02/01/2017
Gr 3–6—A magical vacuum cleaner, a time-traveling television, airships, feuds, wars, scandals, and gnomes are but a few of the magical conundrums and characters in this collection. Each story is well-developed, engaging, and complex. Laced with the humor only Pratchett can deliver, this volume of tales is a great way to remember the late author's writing style. Some of the characters' names, when read aloud, are even good for a laugh. Quirky footnotes, text that pops off the page, and memorable scenes draw readers deep into Pratchett's world. VERDICT This is a must-read for any fantasy, adventure, or Pratchett fan—and a great way to introduce his writings to a new generation.—Kira Moody, Whitmore Public Library, Salt Lake City

Standout English actor Julian Rhind-Tutt narrates these early Terry Pratchett gems with a gentle, timeless, settled-in feel. There are also glee and winks in Rhind-Tutt’s voice when he reads about cowboys and trolls, three men in a submarine in a bathtub, and, of course, a witch riding a vacuum cleaner who catches the amorous eye of a local magician. Pratchett was just a 17-year-old cub reporter when he wrote some of these fantasy pieces, and already he was laying down the foundation for a fifty-year career as one of the world’s best-loved humorists. A fun collection. B.P. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

2016-10-19
More free-range juvenilia from the much-missed creator of Discworld.Following up on The Dragons at Crumbling Castle, and Other Stories (2015), these 14 tales were likewise originally published in the 1960s and '70s in the Bucks Free Press and reappear here with fresh titles and, as Pratchett puts it in his posthumous introduction, a few added "bits and bobs." Mostly set in either the contemporary town of Blackbury or the "Wild West" (i.e., Welsh) hamlet of Llandanffwnfafegettupagogo, the tales tend toward silly upsets. These range from the mysterious transformation of local residents into Elizabethans to the exploits of Police Constable Bryn Bunyan, "fastest truncheon west of the River Severn," at the O.K. Sheep Dip and elsewhere. In several episodes, adventurers, usually diminutive, intrepidly set out in such odd vehicles as a passing airship, a walnut submarine, or a human-sized lorry (this last forming the kernel of a later novel, Truckers). Aside from "An Ant Called 4179003" who settles in with an errant bee (both males, read into that what you will), the casts are all filled with standard, mundane or magical white, British types. Bravery shows up almost as often as buffoonery in these satiric bits and bobs. (Fantasy/short stories. 10-12)