This is a book,
with an introduction by Booker prizewinner A S Byatt that
collects together for the first time Terry Pratchett’s
short fiction. It ranges from his first published story in
1963 when he was but thirteen years old through early drafts
of his successful series and other work.
I’ve read most of his fiction and been invariably impressed
by it, and this book explores many of the seemingly throwaway
ideas that might well have made other good books. You can
read his fairy tales, the poem about an incident on the road
to Glastonbury written in the style of Chaucer, what happens
when people get stuck inside a series of Christmas cards and
a parallel world’s King Arthur. Then there is his thoughtful
poem about pets and my own favorite, a rather prophetic (and
chilling) tale about the perils of getting too obsessed with
the invented worlds created by technology. What makes this
one stay in the mind long after is that it is not told in
the style of a whodunit or a horror story but in the matter
of fact tones of a repairman, which brings to life its cautionary
message. This manages to make the reader pause, and is actually
far more disturbing than any out-and-out thriller. Of course
there are several Discworld stories including one about what
happens when people get tired of Granny Weatherwax winning
the Witch Trials every year and the origins of the Bromeliad
trilogy and The Long Earth. Interspersed between these gems
are sections of color pages, showing the artwork of the late
Josh Kidby and others which have a tendency to make all the
stories they depict look rather alike. They aren’t,
and that is their special magic. A treat to savor.
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