Strata

by Terry Pratchett, Tim White (Illustrator)

The excavation showed that the fossilized plesiosaur had been holding a placard which read, "End Nuclear Testing Now."

That was nothing unusual.

But then came a discovery of something which DID intrigue Kin Arad.

A flat earth was something new...

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Humor, Comedy, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy

192 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 1981

About the author

Sir Terence David John Pratchett was an English author, humorist, and satirist, best known for the Discworld series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983–2015, and for the apocalyptic comedy novel Good Omens (1990), which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman.
Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971. The first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final Discworld novel, The Shepherd's Crown, was published in August 2015, five months after his death.
With more than 100 million books sold worldwide in 43 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, the first Discworld book marketed for children. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2010.
In December 2007 Pratchett announced that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. He later made a substantial public donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK, ARUK), filmed three television programmes chronicling his experiences with the condition for the BBC, and became a patron of ARUK. Pratchett died on 12 March 2015, at the age of 66.

Reviews

[[ J o ] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strata is another early foray that Pratchett took in to Science Fiction before he rested himself firmly in to the loving arms of Fantasy. My views on this one are similar to that of his other sci-fi novel, The Dark Side of the Sun in that it isn't necessarily a good novel, let alone a good sci-fi story.

The joy of this one is of course, once again, the fact that it pre-empts the Discworld so wonderfully. You can clearly see PTerry's mind cogs whirring and the imagination is startling. However, he isn't particularly adept at writing sci-fi: again, we have stuttering explanations and quite shoddy sci-fi elements where it feels like he was truly excited by this piece of technology but half-way through telling us about it he got a bit fed up.

The characters are similarly developed than in The Dark Side of the Sun, but there seems an edge to them here that you don't see in that one, but you do see in Discworld. We also have the wonderful camaraderie of a cosmopolitan world. The Disc has no aliens, but they all seem alien even on such a small world.

Again, I'd suggest you don't read this is you're not a fan of Terry Pratchett or obscure sci-fi. It's a little hard to swallow due to it's stuttering nature, but the imagination is undeniable. It's such a great thing to read if you love Discworld because here it is, set down at it's earliest incarnation and that is very exciting.



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[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Pratchett's third published novel, and one of the few Sci-fi books he's written.

I feel odd giving it four stars, because honestly, I enjoyed it on a five-star level. But the truth is, a lot of the reasons I enjoyed it because in this early book, you get a glimpse of books he was going to write in the future, including discworld, and his upcoming Long Earth series with Steven Baxter.

That said, it was an early novel of his, and his craft is a little shaky compared to what it would become in his later books.

But on the other hand, even early Pratchet with some shaky craft is better than a lot of the books out there these days.....

[Manny · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's NOT a Discworld novel! It ISN'T! What did you say? Well, yes, the action does take place on a world that's disc-shaped, but... look, will you listen? Will you listen a moment? Thank you. There are no elephants. And there's no turtle. NOW do you see? Well, of course it's important! Duh. Vital, even. I keep telling you this is not part of the series, it's a parody of Ringworld. What? Now that is just beneath you. "Geekily obsessed." Take that back. No, I am NOT a Pratchett fan, I've read, what, maybe half a dozen of them. OK, seven or eight. That doesn't make me a Pratchett fan (continued until closing time)

[Clouds · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite reading Pratchett since I was twelve, I've never picked up Strata. Why?

It's just not particularly good.

That's a hard thing for a massive Pratchett fan to say, but my favourite thing about this book is that I've finished it.

It's episodic to a fairly ridiculous degree. So this happened. Then this happened. Then they kept walking and this happened. Then they flew for a while and this happened. None of the happening are in any way influenced by the previous happenings. It's just a long chain of stuff that happened after each other. Each happening has a clever idea, but they all stand in isolation, there's no cohesive plot. And then the end happened.

Yes, it's always fun to see the early scribblings of a genius - but to me, this is more like the early stumblings of a brilliant distance runner. He soon got into his stride and pulled away from the pack... but at this stage he's all gangly knees and elbows flying sideways...

After this I read: Brothers In Arms

[Książkowe Bajdurzenie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my Pratchett.

[Raquel Estebaran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novela de fantasía y sobre todo ciencia ficción, un primer acercamiento del autor a un mundo plano pero sin relación con Mundo disco.

