AKIPRESS.COM - Sir Terry Pratchett, fantasy author and creator of the Discworld series, has died aged 66, eight years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

"The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds," said Larry Finlay of his publishers Transworld, reports BBC.

The author died at home, surrounded by his family, "with his cat sleeping on his bed", he added.

Sir Terry wrote more than 70 books during his career and completed his final book last summer.

He "enriched the planet like few before him" and through Discworld satirised the world "with great skill, enormous humour and constant invention," said Mr Finlay.

"Terry faced his Alzheimer's disease (an 'embuggerance', as he called it) publicly and bravely," said Mr Finlay.

"Over the last few years, it was his writing that sustained him. His legacy will endure for decades to come."

Sir Terry leaves wife Lyn and daughter Rhianna.

Despite campaigning for assisted suicide after his diagnosis, Sir Terry's publishers said he did not take his own life.

His death was announced on his Twitter account with a tweet composed in capital letters - which was how the author portrayed the character of Death in his novels - read: "AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER."

AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.— Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015