Terry Pratchett signs deal for ‘Dragons at Crumbling Castle’ & UPDATE: Cover Reveal

In news that flew gently under the radar, Sir Terry Pratchett has signed a book deal for a collection of middle-grade stories that will be titled Dragons at Crumbling Castle.

The stories – 14 in total – initially appeared in The Buck’s Free Press (in Buckinghamshire, England), long before Terry Pratchett made it as a novelist. In an interesting piece of trivia, Pratchett worked at the paper as a journalist and often contributed his stories into the “Children’s Circle” section of the paper. According to Pratchett, who was just seventeen at the time of writing the stories under the pseudonym ‘Uncle Jim’, ‘Nobody wanted to do the children’s corner so I volunteered. I would do little children’s stories, one-offs and running narratives.’

Rather than just reprinting the stories, the publishers (both US and UK) will work with artist Mark Beech who has been commissioned to create a vast number of black-and-white illustrations to compliment the tales. Of the stories themselves, Kirsten Armstrong, fiction editor at Random HouseUK, said: “These stories are full of Pratchett’s trademark wit and imagination and will be adored by anyone aged eight to 108. Brimming with knights, dragons, abominable snowmen and even more abominable crooks, they are a joy to read and share with young readers.”

We at Fantasy-Faction were lucky enough to meet Terry Pratchett a few years back. Despite obvious difficulty Pratchett signed a number of books for children (despite the hosts saying Sir Terry would not be able to do so). We are all delighted that a book is being put together for Sir Terry’s youngest audience yet. We are sure it will make children laugh and, just as importantly, introduce them to the wit and magic of Terry Pratchett. The publishers are promising that the stories feature many of the ideas that Sir Terry developed elsewhere in his later novels – hopefully they’ll be pursued.

Additionally, Gollancz have signed a deal to publish “lavishly illustrated” Discworld diaries for the next three years. Developed in consultation with Sir Terry, the Discworld diaries are “one part diary, one part guide to the arcane practices of the funniest creation in modern fantasy”.

Pratchett’s editor at Gollancz, Darren Nash, said: “From the moment we sat down with the team from the Discworld Emporium it was clear that they shared the Gollancz vision: fans producing wonderful things for other fans. We’re delighted to be working with them and with Sir Terry Pratchett, and confident that 2015’s will be the best Discworld Diary ever – until next year!”

RHCP will publish Dragons at Crumbling Castle in £12.99 hardback and as an e-book in September. A collector’s edition with extra content will follow in November. The Discworld Diary 2015 is published in hardback on 21st August 2014, at £16.99. The following two diaries will be published in August 2015 and 2016.

Update, July 2014: The cover has just been revealed!

We’ve just spotted the cover up on Terry Pratchet’s Facebook page. We like it: certainly well suited for the market. Looks a lot like to old Roald Dahl covers by Quentin Blake.

Print Friendly