Imaginativa y creativa, pero de mucha menos calidad que sus obras posteriores. Recomendable para fans de Pratchett.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this science fiction story by Terry Pratchett (1948-2015), published in 1981, one of his earliest books. Although set in a different universe, it is a sort of precursor to his Discworld series of 41 novels, as it's about an expedition to an "impossible" flat earth-type world.
Kin Arad is a planetary engineer who is intrigued by the possibility of a flat earth and sets off to find it in the company of two aliens. One of the aliens is a four-armed humanoid who is a super fighter, the other a huge bearlike linguist and historian. Together, they have adventures on the discworld, encountering Vikings, dragons, demons, robots, and more, as they seek to discover the secret of a planet that defies the laws of physics...

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this may not have been his best work or best writing, I can definitely see the humor and beginnings of his slightly subversive wit and worldview peaking out. It’s not near as polished as his later work, but I liked this crazy story about the origins of the universe, our inability to not create, and the importance of diversity, as much as is physically possible being the key to the future. Plus I forgot how fun the kooky 70’s- 80’s sci-fi could be.

[Xabi1990 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leída en 2011. Traducido en español como "Estratos", pero no la encuentro por aquí.
Novela de Terry no ambientada en Mundodisco.

Para mi gusto prescindible, para forofos de a CF y de Pratchett. Como cosa curiosa no esté ambientada en Mundodisco pero sale un mundo con forma de disco, no de esfera.

¡Pues no!, no es curiosidad. Es porque era de las primeras novelas de Sir Terry y fue un homenaje a Mundo Anillo (Ringworld) creando este "Discworld".

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another early Pratchett, brimming with promise, full of creativity and ideas, haphazardly and incompletely realized. For the Pratchett aficionado, however, witnessing the birth of Discworld is priceless. As the story moves from sci-fi to fantasy, Pratchett obviously had more fun with the fantasy parts. And the rest is history...

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not very interesting but very encouraging. I am making myself finish it not because I care much about what happens to the characters but rather because I care about what happened to the author, for this humble book appears to be the first iteration of Pratchett's Discworld.

As a writer I find it very exciting to note that the Discworld concept that works so brilliantly as a humorous fantasy really stinks as a straight forward Science Fiction piece.

I am relieved to be reminded again that greatness doesn't happen automatically but as the result of years of persistence.

Update -

This book does pick up speed and interest after the halfway point. It also get somewhat humorous. A lesson to not give up.

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 3 out of 5]

Planet builders find a peculiar flat and circular planet and go check it out.


This is basically a precursor to the Discworld series as some things that are explored here, do get featured later on in the Discworld series. This does give this book some added value in my opinion for anyone who loves the Discworld.


Overall, a fun, short and lighthearted sci-fi novel.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 1989 notes say A+ on reread, near-perfect SF. Pre-DIscworld, pretty much straight space-opera, by memory anyway. I should dig it out for a third read.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way back, in the 80 -90's I came across these cool books, by an author I had never heard of, with spectacular covers and I bought a couple of them. One was The Light Fantastic and this was the other.

Terry Pratchett was pretty much everything I admire in an author; articulate, dry humour, heaps of reference points and a wonderful reading experience. If I have any regrets (besides the fact he died so young) it is that he concentrated on the fantasy, Discworld series and never too his sci-fi concepts further.

Strata is still one of my favourite books, and one of my favourites, if not the favourite, by this author. There is something about the unspoken science of it, the characters and team dynamics as well as the story which is entirely satisfying to me. It also contains what is probably my favourite ever female lead character, Kin Arad. Kin, like her creator has a dry sense of humour, she is inclined to be practical and down to earth but has a startling chaotic streak in her behaviour at times. I am a little sad there is only one book of her.

Strata is based in a post Earth universe in which immortality is possible and The Company in which Kin works, makes planets. Having nearly completed the planet she is currently working on, a mysterious man in an invisibility cloak tantalises her with hints of having found artifacts from a previous civilisation. Kin follows the lure, meets up with two other aliens who were likewise tempted and - then it gets truly unexpected.

I am not going to spoiler it in any way but I loved the quest type story, across a flat type earth.

There is a lot you can dissect about this book. You can claim that some of the Discworld early theories and 'world building' is visible and yes, that is probably true. People have claimed they see lashing of Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy and yes, there is one reference. Though for myself I actually find it more similar to Alan Dean Foster who did great world building, with some similar themes. I know there is some Larry Niven mockery in there too, or so everyone says.

