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Josh Kirby's exuberant cover paintings for Jerry Pratchett's bestselling Discworld series have spawned dozens of imitators, but no one has yet matched his irrepressible and chaotic humor. As this definitive collection of Kirby's art--including many formerly unpublished works--proves, his vision has many facets. They go from the wildest fantasies to the hardest sci-fi; some images evoke a macabre realm of horror, others portray chilling futuristic landscapes, but all are wondrous. An analysis of Kirby's career and techniques will increase your appreciation of each picture: the Discworld delights, bursting with detail and action; the ghoulish depictions of things that go bump in the night; and the representations of the science fiction worlds inspired by Ray Bradbury and Robert Silverberg. Plus: enjoy a comic compendium of interpretations from the pens of authors such as Tom Holt. A visual feast not to be missed, with an informative text by multiple Hugo Award-winner David Langford. 112 pages (all in color), 8 1/4 x 11 3/4.
Starcombing contains eighty-five newly collected pieces of David Langford's witty commentary on the SF/fantasy scene - columns, articles, reviews, essays, even a few short-short stories from the famous 'Futures' page in Nature. Compulsive reading, crammed with insights and laughs.
In 1985, when all the world was young and dot-matrix printers stalked the primeval swamps of computing, David Langford won his Hugo Award and began a long-running column for 8000 Plus magazine (later PCW Plus). This notoriously became the page readers turned to first. The magazine was devoted to the Amstrad PCW, a bestselling home computer that pioneered affordable word processing in Britain. Langford's popular column used this official subject as a launch pad for witty coverage of life, the universe and everything. Freelancing writing and how to survive it; science fiction (especially that); secrets of editors, manuscripts, indexes, submission letters and padding; serious and spoof advice columns; parodies of Adventure games, legal proceedings, noir fiction and more; causes, scams and literary horror stories; timeless satire on shabby practice in the computer industry; awful "Thog's Masterclass" lines from SF . . . Langford shows all the wit and skill that brought him 28 Hugo Awards.
A follow-up to the highly successful Discworld Unseen University Quizbook, The Wyrdest Link will present itself as qualifying tests for various levels of mastery in Ankh-Morpork City's Guilds and other organisations - from the dignified Thieves' Guild to illicit outfits like the feared Breccia (the trolls' Mafia) or the wholly reprehensive Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night (see Guards! Guards!). As before, the straight Discworld general knowledge inquisition - presented with offbeat twists and linking themes - will be varied with trick questions, outrageous bogglers, and the occasional near-impossible poser to suit all levels of Discworld fans.
Born of Fire is a work that presents the astounding, yet rational proposal that humankind has been evolving not for thousands or millions of years, but since the time when the universe emerged. Called a proposal, the story lends credible evidence to its primary thesis such that the reality of our very ancient origin may be accepted as fact. With profound implications, this pedigree of extreme lineage then places our disembodied human forms, our ultra-durable quarks and leptons, in near proximity to a first-cause Creator. Leaning heavily on scientific exposition throughout its chapters, the human brain is touted as Nature's greatest cosmic enterprise, through which we have achieved the status of God's extended intelligence into his created world. Though not a metaphysical tour de force, in bringing about this relationship between divine and mortal intelligence, time, natural laws, mind, consciousness, self, free will, and artificial intelligence are called into question, as well as God's omnipotence and omniscience. The story ends with a critique of current orthodox religions and their ability to prosper in future times of greater enlightenment plus the unthinkable, yet possible emergence of science as a source of future religious expression.
A collection of short fiction from Terry Pratchett, spanning the whole of his writing career from schooldays to Discworld and the present day. In the four decades since his first book appeared in print, Terry Pratchett has become one of the world's best-selling and best-loved authors. Here for the first time are his short stories and other short-form fiction collected into one volume. A Blink of the Screen charts the course of Pratchett's long writing career: from his schooldays through to his first writing job on the Bucks Free Press, and the origins of his debut novel, The Carpet People; and on again to the dizzy mastery of the phenomenally successful Discworld series. Here are characters both familiar and yet to be discovered; abandoned worlds and others still expanding; adventure, chickens, death, disco and, actually, some quite disturbing ideas about Christmas, all of it shot through with Terry's inimitable brand of humour. With an introduction by Booker Prize-winning author A.S. Byatt, illustrations by the late Josh Kirby and drawings by the author himself, this is a book to treasure.
This new collection of essays, commissioned from a range of scholars across the world, takes as its theme the reception of Rome's greatest poet in a time of profound cultural change. Amid the rise of Christianity, the changing status of the city of Rome, and the emergence of new governing classes, Vergil remained a bedrock of Roman education and identity. This volume considers the different ways in which Vergil was read, understood and appropriated; by poets, commentators, Church fathers, orators and historians. The introduction outlines the cultural and historical contexts. Twelve chapters dedicated to individual writers or genres, and the contributors make use of a wide range of approaches from contemporary reception theory. An epilogue concludes the volume.
An in-depth look into the life and writings of the bestselling author of the Discworld novels, Good Omens, and Nation. The Magic of Terry Pratchett is the first full biography of Sir Terry Pratchett ever written. Sir Terry was Britain’s bestselling living author*, and before his death in 2015 had sold more than 85 million copies of his books worldwide. Best known for the Discworld series, his work has been translated into thirty-seven languages, and performed as plays on every continent in the world, including Antarctica. Journalist, comedian and Pratchett fan Marc Burrows delves into the back story of one of UK’s most enduring and beloved authors, from his childhood in the Chiltern Hills, to his time as a journalist, and the journey that would take him—via more than sixty best-selling books—to an OBE, a knighthood and national treasure status. The Magic Of Terry Pratchett is the result of painstaking archival research alongside interviews with friends and contemporaries who knew the real man under the famous black hat, helping to piece together the full story of one of British literature’s most remarkable and beloved figures for the very first time. * Now disqualified on both counts. Praise for The Magic of Terry Pratchett "In this encompassing biography of the prolific fantasy and science-fiction author, writer and comedian Burrows details both the writing accomplishments and the personal life of Sir Terry Pratchett. . . . Burrows spoke to friends and family, and this biography has moments of sadness, especially when discussing Pratchett’s fight with Alzheimer’s. But the book is also funny and conversational in tone, and an excellent tribute to a beloved author.” —Booklist “Affable and consistently engaging . . . Burrow’s buoyant, pun-peppered, and aptly footnote-flecked style . . . helpfully marries his subject matter, propelling us through decade after decade of a heavily writing-centric life while illuminating Pratchett’s complexities and contradictions without any drag in the tempo.” —Locus Magazine “An impressively comprehensive, engagingly written biography. ****”—SFX
A collection of columns by the author, some previously published in SFX magazine.