50 Years of Terry
50 Years of Terry is a year long celebration of Terry Pratchett, starting on the 50th anniversary of the publication of his first novel, The Carpet People.
New Editions and Audiobooks
As part of the celebrations, new audiobook editions of "all 40" Discworld novels were announced in November 2021, to be published by Penguin Audio in 2022 and 2023, with Hogfather released in December 2021 in time for Christmas. These editions are unabridged, have a different narrator for each series, but all of them feature Bill Nighy as the "voice of the author" reading the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz as the voice of Death. (Whether he narrates the earlier Death books as well is unclear.) They are set to be released by sub-series, beginning with the Witches books in April 2022. They are to be followed by the Wizards books (though see below) in July 2022, the Death books in October 2022, the Moist von Lipwig trilogy in February 2023, and finally both the City Watch and Tiffany Aching books in April 2023. (Note that the first Discworld books released in the new editions only list 35 novels in the series, leaving out the Tiffany Aching books and The standalone books will also be published, though no dates were given for those.
In March 2022, new paperback editions of the novels were also announced, with new covers in a consistent design across all the books, and with colour schemes and cover text identifying each series. These are also to be published in sub-series batches, starting with the Witches books, plus the standalone novel Small Gods, on Terry's birthday: 28 April 2022. The other announced series include the Wizards series on 7th July (again, see below) and the Death books on 27th October, with the "Industrial Revolution series, City Watch series and other standalone titles" scheduled for release in 2023.
Given that the dates match up, it seems likely the new paperback editions and audiobooks will be published together, and use the same covers (excepting Hogfather, which was a "very special Christmas edition"). The series as defined by the publishers are a bit different to those used by fans, mostly because they are trying to avoid any overlap. Whether or not the illustrated novels Eric and The Last Hero will be re-published also seems a bit up in the air... Anyway, below you'll find the series as defined by the publishers:
Witches
Release date: 28 April, 2022 Audio narrator: Indira Varma
Unambiguous. The publishers have kept them separate from the Tiffany Aching books. (This is also the publication date for the Dunmanifestin edition of The Ultimate Discworld Companion.)
Wizards
Release date: 7 July, 2022 Audio narrator: Colin Morgan
Mostly the Rincewind series, plus Unseen Academicals. The wizards books which crossover with Death are listed under that series. Of note: Eric is not being republished alongside the others in a new physical edition, but is getting a new audiobook with a cover matching the others. This might be an issue with the art?
- The Colour of Magic
- The Light Fantastic
- Sourcery
- Eric
- Interesting Times
- The Last Continent
- Unseen Academicals
Death
Release date: 27 October, 2022 Audio narrator: Sian Clifford; also Peter Serafinowicz?
Also unambiguous, but whether all these audiobooks will be narrated by Sian Clifford, or she'll only do the ones featuring Susan, is unclear.
Industrial Revolution
Release date: February 2023 Audio narrator: TBA
They list only the Moist von Lipwig books in this category; what fans usually describe as the Industrial Revolution books are all listed as standalone titles.
City Watch
Release date: April 2023 Audio narrator: TBA
Tiffany Aching
Release date: April 2023 Audio narrator: TBA
Neither these or The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents are listed in the new editions of the main novels; they seem to be marketing them separately as young adult fiction.
Standalone books
It seems these will bundled in with the other books, and get big name one-off narrators, if Small Gods is anything to judge by. They are explicitly labelled as "standalone" in the list of books in the new editions.
- Pyramids - not release date or narrator announced yet
- Moving Pictures
- Small Gods - released on 28 April, 2022; audio narrator Andy Serkis
- The Truth
- The Last Hero
- Monstrous Regiment
Uncertain status
The illustrated novels don't appear in the lists of announced publications. The initial audiobook announcement did say "all 40" books, which could indicate one is being skipped?