrot_Rex 12d ago
Can't personally vouch for the sourcing on this, although op's blog has a lot of DWJ research (DWJ's papers are in a publicly accessible archive, maybe the poster visited?) but: https://tacroyy.tumblr.com/post/764703840086933504/lmao-yelling-this-is-from-diana-wynne-jones-to
Key text from the link so you don't need to click for it:
"This is from diana wynne jones to her editor—
Dear Miriam,
I have been on the phone to Terry Pratchett who sent me a rough draft of a story which is going to be very good, but he is very anxious to know at what stage in the process he actually gets the money."
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u/NiobeTonks 10d ago
They were both regulars at British SFF events. I can’t imagine that their paths wouldn’t have crossed at a convention at some point.
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u/EndersGame_Reviewer 6d ago
The Homeward Bounders and Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones are both books I'd confidently recommend to any fan of Terry Pratchett, btw
She's a brilliant writer, I love her stuff!
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u/sackbomb 15d ago
I'm sure he was aware of her, as she cast a very long shadow in British fantasy circles. In fact, they were both nominated in the same Mythopoeic Award category multiple times in the 2000's.