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A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction Audiobook
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Publisher Description
A collection of short fiction from Terry Pratchett, spanning the whole of his writing career from schooldays to Discworld and the present day.
In the four decades since his first book appeared in print, Terry Pratchett has become one of the world's best-selling and best-loved authors. Here for the first time are his short stories and other short-form fiction collected into one volume. A Blink of the Screen charts the course of Pratchett's long writing career: from his schooldays through to his first writing job on the Bucks Free Press, and the origins of his debut novel, The Carpet People; and on again to the dizzy mastery of the phenomenally successful Discworld series.
Here are characters both familiar and yet to be discovered; abandoned worlds and others still expanding; adventure, chickens, death, disco and, actually, some quite disturbing ideas about Christmas, all of it shot through with Terry's inimitable brand of humour. With an introduction by Booker Prize-winning author A.S. Byatt, illustrations by the late Josh Kirby and drawings by the author himself, this is a book to treasure.
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“As soon as one hears longtime Discworld narrator Stephen Briggs’ comically heartfelt and mildly tuneful rendition of Discworld’s national anthem, one realizes why some books should be heard and not just read….The sound of words and the sound of ideas always attracted Pratchett, and both Briggs and Michael Fenton Stevens excel at emphasizing Pratchett’s special blend of sophistication and silliness, especially when they’re providing character voices to dozens of witches and wizards. Wonderfully entertaining and an absolute must-listen for all longtime Pratchett fans.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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“It will come as no surprise to those familiar with Sir Terry’s work that his annotated juvenilia, collected alongside more recent short fiction in A Blink of the Screen, read decidedly more as if you’re sitting in the author’s parlor on a lazy afternoon, flipping through an album while he weighs in on—and occasionally condemns—those long-ago stories…it’s a book meant to be cherished by those who want a glimpse of both the work and the man.“
— New York Times Book Review -
“Pratchett fans will celebrate this first-ever collection of short fiction from the world-famous author of the Discworld novels.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“An excellent introduction to his work for new readers and the pièce de résistance for longtime fans.”
— Library Journal -
“One of the main draws of this collection for serious fans, or aspiring writers, will be the chance to trace the evolution of Pratchett’s craft—but there’s plenty here for readers who have never heard of him to enjoy.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
A book meant to be cherished.
— The New York Times Book Review -
Some writers simply possess the Gift. No matter what they bring out. . . . That’s certainly the case with Terry Pratchett.
— The Washington Post Book World -
In the history of comic fantasy, Pratchett has no equals for invention or for range.
— The Wall Street Journal -
Clever . . . insightful. . . . [Pratchett’s] wry wit is as good as gold.
— The Boston Globe -
Pratchett is one of the great comic writers and storytellers of our time.
— The Guardian -
One of the giants in the world of fantasy literature.
— New York Daily News -
You can’t call what Pratchett does satire—it’s far too good-natured for that—but he has a satirist’s instinct for the absurd and a cartoonist’s eye for the telling detail.
— The Daily Telegraph (London) -
A short story collection covering the entire career of one of our most prolific, and beloved, fantasy writers. . . . One of the main draws of [A Blink of the Screen] for serious fans, or aspiring writers, will be the chance to trace the evolution of Pratchett’s craft—but there’s plenty here for readers who have never heard of him to enjoy.
— Kirkus Reviews -
A little absurdism, a little wordplay, a lot of inventive fantasy, a lot of heart, and a deep-seated fascination with the way technologies change societies. . . . Pratchett can easily fill an entire bookcase by himself. . . . But he has kept the piquant sense of someone playing with language, with new worlds, and with the familiar old tropes that he enjoys upending.
— NPR -
What Pratchett does is not just great, but unparalleled. In five hundred years, it won’t be the Nobel laureates who are being studied. It’s going to be this guy.
— Brandon Sanderson, Tor.com -
One of the greatest comic novelists of all time, in his way the equal of Wodehouse and Waugh.
— GQ (UK) -
The master of humorous fantasy . . . [Pratchett] should be recognized as one of the more significant contemporary English-language satirists.
— Publishers Weekly
A Blink of the Screen Listener Reviews
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Scott VanArsdale, 12/5/2023
About Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was an English novelist known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series. His first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971, and after publishing his first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, in 1983, he wrote two books a year on average. He was the United Kingdom’s bestselling author of the 1990s and has sold more than 55 million books worldwide. In 2001 he won the Carnegie Medal for his children’s novel The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature in 1998 and was knighted in 2009.
About the Narrators
Michael Fenton Stevens is an actor and comedian, as well as a founding member of The Hee Bee Gee Bees, a pop music group. He is known for his work in television and for his voice work on BBC Radio 4.
Stephen Briggs, who also works in film, has adapted and staged fifteen Discworld plays, collaborated with Terry Pratchett on a number of related works, and performed the audio recordings of Pratchett’s books. Briggs has won five AudioFile Earphones Awards. He lives in England.