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literary__escapism's review against another edition
5.0
I'm a huge Discworld fan and I never got a chance to buy the limited print "Once More with Footnotes" so I jumped at the chance when I knew there was another Discworld anthology coming out.
This anthology comprises Discworld and non-Discworld stories. I only read the Discworld stories I hadn't read before, so this is only a small selection of the wonderful stories in this book.
The Ankh-Morpork National Anthem - who knew the city had a national anthem? The story tells about how it was created by a visitor of Ankh Morpork, a vampire, and the second verse involves a lot of mumbling!!
Medical Notes - first published for a Discworld convention and features notes on some illnesses around the Discworld. These were hilarious. I particularly loved "Scroopism" where Male Infant Scroop had a desire to add rude notes and words to books. He took it so far as to republish books when be became wealthy and substituted the rude versions for the originals. I loved this short story and would love a full length book based on this concept!!
Thud! A Historical Perspective was interesting as it told the real history behind Thud! Which started with a board game and also games in the Discworld universe.
A Few Words from Lord Havelock Vetinari is a speech Vetinari gave on the twinning with the city of Wincanton. This was a fun speech and I like the mention that they think its strange that they don't rob tourists in Wincanton!!
Death and What Comes Next is a conversation between Death and a philosopher facing his own demise. This was a fun story, seeing Death turn the concept of philosophy back on itself to the philosopher. Love Death!!
Minutes of the Meeting to the Proposed Ankh-Morpork Federation of Scouts - Scouts in Morpork? Oh yes! At this meeting with Lord Vetinari, Captain Carrot and others, they make a suggestion to form the Scouts to keep young people out of mischief. While trying to set up some guidelines, they suggest that there be no killing (oh it wouldn't be Ankh Morpork then!!). I also like the idea that they set up for a girl version. This is another story that I wish they'd form into a full length story, fun concept!
This anthology was a lot of fun and I plan to go back and read the other non-Discworld stories at a later date too.
This anthology comprises Discworld and non-Discworld stories. I only read the Discworld stories I hadn't read before, so this is only a small selection of the wonderful stories in this book.
The Ankh-Morpork National Anthem - who knew the city had a national anthem? The story tells about how it was created by a visitor of Ankh Morpork, a vampire, and the second verse involves a lot of mumbling!!
Medical Notes - first published for a Discworld convention and features notes on some illnesses around the Discworld. These were hilarious. I particularly loved "Scroopism" where Male Infant Scroop had a desire to add rude notes and words to books. He took it so far as to republish books when be became wealthy and substituted the rude versions for the originals. I loved this short story and would love a full length book based on this concept!!
Thud! A Historical Perspective was interesting as it told the real history behind Thud! Which started with a board game and also games in the Discworld universe.
A Few Words from Lord Havelock Vetinari is a speech Vetinari gave on the twinning with the city of Wincanton. This was a fun speech and I like the mention that they think its strange that they don't rob tourists in Wincanton!!
Death and What Comes Next is a conversation between Death and a philosopher facing his own demise. This was a fun story, seeing Death turn the concept of philosophy back on itself to the philosopher. Love Death!!
Minutes of the Meeting to the Proposed Ankh-Morpork Federation of Scouts - Scouts in Morpork? Oh yes! At this meeting with Lord Vetinari, Captain Carrot and others, they make a suggestion to form the Scouts to keep young people out of mischief. While trying to set up some guidelines, they suggest that there be no killing (oh it wouldn't be Ankh Morpork then!!). I also like the idea that they set up for a girl version. This is another story that I wish they'd form into a full length story, fun concept!
This anthology was a lot of fun and I plan to go back and read the other non-Discworld stories at a later date too.
salot3's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
samuelson_obi's review against another edition
4.0
For according to the trollish philosopher Plateau, ‘if you want to understan’ an enemy, you gotta walk a mile in his shoes. Den, if he’s still you enemy, at least you’re a mile away and he’s got no shoes.’
This was a four stars for me. I really liked it.
This was a four stars for me. I really liked it.
roseaboveitreads's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
moseslh's review against another edition
3.0
I love Terry Pratchett with all my heart, and some of the stories in this collection were rather amusing, but he was really much better at writing novels than short stories. I would certainly recommend A Blink of the Screen to diehard fans like myself who have already read all forty-some books in the Discworld series, but if you've never read Pratchett before I'd recommend starting off with something more like [b:Going Postal|64222|Going Postal (Discworld, #33; Moist von Lipwig, #1)|Terry Pratchett|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388236899s/64222.jpg|1636617]. This book has some good stories, which generally are not at the same standard as good Discworld novels, and it has some stories that fell flat completely. Pratchett's little introductions to each stories are a nice touch and tend to be very frank, admitting when he doesn't like the story in question and that writing short stories doesn't come naturally for him (a surprising thing to hear from such a prolific writer of excellent, full-length novels).
Overall, A Blink of the Screen was good but not great. And from Terry Pratchett I expect greatness.
Overall, A Blink of the Screen was good but not great. And from Terry Pratchett I expect greatness.
chilotte's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
led's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
katiers01's review against another edition
terry pratchett wrote short stories too ?? i'm going to cry with excitement