The Last Hero

"There are a lot of huge series on this list. This is a standalone novella, so it’s a good one if you’re not quite in the market for these epic adventures. It’s illustrated by Paul Kidby, of course – if you don’t know the name, you’ll immediately recognise the style. He’s worked extensively on Pratchett’s writing. Here, the book was conceived as a fully illustrated, large-format edition. ‘Illustrated’ doesn’t do it justice. Even the text-only pages are given an aged-colour look and careful design choices. There are plentiful double-page spreads and in-text illustrations, all colour throughout. And perhaps my favourites, there are regular extracts from the notebook of mad-genius inventor Leonard of Quirm, self-consciously styled on the notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci (even featuring Rincewind as the Etruscan Man); these are full of little notations, adding more detail than you find in the main text. Oh yes. Also Captain Carrot, and the Librarian, and Lord Vetinari, and a brief cameo from Death… In fact, this book is the ultimate tour of Discworld, because one unfortunate group of characters are hoping to drop off the edge and catapult themselves back round again. For anyone who doesn’t know, Discworld is carried by four elephants who are standing on a turtle. Maybe you didn’t realise that what you needed in your life was an illustration of the underside of Discworld, among the elephants, but now you know."