Far away and long ago, when dragons still existed and the only arcade game was ping-pong in black and white, a wizard cautiously entered a smoky tavern in the evil, ancient, foggy city of Morpork…

A truly unmissable, beautifully illustrated collection of unearthed stories from the pen of Sir Terry Pratchett: award-winning and bestselling author, and creator of the phenomenally successful Discworld series.

Twenty early short stories by one of the world’s best loved authors, each accompanied by exquisite original woodcut illustrations.

These are rediscovered tales that Pratchett wrote under a pseudonym for newspapers during the 1970s and 1980s. Whilst none are set in the Discworld, they hint towards the world he would go on to create, containing all of his trademark wit, satirical wisdom and fantastic imagination.

Meet Og the inventor, the first caveman to cultivate fire, as he discovers the highs and lows of progress; haunt the Ministry of Nuisances with the defiant evicted ghosts of Pilgarlic Towers; visit Blackbury, a small market town with weird weather and an otherworldly visitor; and go on a dangerous quest through time and space with hero Kron, which begins in the ancient city of Morpork…

A STROKE OF THE PEN is a must-have collection for fans of all ages.

Praise for Terry Pratchett

‘Pratchett is a master storyteller’ – A. S. Byatt, Guardian

‘The Discworld novels have always been among the most serious of comedies, the most relevant and real of fantasies’ – Independent

‘Compulsively readable, fantastically inventive, surprisingly serious exploration in story form of just about any aspect of our world . . . There’s never been anything quite like it’ – Evening Standard

‘Like most true originals, Pratchett defies categorisation’ – The Times

‘Pratchett found something better than literature’ – Frank Cottrell Boyce, Guardian

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A collection of stories and essays from Cixin Liu, New York Times bestselling author of The Three-Body Problem Trilogy

‘We’re mysterious aliens in the crowd. We jump like fleas from future to past and back again, and float like clouds of gas between nebulae; in a flash, we can reach the edge of the universe, or tunnel into a quark, or swim within a star-core… We’re as unassuming as fireflies, yet our numbers grow like grass in spring. We sci-fi fans are people from the future.’ – Cixin Liu, from the essay ‘Sci-Fi Fans’

A View from the Stars features a range of short works from the past three decades of New York Times bestselling author Cixin Liu’s prolific career, putting his nonfiction essays and short stories side-by-side for the first time. This collection includes essays and interviews that shed light on Liu’s experiences as a reader, writer, and lover of science fiction throughout his life, as well as short fiction that gives glimpses into the evolution of his imaginative voice over the years.