jaikney's profile picture

jaikney 's review for:

3.0
adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

More of a historical curiosity than a genuine collection: it brings together Terry Pratchett's work previously published (sometimes pseudonymously) in various newspapers and magazines.

Some of these are, frankly, a bit naff. There are a handful of Christmas stories that are brief and, essentially, a single joke. It doesn't help that these are a good portion of the first half of the collection. It's only in the latter half that we get to more familiar Pratchett territory: magic, and the charming backwardness of provincial bureaucracy.

Particular highlights are The Blackbury Jungle, which sees a small town taken over by plant life, and The Haunted Steamroller, which, well, you'll never guess.

For Pratchett fans, the mere existence of this volume tugs at the heartstrings a little. Through some effort and bonafide detective work, the man's bibliography is now complete. It's finished. And yet it lives forever.