>> I have a rule-of-thumb: The more seriously you take Discworld, the smarter you get about Roundworld.

Oh come off it.

I've read all the Discworld novels. I've also read every other book that Terry Pratchett ever wrote [1]. All, that is, except for one that I've left for... later [2].

If Pratchett were still with us and heard anyone making such pompous statements about Discworld he'd slap the culprit in the face [3]. See, the thing to understand about Terry Pratchett is that he was quintessentially British, and by that I mean the good British [4]. As such his greatest fear was that someone might take what he wrote seriously and try to follow it like some kind of life advice.

Remember what he quipped when he was knighted for "services to literature":

  "I suspect the 'services to literature' consisted of refraining from trying to write any"

And that, as they say, is that.

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[1] Yes, even "Where's my Cow?".

[2] Problem is, I don't remember which one so I'll have to read them all again to be sure. Hey, win-win.

[3] Gently. He was a gentle man.

[4] Think Lord Byron, not Lord Elgin. But without all the drinking and womanising, just the big heart.