GeekDad: ‘A Stroke of the Pen’ by Terry Pratchett: A Book Review

A Stroke of the Pen is a curious book to try to review. On the one hand, a collection of short stories first printed in a British local newspaper isn’t very exciting. Especially as they are 50 years old. On the other hand, the stories were written by a before-he-was-famous Terry Pratchett, and who doesn’t love the chance to look at the formative works of literary legend?

In an excellent forward, Neil Gaiman (Pratchett’s collaborator on Good Omens) addresses another elephant in the room (elephants that may or may not have been standing on the back of a turtle). It is fairly well-known that Pratchett requested that his unfinished works be destroyed after his death. The hard drive that contained his unpublished work was famously crushed by a steamroller, in order to comply with his wishes. There are to be no more new Pratchett books.

If you look at Tolkien’s publisher, squeezing entire volumes out of the professor’s old shopping lists, it’s easy to see why Sir Terry wanted to make sure nobody could go down this route with his own unpublished musings. What follows after you have gone is usually but a shadow of what came before.

But what about what the stuff that came before that? This seems a bit of loophole. Technically, these stories have already published. They’re definitely not new, but they are newly discovered. Publisher’s love to get a bit of money for old rope, but doesn’t this go against the spirit of Pratchett’s wishes? That his literary legacy stopped when he did. Gaiman’s forward goes someway to answering this thorny question and, Gaiman being Gaiman, his explanation is pitch perfect. 

What Is A Stroke of the Pen?

The genesis of A Stroke of the Pen is arguably one of the most interesting things about the book. It demonstrates the heights of geek power. Many of us are fanatical about the geeky things we love, and whilst I have no empirical data to back this assertion up, I imagine that Pratchett fans are amongst the passionate and fanatical of the lot. Through some deductive reasoning and a lot of scouring the archives, two fans, Pat and Jan Harkin, worked out that pieces in a local British newspaper, written under a pseudonym, were actually early works of Terry Pratchett. They predate the Colour of Magic by some 10 years. 

They then traced all of the stories down, including one that was pulled from publication and here they are, a window onto the genius that Pratchett would become. There are 18 stories in all, including one, “The Quest for the Keys,” which takes place in what feels like a proto-Discworld; the book even contains a city call Morpork. A surprisingly large number of the stories are about Christmas.

Why Read A Stroke of the Pen?

Is this book a must read, or is it for die-hard fans only? I think it’s fair to say that if these stories turned out not to have been written by Terry Pratchett, they would not have seen the light of day. They have a quality to them that suggests that good stuff gets printed in local newspapers, but they’re not of the quality that would usually warrant being collected together and packaged as a $27 hardback.

It’s hard to be objective about the quality of the stories on their own, because, even to somebody like me, who isn’t a Pratchett super-fan, there are so many little quips and turns of phrase that foreshadow the author that Pratchett will become. These moments make A Stroke of the Pen a fascinating and satisfying read.

The book builds to “The Quest for the Keys” which is the longest story in the book and one story in which we can definitely see the seeds of Discworld. Not that long ago I reread The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. Stylistically the novels and “Quest for the Keys” have a lot in common. The other story that reminded me of what would come later is one where Father Christmas looks for another job. I couldn’t but help think of Hogfather. 

The other stories are more real-world, albeit with a comic-fantasy twist. Many of them center around the strange goings-on of an area called Blackbury. Blackbury and its denizens provide the underlying continuity to the stories. They have an undeniable Pratchett whimsy to them and sense of British pastoral life that is just the wrong side of normal. They stories are all entertaining and worth reading, but perhaps unsurprisingly, there is nothing here that made me go “Wow!”

If you have a Pratchett fan in your life, you’re absolutely going to want to pick this book up for them. The festive nature of the lot of the stories means it’s the perfect gift for the Holiday season. The only problem for most Pratchett fans will be, what do they do with all the extra copies they receive?

I finished the book with a touch of sadness. The stories foreshadow the quality of what was to come. The verve, the inventiveness, and the sheer joy that Pratchett brought to millions of readers across the globe. In many ways, I’m glad that his works in progress have been destroyed but on finishing A Stroke of the Pen it was hard not to wish for one final Discworld story. Alas, it is not to be. 

If you would like to pick up a copy of A Stroke of the Pen you can do so here, in the US, and here, in the UK. (Affiliate Links)

If you enjoyed this review, check out my other book reviews, here. 

I received a free review copy of this book. All opinions expressed here are my own.

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