While it’s a body of work Terry Pratchett first began when he was just a teenager, his long shelved series of short stories for children will soon be getting resurfaced, published together for the first time in Dragons At Crumbling Castle. With everything from knights and dragons to the abominable snowman and dastardly criminals, it represents some of the great fantasy writer’s first forays into fiction, making it a great read for kids and Pratchett fans alike.
The new book has been confirmed for publication in hardback on the 25th September 2014, showcasing the groundwork that was clearly in place before the birth of the Discworld in The Colour of magic in 1983. The collection will be accompanied by a large swathe of black and white drawings by children’s book illustration artist Mark Beech to add even more creativity to the stories.
To track back to the origins of the short stories, you’ll need to rewind to 1965 when a 17 year old Terry Pratchett was given a job as a journalist for the Buck Free Press in High Wycombe. In addition to his main work covering everyday news articles he was also put in charge of the childrens section, which saw him taking on the pseudonym of ‘Uncle Jim’ and writing the short stories that have now been strung together in Dragons At Crumbling Castle: And Other Short Stories.
Commenting on his time as a journalist and writer for the newspaper, Pratchett recalls that, “Nobody wanted to do the children’s corner so I volunteered. I would do little children’s stories, one-offs and running narratives.” Now the rest is a brilliant history of fantasy fiction and sci-fi imagination and this is the point at which it got its first creative outlet.
According to the Terry Pratchett website, the collection of stories will hold more than a few concepts that Discworld fans will find familiar as a lot of this early work went on to form the inspiration for his later books. However, the stories were originally written for children, so they’ve got the youngest demographic of any of Pratchett’s previous work.
Kirsten Armstrong, Fiction Editor at Random House Children’s Publishers UK, who acquired the rights to the stories from Colin Smythe recently said, “We’re so thrilled to be publishing this collection – Terry’s youngest work yet. These stories are full of Pratchett’s trademark wit and imagination and will be adored by anyone aged 8-108… they are a joy to read and share with young readers. We can’t wait to introduce Terry’s genius to a whole new generation of future fans.”
Dragons At Crumbling Castle: And Other Short Stories will also be published as a collector’s edition later in November, featuring a whole host of extra content.
