The names of Pratchett

One of the things I’m absolutely horrible at is coming up with names. This blog is creatively called “Jason-Preston.com,” which took some thinking. On the whole, you don’t have to read too many of my fictional short stories (which you probably haven’t, because I don’t think I’ve put any of them online) to realize that “Mr. Joe Thatcher” is about as good as my names get.

As a result, I’m amazed at the ability some people have to come up with a seemingly endless reserve of amazingly appropriate and good sounding names. The big grand sultan of this just might be Terry Pratchett. Throughout his, oh, 27 or so Discworld novels he’s had to name quite a few characters, but they always work.

Some examples:

Mrs. Arcanum – An ancient landlady, one might say a bit arcane, and she Holds Views.

Mr. A.E. Pessimal – A boring, pessimistic clerk who works unimaginatively for Vetinari.

Havelock Vetinari – the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, Discworld’s greatest city, he’s a clever bastard who always seems to know what medicine the city needs and precisely when it needs it. If the city were a pet…

Otto Chriek – A vampire photographer, who, on account of being a vampire, often rolls around shrieking after taking a flash photo.

Mustrum Ridcully – The Archchancellor of Unseen Universtiy, he’s always a little bit odd, and anyway his job is basically to be…ridiculous.

And those are just a few minor characters! I bow before the talent.