(2003) Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs, Victor Gollancz, £12.99, trd pbk, 280 pp, ISBN 0-575-07467-1
This is a completely revised and updated edition of the original Discworld Companion published nearly a decade ago in 1994. It consists largely on an alphabetical listing of entries from 'the Abbott' to 'Jack Zweiblumen'. It is illustrated by numerous black and white line drawings which brings, what otherwise might be a dry encyclopaedia, to life. In addition to the listing, there is also a six page interview with Pratchett himself. The New Companion could almost be a bible for Pratchett fans. However it is important to note that it will be as necessary to those fans as will be retaining the original companion, for in order to squeeze in nearly a decades worth of new Discworld data (nine new books) the editor had to drop some of the small characters cited in the original volume.
A vital reference for Discworld devotees yes, and there are literally hundreds of thousands of these Worldwide so it will sell. For anyone else it is largely an irrelevance.
Jonathan Cowie
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