In Terry Pratchett's renowned Discworld novels, Death is a character whose voice thunders from the page in capital letters. But today on social media there was speculation that Death might back down to lowercase when it encountered the giant of the speculative literary fiction world, Sir Terry.

Pratchett's writing career spanned 44 years. He wrote more than 70 books, selling 80 million copies worldwide. His stories were adapted for television and the stage, and the Discworld swag is legion. Throughout his career he connected personally with fans attending nearly every Discworld convention and doing book signings where lines snaked outside the door and down the sidewalk. In 2007 Pratchett was diagnosed with a form of Alzheimer's. He continued generating books dictating when he could no longer use a keyboard. He finished his last Discworld novel in the summer of 2014.

Sir Terry Pratchett was knighted in 2009. The motto on his coat of arms is Noli Timere Messorem (Don't fear the Reaper). He is survived by his wife Lyn and his daughter, Rhianna.