Terry Pratchett has passed away

[Everlong]

News just broke. An incredibly smart, gifted man. He'll be missed. I know @Hanley! was a fan.

[Daz]

And somehow the Kardashians are still alive ... If ever I need proof there is no God. We've really been losing a lot of talented people this past year or so.

[Hanley!]

I'm kinda devastated. This has been coming for a while, but I've been happily pretending otherwise. There's no public figure that's ever had as much of an effect on me as Pratchett. There's no musician, or film-maker, or wrestler, or anyone else who has brought me more entertainment.

He's been my favourite author since I was eight, when I read Truckers for the first time. He's written a bunch of my favourite novels, including Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman), Small Gods and all of the City Watch books. I doubt I'd have ever started writing if I hadn't discovered him. More than that, he had this weird, curious way of looking at the world that I think rubbed off on me. I'd probably be a different person without Pratchett.

This is a really crappy day.

[Kirbi]

This is the worst. It's weird to be actually grieving over someone you never really met.

He was so prolific, that it's as if I've been having a conversation with him for 2 decades. Once or twice a year the conversation would grow. It ended today, and I was completely blindsided by it.

He had such a sharp mind, was so inventive, and so socially aware - and he took all of this and much more and put it into the best library of works by an author that I've ever seen. He didn't just make you laugh, and then make you care and then make you think - he did them all at the same time.

He did so much that was fun, and so much that was worthwhile. At least he's gone before things got worse for him.

[Hanley!]

It's dumb, but it almost feels more like a friend or relative has been lost.

The guy wrote like 60 novels. He had a crazy work ethic, right up until last year. Any writer would envy that body of work. Not a single stinker in there.

[SortaCreative]

I've not really been able to articulate how I felt when I heard the news. It's an odd feeling. Feeling so connected to someone through their work for such a long time and then knowing that they're gone. It's odd. He's one of my biggest inspirations. I don't think I ever would have put two words together in an attempt to tell a story or make someone feel something if it wasn't for people like Terry Pratchett.