03123cam a2200337 i 4500 1165093113 TxAuBib 20231213120000.0 230804s2023||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2023032374 9780063376199 hardcover 0063376199 hardcover 9780063376205 paperback 0063376202 paperback (OCoLC)1392342764 DLC eng rda DLC YDX BDX OCLCO HBP OCO ILC FM0 MWD YDX BKL UtOrBLW TxAuBib rda Pratchett, Terry, author. A stroke of the pen : the lost stories / Terry Pratchett. First edition. New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2023] xv, 220 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier How it all began... -- The fossil beach -- The real wild west -- How Scrooge saw the spectral light (Ho! Ho! Ho!) and went happily back to Hamburg -- Wanted: a fat jolly man with a red woolly hat -- A partridge in a post box -- The new Father Christmas -- The great Blackbury pie -- How Good King Wenceslas went pop for the DJ's Feast of Stephen -- Dragon quest -- The gnomes from home -- From the horse's mouth -- Blackbury weather -- The Blackbury jungle -- The haunted steamroller -- The money tree -- The Blackbury thing -- Mr. Brown's holiday accident -- Pilgarlic Towers -- The quest for the keys -- The quest for The quest for the keys, by Pat and Jan Harkin. "These rediscovered tales were written by Terry Pratchett under a pseudonym for British newspapers during the 1970s and 1980s. The stories have never been attributed to him until now, and might never have been found-were it not for the efforts of a few dedicated fans. As Neil Gaiman writes in his introduction, "through all of these stories we watch Terry Pratchett becoming Terry Pratchett." Though none of the short works are set in the Discworld, all are infused with Pratchett's trademark wit, satirical wisdom, and brilliant imagination, hinting at the magical universe he would go on to create. 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 embark 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 an essential collection from the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett, a "master storyteller" (A. S. Byatt) who "defies categorization" (The Times); a writer whose "novels have always been among the most serious of comedies, the most relevant and real of fantasies" (Independent UK)"-- Provided by publisher. 20231213. Fantasy fiction, English. Christmas stories. TXKIP