The Discworld Bestiary by Terry Pratchett and Paul Kidd

From the Terrible Man-Eating Sloth of Clup to the Ambiguous Puzuma, this gorgeously presented and utterly addictive bestiary from Terry Pratchett's Discworld boasts breathtaking art from Paul Kidby.

An exhaustive illustrated guide to the creatures and critters of Discworld, packed with wisdom from the great minds of the Disc, as well as interjections from some of its more unconventional thinkers.

Discover the best way to care for the Terrible Man-Eating Sloth of Clup, the eating habits of the Ambiguous Puzuma, and marvel at the startling prevalence of ominous ducks in cosmic matters.

Wriggling with insights, crawling with wisdom and packed with extra advice from Rincewind, Unseen University’s latest (and reluctant) adjunct professor of Perplexing Beasts and curator of its curiobiological museum.

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PRE-READING

I am always extremely susceptible to a beautiful Discworld book, and The Discworld Bestiary had me from the moment I saw it.

Written as an in-universe textbook by Rincewind, this is a guide to some of the Disc's more unusual animals, complete with illustrations, size comparisons, handwritten notes, warnings, letters from Rincewind and Ridcully, and all the general academic chaos you might expect from Unseen University.

In other words: yes, please.

POST-READING

This is gorgeous.

It is the sort of book you can pick up intending to have a quick look at one creature and then, twenty minutes later, realise you've been reading about ominous ducks and the eating habits of the Ambiguous Puzuma.

The illustrations are beautiful, and the whole thing feels wonderfully tactile and browsable. The shiny paper and full-colour artwork really suit it, while the scribbled notes and additions make it feel less like a modern reference book and more like you've somehow acquired a textbook that has been circulating around the University for several decades.

It also uses Terry Pratchett's descriptions throughout, which is exactly what I wanted from this. There is something particularly lovely about seeing those creatures brought to life alongside the words that originally described them.

As I expected

Paul Kidby's artwork is magnificent, and the whole book feels unmistakably Discworld.

The in-universe approach works beautifully. Rincewind is exactly the sort of person I want reluctantly explaining dangerous animals to me, while the letters and annotations give the book plenty of character. It isn't simply a list of creatures: it feels like an artefact from the Disc.

And there is so much to discover. This is absolutely a book for dipping into rather than necessarily reading from beginning to end.

I was surprised by

My only tiny complaint is that I kept wanting to know where some of these creatures came from.

Discworld spans more than forty books, and when I encountered the Hermit Elephant, for example, I immediately wanted to know which book I could find it in. Unfortunately, the textbook format doesn't give us that information.

I completely understand why. A modern bibliography saying “Hermit Elephant — see page 147 of this particular Discworld novel” would rather spoil the illusion of being an actual Unseen University textbook.

But I still wanted it.

So perhaps this is less a criticism of the book and more a warning about what happens when you give a Discworld fan a list of creatures they haven't encountered for a while: we want to go looking for them.

RECOMMENDATIONS

If you enjoy The Discworld Bestiary, obviously the first recommendation is Discworld itself. But if you're looking for something with the same feeling of discovering a fictional world through an apparently legitimate reference book, try The Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad.

For television, The Muppet Show feels like an appropriate companion: beautifully constructed, completely committed to its own world, and full of the feeling that someone has just opened a door and allowed you to see what has been happening backstage.

MUSIC PAIRING

“The Galaxy Song” — Monty Python

Because there are very few songs that feel quite as appropriate for a book which can move from wildlife to cosmic ducks without batting an eyelid.

VIBE CHECK

Colour palette: Deep university-brown leather, parchment cream, ink black, Discworld-bright reds and blues, with flashes of whatever colour the latest creature happens to be.

Soundtrack: Pages turning, quills scratching, distant university bells, and somebody in the next room loudly insisting that they absolutely did not release that monster.

Season: Autumn — specifically the sort of afternoon when you intend to read for ten minutes and accidentally lose an hour.

Mood: Curious, amused, scholarly and slightly chaotic.

Scent: Old books, paper, dust, ink and the faintest hint that something in the laboratory has gone wrong.

Texture: Hardcover, glossy paper, rich full-colour illustrations, handwritten notes and the wonderfully overstuffed feeling of a book that expects you to keep finding things.

This isn't really a book you finish and put away. It's a book you browse. And while I'm sure the ebook version will be beautiful, please do try to get the physical one if you can. There's just something about holding it, touching the pages and tracing the artwork.

And if you're a Terry Pratchett fan, I suspect someone has just solved one of your Christmas presents for you.

The Discworld Bestiary publishes on 15 October 2026. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.