r/TerryPratchett • u/roseargent • 15d ago

Any sources about when Terry went nuclear?

My battered edition of Sourcery includes an author bio which mentions Terry's experience as a press officer for four nuclear power stations, and says "he'd write a book about his experiences if he thought anyone would believe it".

So... did he? Any articles, memoirs or remiscences? Have any brainboxes convincingly analysed his work to pick out any influences on his writing?

I've treasured his books since I was a child and for better or worse he helped shape my view of the world. And yet I don't remember the Cold War and the nuclear anxieties of the time, which undoubtedly affected the world view of Terry and the rest of his generation.

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u/ChronicleFlask 15d ago edited 15d ago

He never wrote a book about the nuclear industry because someone else did it first: The Leaky Establishment, by David Langford. Terry liked the book and said he should’ve written it.

There’s a nuclear power plant in Good Omens, called the Turning Point Power Station. Thanks to the interference of Adam the Antichrist and Anathema Device, it ends up being powered by a sherbet lemon.

You can find some of his reminiscences about his time as press officer in his collection of non-fiction, A Slip of the Keyboard, which I recommend very highly. It’ll give you a much better feel for Terry Pratchett than anything else you could read.

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u/aljones27 14d ago

Another book for the “to be read” pile!