In Dec. of 2007, Pratchett disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. On 18 Feb, 2009, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Valhalla rather than North America — the Vikings discovered the continent and colonized it, thinking it was heaven, unlike on our Earth where they abandoned it after a only a few tentative settlements. Strata is still one of my favourite books, and one of my favourites, if not the favourite, by this author. There is something about the unspoken science of it, the characters and team dynamics as well as the story which is entirely satisfying to me. It also contains what is probably my favourite ever female lead character, Kin Arad. Kin, like her creator has a dry sense of humour, she is inclined to be practical and down to earth but has a startling chaotic streak in her behaviour at times. I am a little sad there is only one book of her. Příběh se odvíjí někdy ve vzdálené budoucnosti, kdy lidstvo žije na více planetách vesmíru a je v kontaktu s mnoha mimozemskými civilizacemi. Těch je tu zmíněno jen pár, kdy pouze dvě z nich zde hrají podstatnější roli tím, že jejich představitelé jsou členy výpravy, která má za cíl vstoupit na „plochou“ planetu. Tato skupina dobrodruhů pak putuje od okraje planety do jejího středu a postupně objevuje tajemství tohoto podivného světa.

Mars Needs Women: Inverted with male warrior-caste Kung, who are apparently so hypermasculine that some hetero human females feel compelled to jump their bones even in public. Kung males don't reciprocate this urge, and may use physical force to keep human women at arms' length. And what a gem 'Strata' promised to be! One of his earliest books, written in 1981, exploring in infant form what would become the Discworld itself. What an opportunity to see an early foray into that universe.Artificial Gravity: On the entire Flat Earth. A lot of effort is put in by the main characters to find out why. In 2008, Harper Children's published Terry's standalone non-Discworld YA novel, Nation. Terry published Snuff in October 2011. none of the Abrahamic religions ever developed in its history (a mixture of Buddhism and folk religion seems to have predominated, punctuated by an assortment of flash-in-the-pan religious cults) Pratchett’s sci-fi novels The Dark Side of the Sun and Strata were published in 1976 and 1981; the first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, followed in 1983. Pratchett revised The Carpet People in 1992 when the Discworld series started to take off and readers began looking for his early work. Wotan rather than Jupiter — the Norse king of the gods rather than the Roman one. (Oddly enough, Venus is still Venus, but has a moon called Adonis).

Horrifying the Horror: At one point Marco, fed up with an uncooperative demon, tells it to read his mind. The demon does so and ends up terrified. Described in some detail, particularly the Kung, and Josh Kirby's illustrations on the front cover make it more obvious. Also the Ehfts, seen once near the beginning. Alternate History: Kin's Earth is mostly similar to ours, but many places have different names and Christianity apparently doesn't exist (because it's first discovered on the Flat Earth). Although this is a bit inconsistent, because at one point Kin says the flat world looks like "the vision of some medieval monk". Terry Pratchett was pretty much everything I admire in an author; articulate, dry humour, heaps of reference points and a wonderful reading experience. If I have any regrets (besides the fact he died so young) it is that he concentrated on the fantasy, Discworld series and never too his sci-fi concepts further.Strata was written before any of the Disc World books, and you can see the early incarnations of ideas that Disc World was based on. But only in the physical sense. Missing in Strata is the fiercely witty and finely honed writing that make Pratchett's later work such an addictive delight. And, of course, the characters who inhabit his later books. Joel Chenge - Kin's sometime husband and deputy on planet Kingdom. Plans to escape the imminent economic crash by volunteering to be the Kingdom "Watcher" (looks out for signs of a technological society emerging on the new planet). Earth That Used to Be Better: Earth's population was decimated by the Mindquakes (people spontaneously died from the psychic pressure of overpopulation), and there's now a large population of robots. Also, all but a few hundred books were lost in the collapse of civilization. Abu Ibn Infra - collector of disc hi-tech, aka "Gods Gifts", including people. Kin was a very brief guest in his seraglio. I'm glad the local library had Strata, and that I read it. The archeology of a favorite author's writing can be interesting, especially if you