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Terry Pratchett's Earliest Stories To Be Published In September (theguardian.com) 18

Long-time Slashdot reader sjritt00 writes: A final collection of Terry Pratchett's early stories will be published in September as The Time-Travelling Caveman. These stories appeared in the Bucks Free Press and Western Daily Press in the 1960s and early '70s and introduce many of the themes which later power his Discworld series.
The Guardian reports that the stories "range from a steam-powered rocket's flight to Mars to a Welsh shepherd's discovery of the resting place of King Arthur."

In a statement Pratchett's editors said "It is very fitting that some of the first stories he wrote will be in the last collection by him to be published..."
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Terry Pratchett's Earliest Stories To Be Published In September

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  • "range from a steam-powered rocket's flight to Mars to a Welsh shepherd's discovery of the resting place of King Arthur."

    So, Rocket Science Faith.

    "He says gods like to see an atheist around. Gives them something to aim at."
    --Terry Pratchett

    Shrewd, and remarkably frank for the losing side.

    • "Pratchett married Lyn Purves at the Congregational Church, Gerrards Cross, on 5 October 1968"

      Oh wait [wikipedia.org]

      • by dryeo ( 100693 )

        WTF kind of point are you trying to make? That back in the '60's your choices of where to get married were limited? For lots of us, our first visit to a church involved marriage. For some of us, such as my wives family, it involved being sexually assaulted at the re-education camps, I mean residential schools, which basically sums up religion.

    • Re:Non-physical meme (Score:4, Informative)

      by ChatHuant ( 801522 ) on Saturday July 11, 2020 @04:29PM (#60287196)

      You must have worked hard to find a quote you could twist to make Pratchett sound religious. Also, your other post, about his marrying Lyn Purves at the Congressional Church was copied verbatim from the Wikipedia article on Terry Pratchett [wikipedia.org]. I believe it's rather dishonest of your part to skip the part, only a couple of sentences after, which actually mentions Pratchett's religious position: "He described himself as a humanist and was a Distinguished Supporter of Humanists UK (formerly known as the British Humanist Association) and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society."

      Here's a much more relevant Pratchett quote, from an interview with The Guardian, showing his real thinking: "I'd rather be a rising ape than a fallen angel".

      Or, from Good Omens: "if you stopped tellin' people it's all sorted out after they're dead, they might try sorting it all out while they're alive".

      Or, from Small Gods "And they were engaged in religion. You could tell by the knives (it's not murder if you do it for a god)."

      From your posts, you believe it's not lying if you do it for a god, do you?

      • But Pratchett's writings also indicate there is a difference between believing that a god exists and having faith/Belief in that god.

      • From your posts, you believe it's not lying if you do it for a god, do you?

        Oh, of course not. Though, that's a lie.

        My first post applies, then. Though, that's ultimately up to any theist friends he has.

        • And yes, it was copied verbatim.

          That's why I directly linked it as the citation.

          You need to work on your clarity of "thought".

  • How is this in line with his final wishes. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/art... [thetimes.co.uk]
    Perhaps if the OP had got the title right and said 'RE-published'.

    • Neil Gaiman: Friend

      "Pratchett's editors": Parasites

    • Apparently Pratchett never said anything about his early works. Or if he did, it's not in the first few paragraphs of that article anyway. That was in relation to unfinished works - stuff he was still working on when the Alzheimer's began taking its toll.

  • Don't bother. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by HiThere ( 15173 ) <[ten.knilhtrae] [ta] [nsxihselrahc]> on Saturday July 11, 2020 @03:11PM (#60287020)

    Pratchett's earlier works weren't that great. In fact, I'd rate them below average. He needed a lot of practice when he started out. Fortunately he got that practice. If you *really* must, look up "Truckers".

    Of his works, and for my opinion, Strata was his first good work, and he just kept improving from there until the very end...some of the Tiffany Aching books are up to his standards, but in others his mood had gotten too dark. "The Long Earth" was readable, but I haven't wanted to reread it. They say that with Alzheimer's humor is the first brain function to fail. I hope to never find out.

    • by GuB-42 ( 2483988 )

      Terry Pratchett actually rewrote "The Carpet People".
      In the preface of the new edition, he mentions that people were interested in his early work, but it wasn't up to his standards.

    • by dryeo ( 100693 )

      Even The Colour of Magic wasn't that good. I read it and Reaper Man long ago and they did not impress. Many years later I received The Fifth Elephant as a present from my toddler (he liked the cover) and I was impressed and hooked.

    • It's hard to parse what you're suggesting about Truckers (it seems that you're saying he wrote it before he hit his stride). Except ... Strata: Published 1981 Truckers: Published 1989 Truckers was written *after* Guards! Guards!
      • by HiThere ( 15173 )

        It may not have been published until later, but the style is of his earlier works. If you like Truckers, you may like other of his earlier works and it is (or was a decade ago) easier to find.

  • AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.

    The only single sentence that has ever brought me to tears. Sad, Beautiful, Happy, Perfect. All in one.

//GO.SYSIN DD *, DOODAH, DOODAH

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