The new and the last ever Terry Pratchett book arrived in the post a few days ago. I opened the package with mixed emotions; excitement at a new book, more excitement that it was a Discworld book, sadness that it would be the last one, more sadness at the loss of a great man.
I never had the honour of meeting Terry Pratchett but his books have been a huge part of my life for over twenty five years and I felt his loss deeply. How can someone that I have never met affect me so much? When I heard that he had died I wept...when I read all the media reports about his death I cried, when we visited the Paul Kidby art exhibition a couple of months ago I cried and when we made a pilgramage to Wincanton and the Discworld Emporium that sadness hit me again. I opened the first page of The Shepherd's Crown to find a dedication ... it reads: For Granny Weatherwax Mind how you go I shut the book. Two short lines that sounded so final. I have not opened the book since, it just sits beside my bed waiting... At some point I will take a day out, drink pots of herbal tea whilst cocooned in a comfy chair with a blanket and the final book and I will read it from cover to cover. But not today. One day...but not today.
