Strata
 1981 cover by Tim White | |
| Author | Terry Pratchett |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Tony Robinson (abridged) Stephen Briggs (unabridged) |
| Cover artist | Tim White (1981 original) Josh Kirby (1988) |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Colin Smythe (1981) Corgi (1988) |
Publication date | 1981-06-15 |
Blurbs
First edition (1981)
A flat earth? Impossible.
Kin Arad is the 210-year-old supervisor in charge of resurfacing the newly named planet, Kingdom. When she finds Jago Jalo, a man who has a cloak of invisibility and should have died a thousand years ago, in her office, she decides he must have an unusual tale. He has. He knows where such a world is. It is like the medieval earth...almost. Leiv Eiriksson is setting off for the New World, but he will never find it. Instead he sails to the edge of the world and its eternal waterfall.
It is obvious that this ‘earth’ has been built by the Great Spindle Kings, makers of universes, inventors of the strata machine and the ultimate in claustrophobes, and Jalo lures the human Kin, the kung Marco Farfarer and the fiftv-six-syllable-named shand better known as Silver, to undertake a voyage of discovery with him: the rewards must be beyond their dreams...or nightmares.
In Strata Terry Pratchett again shows the remarkably witty, imaginative and descriptive talents that have characterised his earlier works and show him to be one of the best s.f. writers of the younger generation.
Corgi edition (1988)
The excavation showed 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...
Audiobook (2002)
Strata is an early exploration of the idea that was to become the best-selling Discworld series
The Company builds planets.
Kin Arad is a high-ranking official of the Company. After twenty-one decades of living, and with the help of memory surgery, she is at the top of her profession. Discovering two of her employees have placed a fossilized plesiosaur in the wrong stratum, not to mention the fact it is holding a placard which reads, “End Nuclear Testing Now”, doesn't dismay the woman who built a mountain range in the shape of her initials during her own high-spirited youth.
But then came discovery of something which did intrigue Kin Arad. A flat earth was something new...
Podcast episodes
Major appearances
These are episodes primarily devoted to discussing this book.
| Date | Show | Episode | External link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-05-10 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | “Meta Metaphorical Metaphor Muscles” (1/2) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2021-05-17 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | “Eternal FOMO” (2/2) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2023-08-08 | Pratchat | “Discus Ex Machina” | pratchatpodcast.com |
Other appearances
To be added.
Adaptations
- An unabridged audiobook was released in 2002 read by Stephen Briggs for Isis Books on physical media (as a 7-CD set, and mp3 CD format), but appears to be no longer available. There are audiobooks in other languages; the most widely available one is in German.