An interesting collection of early Pratchett pseudonymous stories

Far away and long ago, when dragons still existed and the only arcade game was ping-pong in black and white, a wizard cautiously entered a smoky tavern in the evil, ancient, foggy city of Morpork…

A truly unmissable, beautifully illustrated collection of unearthed stories from the pen of Sir Terry Pratchett: award-winning and bestselling author, and creator of the phenomenally successful Discworld series.

Twenty early short stories by one of the world’s best loved authors, each accompanied by exquisite original woodcut illustrations.

These are rediscovered tales that Pratchett wrote under a pseudonym for newspapers during the 1970s and 1980s. Whilst none are set in the Discworld, they hint towards the world he would go on to create, containing all of his trademark wit, satirical wisdom and fantastic imagination.

Meet Og the inventor, the first caveman to cultivate fire, as he discovers the highs and lows of progress; haunt the Ministry of Nuisances with the defiant evicted ghosts of Pilgarlic Towers; visit Blackbury, a small market town with weird weather and an otherworldly visitor; and go on a dangerous quest through time and space with hero Kron, which begins in the ancient city of Morpork…

This is an enjoyable collection of short stories by Pratchett, originally published while he was still working as a journalist, and before his published his first novels. They offer a fascinating glimpse at an author experimenting with his craft and voice. This is a must for Pratchett fans.

The book opens with an excellent introduction by Neil Gaiman, who offers some personal observations about the stories, publishing them, and his memories of his friend Terry Pratchett. With hindsight, it also — rather amusingly/frustratingly — works as an excellent review of the collection. I found myself spotting and agreeing with many of Gaiman’s observations, which made me feel like I didn’t have anything original to say about A Stroke of the Pen… (There’s a reason Gaiman is considered a great writer.)

One thing that really stood out for me was how well Pratchett structured these stories: readers are very quickly situated in the tales, but the author is clearly never rushing to tell the story. From a craft perspective, then, Pratchett’s stories are an excellent example of how one can tell a focussed story that doesn’t sacrifice any momentum.

As with all short story collections, reading through all 20 of the stories can be a bit much — your experience may be different, of course, but I’ve often found reading short story collections between other reads to offer a better reading experience. It’s difficult to generate momentum, especially if the stories are only ten-or-so pages (save the final one, “The Quest For the Keys”). A few of the stories were collected by theme, too, which ended up feeling just a smidge repetitive. There were plenty of stand-outs, though, many of which offer glimpses of the humour and invention that would come to characterize Pratchett’s Discworld and other novels. I think a stand-outs for me were any story where the protagonist was a bit of a curmudgeon, such as “The Fossil Beach” and “The Gnomes From Home”.

As someone who thinks it took Pratchett until maybe Pyramids to really find his stride as a storyteller — in my humble opinion, prior to this, the novels often included too many gags that sometimes got in the way of just telling a great story — the stories contained in A Stroke of the Pen don’t suffer from this. In part, of course, it’s because there’s not enough space to go nuts with gags.

A Stroke of the Pen is a must for Pratchett completists, of course, but also anyone interested in reading some fun fantasy/science fiction stories. Long-time fans of Prachett’s work will no doubt find plenty to like in the collection, and there is something very nice about being able to read a “new” collection of stories, from one of our favourite authors. If you’re experiencing a bit of a reading slump, then dipping into this collection could help knock you out of that, too.

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Terry Pratchett’s A Stroke of the Pen: The Lost Stories is due to be published by Doubleday in the UK and Harper in North America, on October 10th.

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Review copy received from publisher