Review: Dragons at Crumbling Castle (RIP Sir Terry Pratchett)

Dragons at Crumbling CastleDragons at Crumbling Castle by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a fun little collection of early Pratchett stories for kids all ages. They were told as if they were children's tales, but there is always an undercurrent of humor that's a treat to adults. Kinda like his later work in that respect.

This book was chosen as a March 2015 book selection in a Good Reads group that I'm in, Flights of Fantasy. Little did we know when we nominated it and voted it in, that it would appear on our group shelf in the very month that Sir Pratchett passed away.

That's a sad coincidence, but at the same time I'm glad we had the book on hand to read. Those of us that have read Sir Terry and those that haven't but have felt his influence can take this moment to celebrate his life, and his body of work. I've also been working on some of the early Discworld novels, and this was a nice sidetrack in that pursuit.

So delve in here and meet the Carpet People, and the citizens of Blackbury. We also meet some dragons, and we learn how Father Christmas sucks at other jobs. It's lots of fun, without being too heavy (even rhinos can fly, it seems).

Shortly after Sir Terry passed, I saw this tweet that I loved, and I feel that it fits this book:

"Pratchett wrote incredibly smart, insightful, and true things about what it means to be human. And then he added jokes and dragons." Chris Farnsworth @chrisfarnsworth

View all my reviews

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Driving to Geronimo's Grave: and Other Stories

Image
Driving to Geronimo's Grave: and Other Stories by Joe R. Lansdale My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review copy eARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley Joe R. Lansdale has been on my radar for many years, and always seemed to be an author I’d enjoy. But the shame of it is that until now, I’ve only read one or two short stories of his. This collection was fantastic, and if it’s any indication of a consistent writing style from Lansdale, I’ll certainly be reading more of his work in short order. “Driving to Geronimo’s Grave” – I had no idea where this story was going as it got started, but wasn’t disappointed. Terri was the best part of this. I really got a feel for the Great Depression setting here. “In the Mad Mountains” – You know, I don’t think I’ve ever actually read an HP Lovecraft story. But even so, I recognize when something is “Lovecraftian”, and this is certainly it (confirmed by the author’s notes after the story). Besides that, it remin
Read more

Review: The Trials of Empire

Image
The Trials of Empire by Richard Swan My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received an eARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley. This really brings everything full circle and packs a punch, wrapping up the trilogy. The way things were unraveling through the last book and a half or so, I didn't expect the ending to satisfy, but was surprised that it wrapped up the story pretty well. View all my reviews
Read more

Review: Things Get Ugly: The Best Crime Fiction of Joe R. Lansdale

Image
Things Get Ugly: The Best Crime Fiction of Joe R. Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale My rating: 4 of 5 stars I received an eARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley... Joe R. Lansdale knows how to craft a story, with an instinctive grasp of character development. His language is such that he connects with readers and makes the task of reading an enjoyable escape. While all of the stories in this book fall into the "crime" category, this is a very loose grouping. There is such a mixed bag of offerings here, from the noir to the really freaking weird. As with most collections, some stories hit with me better than others, but there really aren't any duds here. View all my reviews
Read more