Category Archives: Discworld

Title: The Shepherd’s Crown
Author(s): Terry Pratchett
Release year: 2015
Publisher: Doubleday Childrens

Why in Database: Turtles could not be missing from the last Discworld book. There are three references, the first is about A’Tuin:

When they weren’t reading and studying, Mr Wiggall took Geoffrey to dig up things – old bones and old places – around the Shires, and told him about the universe, which he previously had not thought about. The more he learned the more he thirsted for knowledge and longed to know all about the Great Turtle A’Tuin, and the lands beyond the Shires.

Second is about Granny Weatherwax’s quilt, already mentioned in another book:

Even the mattress looked clean and wholesome. Every so often You, her cat, appeared to see what was going on, and to lie on the patchwork quilt that was so flat it looked like someone had trodden on a huge tortoise.

The third is a loose, humorous conversation in which the turtle is mentioned:

‘Not really,’ said Smack Tremble. ‘In fact, I hate it. Ever since my Judy died. We never had kids, neither.’ There was a tear in his eye and a break in his voice, which he covered up by taking another swig from his tankard.
‘She had a tortoise though, didn’t she?’ Wrinkled Joe, who had been built to a size big enough to pick up cows, put in.
‘Right enough,’ Smack said. ‘She said she liked it because it walked no faster ’n her. Still got the tortoise, but it ain’t the same. Not much good at conversation. My Judy would rattle on all day about this ’n’ that. The tortoise listens well enough, mind you, which is more’n I could say for Judy sometimes.’

Author: XYuriTT

Title: Raising Steam
Author(s): Terry Pratchett
Release year: 2013
Publisher: Doubleday

Why in Database: There are four reference turtles in the penultimate book of the Discworld series. The first is pretty typical, about A’Tuin:

It is hard to understand nothing, but the multiverse is full of it. Nothing travels everywhere, always ahead of something, and in the great cloud of unknowing nothing yearns to become something, to break out, to move, to feel, to change, to dance and to experience – in short, to be something.
And now it found its chance as it drifted in the ether. Nothing, of course, knew about something, but this something was different, oh yes, and so nothing slid silently into something and floated down with everything in mind and, fortunately, landed on the back of a turtle, a very large one, and hurried to become something even faster. It was elemental and nothing was better than that and suddenly the elemental was captured! The bait had worked.

Next two relate to the generally understood progress, in the context of which the turtles are mentioned:

Bedwyr wanted his children to do better than him, and it looked as though they would. His father had been annoyed about this. Bedwyr was sorry that the old boy was dead, but the world kept turning and the Turtle moved. New things were being done in new ways. And it wasn’t that the grags were holding hard to yesterday; they hadn’t even got as far as this century.

But Bleddyn was emphatic and said, ‘You silly old dwarf. Don’t you think the trolls consider themselves diminished too? People mingle and mingling is good! You’re a dwarf, with big dwarf hobnail boots and everything else it takes to be a dwarf. And remember, it wasn’t so long ago that dwarfs were very scarce outside of Uberwald. You must know your history? Nobody can take that away, and who knows, maybe some trolls are saying right now, “Oh dear, my little pebbles is being influenced by the dwarfs! It’s a sin!” The Turtle moves for everybody all the time, and those grags schism so often that they consider everyone is a schism out there on their own. Look it up. I’ve cooked you a lovely rat – nice and tender – so why not eat it up and get out into the sunshine? I know it isn’t dwarfish, but it’s good for getting your clothes dried.’

The last reference is a question about A’tuin:

And suddenly Moist’s voice was as smooth as treacle. ‘Actually, Mister Simnel, I think you’re wrong in that. You believe in the sunshine, although you don’t know how it does it. And since we’re on or near the subject, have you ever wondered what the Turtle stands on?’ Dick was cornered and said,
‘Ee, well, that’s different. That’s just how things are meant to be.’

Author: XYuriTT

Title: I Shall Wear Midnight
Author(s): Terry Pratchett
Release year: 2010
Publisher: Doubleday

Why in Database: In this Discworld book, there is only one turtle reference, to… the mind/mobile abilities of turtles:

Hasn’t got many friends of her own age, Tiffany thought. I bet she wasn’t allowed to play with the village children. Doesn’t get out much. Getting married in a couple of days. Oh dear. It wasn’t a very difficult conclusion to reach. A tortoise with a bad leg could have jumped to it. And then there was Roland. Kidnapped by the Queen of the Elves, held in her nasty country for ages without growing older, bullied by his aunts, worried sick about his elderly father, finds it necessary to act as if he is twenty years older than he really is. Oh dear.

Author: XYuriTT

Title: Unseen Academicals
Author(s): Terry Pratchett
Release year: 2009
Publisher: Doubleday

Why in Database: In the last Discworld book that focused on mages, there is one turtle reference, and as usual, it is about A’Tuin (however, he is not mentioned by name):

‘Ah, yes,’ said the assistant, still writing. ‘I went to a lecture about that sort of thing, once. It was about how things don’t hit the world turtle, sir. It was like a slingshot effect, he may have picked up additional speed as he rounded the goalkeeper’s enormous girth, sir.’

