THE ARTS OF FALCONRIE AND HAWKING

As well as being Editor of the RealHHG, Dave Hodges leads a second, perhaps less strange, life as a fictional character. Those of you who are familiar with the Discworld books of Terry Pratchett may have already encountered Hodgesaargh, the Royal Falconer of Lancre Castle, mentioned in "Lords and Ladies" and also in the recent novel "Carpe Jugulum". The real-life Dave Hodges is based on this character, or the other way around, I'm not quite sure which...

Dave is also a falconer in real life, where he has quite a lot to do with an elderly and evil-tempered bird of prey called Lady Jane, who co-stars with him in the Discworld books. He has distilled the essence of his bird-keeping wisdom into a suitably short book in pocket A6 format entitled "The Arts of Falconrie and Hawking, A Begginners Guide". In his foreword to the book, Terry Pratchett writes: "What can be said about David Hodges - man of many words, former driver of one of the country's few mobile greenhouses, and falconer? I am delighted he has unearthed this lore from the ancient mews. It must be ancient, because no-one today spells as badly as that."

Not only very funny, and a Discworld collector's item in its own right, the book is also a very informative introduction to the world of falconry, from its "hystery" through to how to treat the inevitable injuries sustained by its practitioners. Now in a new illustrated edition, which includes unique original artwork by Paul Kidby and well-known fan artist Catskind, for every copy sold £2 will be donated to Terry Pratchett's favourite charity, The Orangutan Foundation, to help preserve the wild population of Orang-utans. If you go to a convention, Discworld play or other event, you may be cornered by Hodgesaargh! and forcibly sold a copy of the book. If you don't go to the sort of events where you will be harassed in this way, you can still get one by writing to Dave and enclosing the correct amount:

UK and Europe: £4.00 + 25p p&p Cash or Cheque drawn on UK Bank Elsewhere on Earth: $6 + $2 p&p Cash or Internation- al Money Order or pay by to realhhg@ntlworld.com We regret orders cannot be accepted for extra-terrestrial destinations for copyright reasons. Please send your order to the following address. Remember to include your own name and postal address so Dave has somewhere to send the book to, and state whether you would like Hodgesaargh to sign it for you. You can click here for a handy pop-up-and-print order form. Dave Hodges 68 Gotch Road Barton Seagrave, Kettering NN15 6UQ United Kingdom