The Truth – Josh Kirby Paperback – Letterbox Edition

The Truth by Terry Pratchett – Penguin Letterbox Edition (Josh Kirby cover)

A lie can run round the world before the truth can get its boots on.

William de Worde was only producing a newsletter for people who could afford to know things. Then the dwarfs arrive with a printing press, and Ankh-Morpork discovers movable type. Suddenly there is a paper. Suddenly there is a deadline. Suddenly there is Sacharissa Cripslock, who can smell a story, Otto Chriek, a vampire who would die for a good photograph, and a city that has never had to read about itself before.

It is a busy week. Lord Vetinari is arrested. The facts point one way. The New Firm would like the facts to point their way, permanently. Commander Vimes would like everyone to stop making his job louder. William discovers that journalism is not about writing what people want to hear. It is about finding out what happened and then surviving the people who wish it had not.

First published in 2000, The Truth is Discworld novel 25 and a standalone in the Industrial Revolution strand, after Moving Pictures. You do not need the Watch cycle, though Vimes walks through. It is Pratchett on newspapers, spin and the awkward idea that the public might be entitled to know. Funny, sharp, and still uncomfortably current.

This new Letterbox paperback from Penguin presents Josh Kirby’s original cover art. Kirby’s press room: ink, panic, and a headline that will not sit still.

• Discworld novel 25
• Standalone
• Publisher: Penguin
• Cover artist: Josh Kirby
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 448
• Size: approx. 198 mm × 127 mm × 27 mm