In a way he’s like Weird Al - technically Al is a parody artist but he had an excellent mastery of many, many styles of music.
Similarly Pratchett is technically a fantasy author but some of his books are actually crime/detective novels, sci-fi, even romance.
Many people who say “I only read fantasy” are quite surprised when you point out many of the Guard books are just straight detective stories; similar to how many people are shocked to realize that Blues Brothers, is at heart, a musical.
That's exactly one of the reasons I love the books. They seem to be able to wrap up a ton of concepts/stories I like in a way that preserves the quality and to top it off, incredibly fun to read.
Some of the books also ventured pretty close to darkness, Night Watch had humorist tracesd, but mostly it was a timejump back into a bleak, darker past.
I agree. Night Watch made me laugh, and angry and scared at the same time. All wrapped up in superb writing. After reading the book (a few times) I decided Sir Pterry had reached the top of his game.
... And then I read Thud. And then Snuff. Stunning books, that really made me think about some of the terrible issues we're still trying to deal with in our own Roundworld!
Similarly Pratchett is technically a fantasy author but some of his books are actually crime/detective novels, sci-fi, even romance.
Many people who say “I only read fantasy” are quite surprised when you point out many of the Guard books are just straight detective stories; similar to how many people are shocked to realize that Blues Brothers, is at heart, a musical.