For those who don't know Johnny Maxwell is the main character of Terry Pratchett's Johnny series. He is a some what introverted (shy) person. He does try however, and therefore normally manages to compensate. He is rather intelligent although he doesn't realize it generally. Also he has to deal with his parents going through a nasty divorce, which is not fun for anyone. Basically you could say that he's just trying to get by in life. He usually hangs out with his friends Bigmac, Yo-less, Wobbler and Kirsty. Oh yea, he lives somewhere in england.

So why do I like him?

Well, for one thing Johnny is a weirdness magnet. He doesn't have to search out unusual situations, they come to him. This attribute seems to be the source of most of the interesting situations that happen to him. And as far as I can tell a lot happens to him. Pratchett-samma's books chronicle three of these situations. (Perhaps the weirdest ones?) However it is stated in Johnny and the Bomb by Wobbler that life is more interesting when he's around. This statement at the very least implies that there are more weirdness that Pratchett-samma hasn't covered. The up shot of this is that Johnny is an interesting person to be around because something unusual will usually be happening.

For another thing Johnny is nice. He's polite. He's courteous. He's willing to help those who need it. For example he helps the ScreeWee when they need protection in Only You Can Save Mankind. It also shows up when he does those little things for people like when he leaves the radio for Mr. Grimm at the end of Johnny and the Dead. (Incidentally, I wonder if Johnny still sees/speaks to the dead any?) Or how he takes a day each week to spend with Kirsty who apparently doesn't have many (any?) other friends. And when he does do stuff like that it's generally the kind of thoughtful thing which shows that he understands what the problem is. However he doesn't waste time doing excessive sympathizing.

On top of that Johnny has an inner steel. While most of the time he just sits back and lets others take the lead when it's really important he manages to take charge and as I said do what needs to be done. Two examples are how he got the ball rolling to save the cemetery and when he shot the Gunnery Officer (which surprised everyone).

Final Johnny has power. OK, at first it's not too evident I'll grant you. All he does at first is some um... dream walking, I suppose, I don't really know what else to call it when you enter a video game when you sleep. (All copies of that game, not just his own.) Then it turns out that he can see ghosts. Sixth sense or something I guess. However what really caught my attention is in Johnny and the Bomb when he not only manages to time travel by simply knowing in which direction in which to run, he also manages to drag several people along with him. While running against the flow of time. If all three of these phenomena are aspects of the same ability then it seems to be really adaptable. The downside is that he doesn't seem to have much in the way of conscious control over what he can do, rather it seems to respond to what is needed in a given situation.

I have hopes of putting up a fan fic archive and image gallery dedicated to Johnny and Co. However I have as yet been unable to find either. If anyone has any pictures or stories which they would like me to post, or know where I could find some, would you please let me know?

This page will probably be updated when Pratchett-samma writes a new book in the series, or when I reread the series and remember all the stuff I forgot.

May 11, 2003

I'm probably never going to update this site. If anyone is interested in taking it over please send ma an email.




August 7, 2003

Now using my correct email address.

Orlean Glaed




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