Book News & Features

The prolific author, who died Thursday at 66, was known for his novels about the fantasy planet Discworld, populated by humans, witches, trolls and dwarves — and a very human, sympathetic Death.

The Discworld series author had for years struggled with a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Pratchett amassed a devoted following over four decades of writing — and dozens of novels.

Writer Philip Pullman says it's all part of the oral tradition: "Long before writing, people were telling each other stories," he says. Audiobook technology has come a long way since the early days.