In any case it comes together as an awesome story, much underappreciated and underrated in my opinion.

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad I had a headache the other night. I wanted to read something light and that I knew I would enjoy and this early gem from Sir Terry just sat on my shelf asking to be read.

I'd read it before, probably twice, but as it turns out I seem to have remembered precisely 1% of this novel so this first re-read since Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency a year ago was much needed.

It's a strange book. It's quite definitely a science fiction story (the apparent reference of Ringworld meaning it has to be, and I say apparent because I am yet to read that particular masterwork) and it is quite definitely a fantasy story too (quests and djinns and magical beasts and swords leave no room for maneuver on this point.) The phrase 'laying of groundwork' has been used in on eway or another to describe Strata and that is something that I will join the masses in proclaiming as there's so much Discworld lore to be found within these mere 192 pages that if any other author had written The Colour of Magic there may well have been a lawsuit for plagiarism laid against them.

It's all very interesting from an anthropological point of view, seeing the evolution of a great author and I think that may be what carried me through with this book; the characters are actually interesting (in some instances more interesting and enjoyable than some early Discworld characters) and the way he crafts the universe of his story is very enjoyable but I think this novel falls down in the way it doesn't really know what it wants to be, an early Isaac Asimov type science fiction adventure or a humourous (of which there's not much to be found) fantasy novel which I have no examples of other than the Discworld because it's a genre I know little about.

All of this aside I actually enjoyed it and will more than likely be visiting that other early science fiction creation The Dark Side of the Sun before too long, hoping that I actually remember a bit more of it than I did this one. Still, nice surprises are always appreciated.

[Thomas Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am so glad that, when I was introduced to Terry Pratchett, the book I was given was the Colour of Magic and not thie one.

If this had been my first exposure to Pratchett, I doubt I would ever have bothered to read anything of his ever again.

Now that I know Pratchett's work better, I can look back with interest and observe the development of a best-selling author from this to his more celebrated works.

If you are new to Pratchett and are reading this, my recommendation would be to start with something more mature - anything with the witches in, for example.

The problem with this book is it is very much like those dreadful B-list movies which were rushed out in a great hurry once CGI became a feasible technology. Just as those film were all about huge explosions, terrifying plunges, massed ranks of monsters and other spectacular effects but no real story or characters about which the viewer could be bothered to give a damn, so Strata concentrates on all the sci-fi elements at the expense of a good story.

The characterisation is poor and two-dimensional. Characters mainly exist as plot devices to drive the story to its conclusion. Scenes are rushed as Pratchett tries to manipulate his actors into the right places on stage before the next piece of 'business'.

This book reminded me very much of a school play at primary school where the children learn their lines and movements by rote and then stiffly deliver said lines before even more stiffly getting themselves into position for whatever comes next.

Pratchett is at his best when he lets his characters live their lives on the page and you have a sense that life really is being lived rather than that some unseen hand is pushing them hither and thither. Of course, I immediately have to qualify that last statement: there are times on Discworld when the gods themselves or Lady Fortune - who may or may not belong to the order of gods - take a direct and highly personal interest in the lives of the little people and they really are pushed into situations in order to see how they react ... but I digress.

This is an immature work. You should read it - but only after you have immersed yourself in Pratchett's later works where he has learned the importance of and necessity for strong characters. If nothing else, aspiring writers can draw inspiration from this book to see how even the most unpromising start to a novelist's career may still lead to great things.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Intriguing, connected as it is to the august vision of Mr Pratchett. Fans of the Discworld series will notice precursors and foreshadowings to Pratchett's later work and sparks of the humour and a preoccupation with the existentialist philosophy that would later characterise it.

However, as a standalone novel, the book is, in my opinion, distinctly underwhelming. While not particularly long or verbose, this one took me particularly long; the plot and motivation were unclear, the action scenes lagged and were periodically underwritten, and so, hard to follow, and what few attempts at humour there are fail to redeem it.

It picks up in parts sufficiently enough to partially propel along reading (alongside the necessary motivation Pratchett's name alone bequeaths), but only momentarily, before it settles back into decided mediocrity.

The ending is, however, worthwhile and profound, and perhaps the most 'true' to later Pratchett.

For other bookishly inclined posts, please check out my blog, Inky Squiggles.

