A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction

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.