A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction by Terry Pratchett

The first career-spanning collection of short fiction by Sir Terry Pratchett—one of the most beloved and bestselling writers of our time—A Blink of the Screen charts the development of Pratchett’s creative vision throughout his prolific career, from his early writings in school to the dizzy mastery of the phenomenally successful Discworld series. Along the way we are introduced to the first published pieces from Pratchett’s stint as a young journalist, the experimental stories that originated his later works, and the lyrics to the national anthem of Ankh-Morpork, among other treats. Here, readers will find new and unfamiliar characters and fictional worlds alongside well-known ones. They will also find adventure, chickens, death, disco, and, actually, some quite disturbing ideas about Christmas, all infused with Pratchett’s inimitable brand of humor and energy.

because this collection extends from his earliest to latest works the content varies. Always imaginative, the quality of the writing and the humour improves as Sir Terry masters his Art sculpting narrativium like a great master. An entertaining insight into one of the worlds most popular authors who i believe the future will accord a status equivalent to that of Lewis Carroll or Dickens

Terry Pratchett is one of those authors I got into early and read religiously - I can still remember that sense of joy that I felt when I discovered his discworld series (Mort is one of the earliest reading experiences I can remember). I read all of the main series up until his passing a few years ago, but had been sitting on this short story collection for a while. His writing style is so distinctive and it is intriguing that even his very earliest published work feels very much like a Pratchett work. Reading stuff of his is always a comforting experience with his amazing wit and whimsical view of the world.

This collection is neatly divided into two sections - the first deals with short fiction away from his Discworld series and the second section covers his Discworld shorts. All the works are worthy reads, even if the familiarity of the Discworld setting makes the short stories there more enjoyable. As this collects works across his writing career you can also get a sense of his growth as an author. Some of the characters and ideas have been recycled into larger works and it is interesting to see how his ideas evolved.

As a side note, this is not a collection for people to start Terry Pratchett with - you would be much better diving into one of his main series. But for Pratchett fans, this serves up a slice of fun and a real window into his writing mind.

Terry Pratchett was primarily a novelist, but here are 32 short pieces of fiction left over from his career. By his own admission, he found it difficult to write short stories, and he never mastered the art of writing a really good short story. But he could write fragments of fiction that were readable and somewhat entertaining, so this is a solid three-star book that I can reread occasionally.They are divided into 21 non-Discworld and 11 Discworld stories, the former including an early short version of what later became [b:Truckers 989036 Truckers (Bromeliad Trilogy, #1) Terry Pratchett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461277153l/989036.SY75.jpg 1737268].For me, the best things in this collection are:1. “The High Meggas” (1986), which is an early short version of his non-Discworld novel [b:The Long Earth 13147230 The Long Earth (The Long Earth, #1) Terry Pratchett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1335532694l/13147230.SY75.jpg 18164154], and in my opinion better than the novel (which I'm not very keen on).2. “Troll Bridge” (1992), a Discworld story about Cohen the Barbarian.3. “Once and Future” (1995), a non-Discworld story about a time traveller marooned in the past—apparently an alternative version of the past. He thought of making a novel out of it, but never did.4. “The Sea and Little Fishes” (1998), a Discworld story about the witches.