[Sean DeLauder · Rating 3 out of 5]

A parody of Larry Niven's Ringworld that has an interesting conclusion, is amusing at times, is occasionally confusing, and reads like something that needed an editor to correct the last point to garner an extra star.

The book does have a satisfying, interesting payoff, as it finally gets back to the question of Galactic Creators, though it takes a while to get there.

Cutting with respect to human behavior and religion, and I enjoyed the infrequent jibes. But the dialogue that will stick with me forever addresses the absurd fascination for the Good Old Days people reminisce about when, objectively, they weren't.

One character, who thinks himself human, is smoking tobacco in a pipe--an ostensibly arcane thing to do, even nowadays, let alone centuries into the future.

"Do you enjoy it?" There was a click as the cabin air filters came on. Marco took the pipe out of his mouth and looked at it reflectively.
"On the whole, no," he said, "but it is historically satisfying..."

[Jon Von · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Great Discworld Re-Read Part 2. A self-indulgent series of reflections and reviews.

Strata is quite the oddity isn't it? Just imagine, this new author, a skinny, (probably bearded) newspaper journalist, comes up with a comedy sci-fi novel; something like Douglas Adams when he was a writer for Doctor Who. But the idea is so far out, like confusingly so. And the author just doubles down on wild planet building technology and some insane intelligence builds an impossible world. Implications and fantastical musings ensue, growing increasingly and unlikely philosophical. It's easy to imagine people might not have been able know what to make of the book. There is so much here that's like an awkward proto version of Discworld, that it incredible when you realize how Pratchett must have seen what worked and what didn't about his idea. But, before that, the idea may have just been too weird.

The thing about it though, is that it's FUNNY. Taken by itself, it's an exceptional example of a sci-fi comedy action adventure. The story moves at a good pace, there's action in the right places, there some wonderful imagery. Waterfalls at the end of the world will never not be cool. It's just too crazy. It doesn't gel. I liked the idea of one of the main characters being an oversized alien having adventures on a mostly primitive world. The stuff with the food synthesizer was smart and was maybe the only thing that gave the story any real sense of stakes. I mean, if you can't digest the food around you, the idea of your stuff being taken away is pretty relatable.

Another funny thing is I couldn't help but wonder if Iain M. Banks hadn't read this before writing Matter. There are actual similarities to the plot! It hadn't occurred to me at the time but he must have been a fan. I have no evidence but choose to believe it.

Personally, I read this maybe in eighth grade. It might have been my fifth or sixth Discworld. I remember that it was cool that the Waldenbooks in Nile, Illinois where I lived had a nice collection of Discworld paperbacks. I remember enjoying it but being underwhelmed, which more or less seems to be the idea.

Next up, the Bromeliad series.

[Redfox5 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I would love Terry Pratchett and because of this, I acquired a lot of his books. Turns out, I don't really like Terry Pratchett that much. I read enough of his books now to say I find his book fairly average and slightly dull.

This book reminded me of Larry Niven's Ringworld, except the world is flat and not a ring, obviously. It had a mix of human and alien characters trotting around this unknown world, wondering how and why it was made. To be fair, this was better than Ringworld, but not by much. And sometimes, I didn't really know what was going on.

This was one of those books I forced myself through. I've still got a few more Pratchett's on my tbr pile but after them, I'm done.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

How come I'd always thought that the predecessor to the Discworld would be vaguely like The Colour of Magic - aka not that great?

This was great!

A wonderful homage to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy whilst giving hints of all Pratchett had to offer in future.

Hints of Hellspark and probably the entirety of 6os sci-fi as well.

[itchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

titular sentence:
p12: No brochure would have shown the nightmare bulk of the pontoon-mounted strata machine, the small model for islands and atolls under fifteen kilometres.

grammar:
p101: '...Are ravens a very common bird?'

The lack of chapters made it seem longer than it should. This does reference Discworld exactly, which I'll be starting immediately after this--so excited!

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5

A decent, mildly amusing adventure.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m shocked that I’ve found a Pratchett story I haven’t read but here I am!

This is a shorter novel about building planets and space travel but different. Definitely can see hints at the Discworld universe being created here: flat earth, the Broken Drum and Death.

[Blue · Rating 2 out of 5]

So...

I love Pratchett's Disc World books. They are like literary potato chips to me, I can't read just one. I reread them when life is being particularly difficult and I need a safe and enjoyable place to park my brain.