Author: XYuriTT

Title: Making Money
Author(s): Terry Pratchett
Release year: 2007
Publisher: Doubleday

Why in Database: In this Discworld book we have two turtle references, but not to A’Tuin! The first reference is made by the lawyer and concerns the turtle, which had a function that was rather rare for these reptiles:

“Oh, but it can, Mr. Lipwig, it can!” said Slant, with lawyerly glee. “There is a huge body of case law. There was even, once, a donkey who was ordained and a tortoise who was appointed a judge. Obviously the more difficult trades are less well represented. No horse has yet held down a job as a carpenter, for example. But dog as chairman is relatively usual.”

The second mention is about turtles in the context of… torture “devices”:

“Mr. Lipwig, Mr. Lipwig, Mr. Lipwig, will you never learn?” said Vetinari, sheathing the sword. “One of my predecessors used to have people torn apart by wild tortoises. It was not a quick death. He thought it was a hoot. Forgive me if my pleasures are a little more cerebral, will you? Let me see now, what was the other thing. Oh yes, I regret to tell you that a man called Owlswick Clamp has died.”

Author: XYuriTT

Title: The Wee Free Men
Author(s): Terry Pratchett
Release year: 2003
Publisher: Doubleday

Why in Database: This book is unusual, because turtles are… only in the polish version (in Dorota Malinowska-Grupińska’s translation), but not in the original. We mention it as a curiosity. Said excerpt in english:

Anyway, she preferred the witches to the smug handsome princes and especially to the stupid smirking princesses, who didn’t have the sense of a beetle.

Polish version of this fragment and our translation of that, back into English:

W każdym razie czarownice podobały jej się bardziej niż dumni przystojni książęta, a na pewno dużo bardziej niż te głupie uśmiechające się z wyższością księżniczki, które najbardziej przypominały jej żółwie.

In any case, she liked witches more than proud handsome princes, and certainly much more than those silly smiling princesses who resembled turtles.

Author: XYuriTT

Title: The Last Hero
Author(s): Terry Pratchett
Release year: 2001
Publisher: Victor Gollancz

Why in Database: Four turtle references appears here in the text layer, and they are all about A’Tuin! The first is a standard outline of the nature of the disc, the others are statements of characters important to this world, with a piece about a turtle drawing between them. This book was published in an illustrated version, this graphic layer also includes, of course, turtle elements, for example, a vision of a dead A’Tuin. Additionally, on two pages a schematic drawing of a turtle serves as a background for the text.

The place where the story happened was a world on the back of four elephants perched on the shell of a giant turtle. That’s the advantage of space. It’s big enough to hold practically anything, and so, eventually, it does.
People think that it is strange to have a turtle ten thousand miles long and an elephant more than two thousand miles tall, which just shows that the human brain is ill-adapted for thinking and was probably originally designed for cooling the blood. It believes mere size is amazing.
There’s nothing amazing about size. Turtles are amazing, and elephants are quite astonishing. But the fact that there’s a big turtle is far less amazing than the fact that there is a turtle anywhere.

“With respect,” said Ponder, without respect, “we cannot. The seas will run dry. The sun will burn out and crash. The elephants and the turtle may cease to exist altogether.”

Inside, lightnings crackled among the falling sands. Outside, a giant turtle was engraved upon the glass.
I THINK WE SHALL HAVE TO CLEAR THE DECKS FOR THIS ONE, said Death.

“I don’t know,” said Carrot. “You know, I’m not sure I ever really believed it before. You know… about the turtle and the elephants and everything. Seeing it all like this makes me feel very… very…”

Author: XYuriTT

Title: Thief of Time
Author(s): Terry Pratchett
Release year: 2001
Publisher: Doubleday

Why in Database: Another Discworld book with two turtle references, both of them about A’Tuin:

A chessboard appeared, but it was triangular and so big that only the nearest point could be seen. Right on this point was the world—turtle, elephants, the little orbiting sun and all. It was the Discworld, which existed only just this side of total improbability and, therefore, in border country.

A year ago astronomers across the Discworld had been puzzled to see the stars gently wheel across the sky as the world-turtle executed a roll. The thickness of the world never allowed them to see why, but Great A’Tuin’s ancient head had snaked out and down and had snapped right out of the sky the speeding asteroid that would, had it hit, have meant that no one would ever have needed to buy a diary ever again.

Author: XYuriTT

Title: The Truth
Author(s): Terry Pratchett
Release year: 2000
Publisher: Doubleday

Why in Database: In this Discworld book, the turtle references are differentiated, there are three, and each is a different kind! The first is the most standard, A’Tuin mentioned by Patrician:

“A thousand years ago we thought the world was a bowl,” he said. “Five hundred years ago we knew it was a globe. Today we know it is flat and round and carried through space on the back of a turtle.” He turned and gave the High Priest another smile. “Don’t you wonder what shape it will turn out to be tomorrow?”

The second reference is in the context of Om and the pendand associated with him:

The speaker was a priest, dressed in the black, unadorned, and unflattering habit of the Omnians. He had a flat, broad-brimmed hat, the Omnia’s turtle symbol around his neck, and an expression of almost terminal benevolence.

The last mention is about ordinary turtles in philosophical terms:

William grimaced. It shows the truth, he thought. But how do we know the truth when we see it? The Ephebian philosophers think that a hare can never outrun a tortoise, and they can prove it. Is that the truth?

Author: XYuriTT