Neil Gaiman’s urban fantasy epic weaves a spell unlike any other. This special edition of Neverwhere features a new introduction by Susanna Clarke and glorious illustrations by Chris Malbon.
Mort
Illustrated by Omar Rayyan
Introduced by A. S. Byatt
One of the most loved titles in the enormously popular Discworld series receives its first fully illustrated edition.
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Young Mort despairs of finding a suitable career in his provincial village, until one day he is rather unexpectedly hired by a bony figure in a cowl – Death, it seems, is in need of an apprentice. Introduced to the chilly truth behind the workings of the universe, the inherently curious Mort cannot help but meddle with the laws of time and space. The resulting chaos means all manner of trouble for the stability of reality, not to mention his burgeoning love life …
Along with this stunning edition Folio also created a limited edition leather bound ’facsimile’ of the very book that Death presents to Mort - this sold out in less than 13 hours.
‘His gift has always been in treating the big subjects with the lightest touch and in smuggling huge banks of wisdom past unsuspecting, giggling readers’
- New Statesman
Terry Pratchett wasn’t simply a master of his genre, conjuring one of fiction’s strangest and most beloved fantasy realms in the form of the Discworld; he was also a master storyteller, and one of our greatest modern writers. In her introduction for this edition, A. S. Byatt describes his ‘maddening and delightful’ imagination, and how the core of his work always contained a ‘reflection on the nature and language of things’. Whether describing the personification of Death in a curry house or threatening the great city of Ankh-Morpork with a dragon, Pratchett’s focus was always on the humanity of his characters. He knew their passions, failings, hopes and desperations, revealing them with compassion and wisdom – and if the truth bit a little close to home for the reader, a joke would be along at any moment to take away the sting.
‘To attempt to capture the richness, humour and depth of the illustrations (without rubbing too many fans and connoisseurs the wrong way) was a daunting task but a most enjoyable one – a dream job for any book illustrator’
- Omar Rayyan
Omar Rayyan, a long-time fan of the Discworld series, has provided 7 colour illustrations that capture the humour and vibrancy of Pratchett’s remarkable creation. This beautiful collector’s edition features printed endpapers illustrated by the artist, a slipcase printed with a silver line drawing, and a cover bound in tactile velveteen cloth, with an illustrated inset paper label. The spine sports a tiny silver A’Tuin, the great disc-carrying turtle – truly an edition fit for the Unseen University’s very own library.
Terry Pratchett’ Small Gods is produced in series.
Production Details
Bound in cloth with an inset paper label printed with a design by the artist
Set in Caslon
240 pages
Black & white title-page illustration and 7 colour illustrations
Printed endpapers
Printed slipcase
9½˝ x 6¼˝
About Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett was born in 1948 in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. After leaving school he worked as a journalist and as a press officer before becoming a full-time writer in 1987. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Discworld series, which has been published in translation worldwide. His other titles include The Carpet People (1971), published when he was just 23 years old; Good Omens (1990), a collaboration with Neil Gaiman; Nation (2008); Dodger (2012); and The Long Earth series (2012–15), a collaboration with Stephen Baxter. In 1998 he was appointed OBE and in 2009 he was knighted for services to literature. Pratchett died in 2015.
About Omar Rayyan
Omar Rayyan is a US-based artist whose illustrations are featured in various games, children’s publications, magazines and illustrated books, including The Brown Fairy Book (2010) and A Traveller in Time (2012) for The Folio Society. His work has garnered many awards, including the Spectrum Fantastic Art Silver and Gold Awards, and the Chesley’s Lifetime Achievement Award. His paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the United States and Europe, and grace the walls of many art collectors worldwide. Omar currently resides on the island of Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts.
About A. S. Byatt
A. S. Byatt is an internationally renowned novelist, poet and short-story writer. She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, taught at the Central School of Art and Design, and was Senior Lecturer in English at University College, London, before returning to full-time writing in 1983. Her novels include the Booker Prize winning Possession (1990; The Folio Society, 2009), The Biographer’s Tale (2000) and The Children’s Book (2009). Her most recent novel, Ragnarok, was published in 2011. A distinguished critic as well as a writer of fiction, Byatt was appointed CBE in 1990 and DBE in 1999.