Discworld's Ankh-Morpork at your fingertips

A new app from Random House lets you experience Terry Pratchett's fictional city of Ankh-Morpork as you've never seen it before.

The city of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchett's Discworldnovels is almost a character in its own right. Labyrinthine, smelly, teeming with corruption and characters both heroic and unsavoury, it is the strongest constant of the series, vivid with a life of its own.

In fact, we would dare say that there are few fans who wouldn't jump at the chance to visit it, if such a thing were possible. Alas, it's not likely ever to be — but this new iPad app — Discworld: The Ankh-Morpork Map — from Random House might be as close as anyone's likely to get.

It offers a zoomable, interactive map of the city, allowing you to "visit" landmarks by tapping on them. Tapping, for example, on the Unseen University will bring up an information screen letting you know the building's history, including a selection of quotes from the novels. You can either explore by scrolling the map and letting it all unfold organically, or use a searchable, alphabetically arranged index to find your favourite locations.

But that's not all. Residents roam the streets, so you can explore a who's who of the city as well, from Lord Vetinari to Duck Man, earning achievements for each character you find.

Perhaps our favourite feature would have to be the walking tours — guided tours of the city by historian Hortensia D'Antiqua (voiced by Helen Atkinson Wood, who played the role of Lady Sybil Ramkin in the BBC Radio production of Guards! Guards!).

It's a little bit on the pricey side for an app, but it contains hours of entertainment for Discworld fans and cartophiles.

Discworld: The Ankh-Morpork Map for iPad (AU$14.99; US$13.99)