Strata is not part of Disc World. Except in someways it is. But not really.

Strata was written before any of the Disc World books, and you can see the early incarnations of ideas that Disc World was based on. But only in the physical sense. Missing in Strata is the fiercely witty and finely honed writing that make Pratchett's later work such an addictive delight. And, of course, the characters who inhabit his later books.

I'm glad the local library had Strata, and that I read it. The archeology of a favorite author's writing can be interesting, especially if you get to see the initial appearance of an idea that evolves into something amazing from a mediocre beginning

But don't read this book if you aren't already a fan of the Disc World Series. And don't read it if you have a hard time carving out space to read fabulous books you can't wait to inhale.

Really? Even though I'm happy I've read it - you should probably skip it. Go read one of his later books instead.

[Christian Leonard Quale · Rating 4 out of 5]

That's more like it! Reading Pratchett chronologically, I was disappointed by the first two books. They were funny, but chaotic and disjointed. Strata wraps all the chaos and absurdity into a story which successfully holds it together, and stays strong throughout.

Through a set of circumstances, a human planet-builder meets up with two aliens. Without being given that much of a choice they find themselves at a place which really shouldn't exist. Strange stuff ensues.

Strata does the wonderful British thing of being funny without seeming like it tries to be funny, and consists of a sci-fi, fantasy story with nuggets of wonderful absurdity and understated jokes throughout. I don't want to spoil anything, so I won't say much more. But unlike The Dark Side of The Sun, which had a pseudo-philosophical point which was really just silly, Strata concludes on a note which is actually quite profound. At least to me. There are also interesting points scattered throughout which made me stop for a second to think about them.

By Strata it seems like Pratchett had found his groove, and this is only on his third book. I look forward to continuing reading through the groove.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has me split, and by the looks of it, I'm not the only one. It seems there's 2 ways to approach Strata:

As a die-hard Pratchett fan: You'll love seeing the raw material of what would become his later work. You see seeds of ideas which are more fully explored in a surprising amount of his later work. Everything from Discworld to The Long Earth series (written over 30 years later) is hinted at in Strata...An incredible feat for a book so short.

The more objective, non-Pratchett fan: When I manage to separate myself from my own Pratchett worship, I can't help but notice that...well, frankly this book kind of sucks. A plot that feels like a bunch of unconnected events strung together in a difficult-to-follow way, paired with dull characters spewing dialogue that is equal parts sparse and info-dump-ish.

So, if you love Terry Pratchett, then you'll surely love this, not because its good, but it gives you further insight into the man and his writing.

On the other hand, if you're just getting into Pratchett, do yourself a favor and hold off on this one.

[Hannah Polley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always been curious to read Pratchett's Discworld series so I hope I get the chance to do so in the future.

I was quite excited when this book came my way as I see it is an early version of the idea that later became the Discworld series so I was hopeful this would give me a good insight.

In this book, 3 aliens are recruited to save a world that has been created. It is the Discworld, a flat earth that is perched on the backs of 4 elephants, on top a giant turtle.

The narrative is difficult because it jumps around and it is a book that takes a lot of concentration to not lose your place in the story. It will be told from the point of view of one character, and you don't get the see the other character's reaction at all, you have to deduce it from the character that is currently narrating the story so it is an interesting style.

The book does have humour but it is quite subtle.

I did enjoy the story but I wasn't overenamoured with it but I would still be interested to read the Discworld series.

[Judyta Szacillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book by Terry Pratchet that I've read and thought that it's not particularly good. "The Dark Side of the Sun" was not that great either, but it had at least some sort of integrity and reliability of the described world. The world in "Strata" is overflown with details but they seem messy, they pop up whenever needed like deus ex machina. Luckily, most of the action takes place in the weird disc world which has its own rules and its reality seems more integral and consistent to me, despite the fact that it was supposed to be the one place in the Strata universe that seemed to escape the physics laws.

The chaotic background was very discouraging, but the book does show the promising writer's gift. It's not that good yet, but now and then the reader comes across a dialogue or a motif that brings a smile. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone apart from declared Terry Pratchett's fans though.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the best Pratchett, but an interesting read to trace the development of the Disc. It is also wonderful to read Sci-Fi that does make sense in a way. Want to see a cannibalistic Chewie? Check it out.


Crossposted at Booklikes