Terry Pratchett: More than 6,000 sign petition asking Death to give Discworld author back

'There are times in life when people must know when not to let go,' the author once said

Terry Pratchett has died, aged 66 (EPA)

Thousands of fans of the great fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett have signed a petition to bring him back from the dead.

The Discworld author, who died aged 66 after a long battle with early onset Alzheimer’s, featured the character ‘Death’ in almost all of his 40 Discworld novels.

Referring to the recent suspension of the BBC’s Top Gear presenter and a petition for his reinstatement, Pride added: “If there is any justice in the world, this petition will beat Jeremy Clarkson's. So it won’t.”

Signatories paid tribute to the author, with many quoting from Pratchett’s famous comments about death and dying.

“Terry Pratchett turned Death from a figure of hate into a much loved and sometimes welcomed character. No-one else cared about you Death. You owe him!” Iain Sutherland.

“Signed it simply because he would appreciated the silliness of the news of the past 48hrs,” wrote Anthony Walton.

“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away,” remarked J C Melia.

In Mort the title character – who is hired as Death’s assistant – tries to cheat death by bringing back his girlfriend. But Death says: NO-ONE GETS PARDONED FOR LIVING.

Pratchett’s publisher said he “passed away in his home, with his cat sleeping on his bed, surrounded by his family”.

His daughter revealed the news of his death via a series of tweets, the first of which written in Death’s voice read: AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.