A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction
Science Fiction Young Adult Fiction Fantasy Humorous Fiction Short Stories British Humor Anthology
A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction is the essential 2012 first-edition hardcover that gathers Terry Pratchett’s four-decade span of mini-masterpieces—everything from his very first published short story to late-era Discworld gems and one-off science-fiction twists. At 318 pages this is the largest single-volume showcase of Pratchett’s short work ever printed, making it the missing link for readers who thought they owned “everything” Pratchett yet have never seen these hard-to-find magazine pieces, convention chapbooks, and privately printed rarities. Because it is the true UK first printing, complete with illustrated dust jacket and unaltered text, collectors rank it alongside the earliest Discworld novels for investment-grade scarcity.
Inside you’ll find the birth of ideas that later bloomed into full-length Discworld books: the very first Ankh-Morpork city watch prototype, the original “rules” of the Librarian’s L-space, and the seed of the Nac Mac Feegle. Non-Discworld treats include the darkly comic “Final Reward” (a writer literally meets his own hero) and the award-winning “Turntables of the Night,” a 1970s DJ showdown with Death himself. Each story is followed by a new, often hilarious afterword in which Pratchett explains the story’s origin—mini-essays that appear nowhere else and read like a private master-class in fantasy writing.
For gift buyers the bite-sized format is ideal: newcomers can sample Pratchett’s voice without committing to a 400-page novel, while longtime fans can savor the evolution of his humor from undergraduate wit to world-building genius. The book’s compact hardback form and protective dust jacket make it a shelf-showpiece that survives repeated re-reading. Finished with period-style line illustrations and printed on high-grade paper, this very-good, smoke-free copy delivers the tactile pleasure older first editions are famous for—an upgrade to any home library and a future heirloom for the next generation of Discworld devotees.
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