Book:Scouting for Trolls

An as-yet unwritten book whose title was released several years ago, prior to the publication of Thud!, Unseen Academicals, Snuff and now Raising Steam as that of a forthcoming Discworld book.

It is possible that any book projects with provisional titles such as "Scouting for Trolls" or 'Raising Taxes' have either been indefinitely shelved, or else abandoned completely.

Raising Steam, in its first few pages, mentions a former Scout called Magnus Magnusson, and through him something of the ethos and organisation of an Ankh-Morporkian scout troop is described - it is all-inclusive and issues proficiency badges. A boy-scout like association in Ankh-Morprork is occassionally referenced throughout the book. You wonder if the material originally intended for a book like "Scouting for Trolls" has been lodged in the Crypt, for piecemeal use in other books? AgProv (talk) 03:05, 14 November 2013 (GMT)

Interestingly, A Blink of the Screen contains a short piece - Terry calls it a squib - The Minutes of the Meeting To Form The Proposed Ankh-Morpork Federation of Scouts. This consists of Rufus Drumknott's minutes of a meeting between Lord Vetinari and selected City dignitaries and Guild representatives, all of whom have an interest in establishing Scouting as a pursuit for young boys of all races and species. everyone is broadly in favour, Chrysoprase and Detritus explain about the original Troll concept of Scouting as a kind of citizenship training for young Trolls (apparently both were Scouts as pebbles), and at least three members of the Committee are of the opinion membership should be equally extended to girls. The page on the Ankh-Morpork Scouting (and possibly Urban Survival) Federation‎ gives a list of the Committee members, any or all of whom are potential major characters in this potential book. They include Miss Alice Band of the Assassins' Guild, who gets her first formal speaking part in this short. Captain Carrot is also present, and of course he mooted a prototype organisation of this kind for the street kids as long ago as Jingo. This involved football and the possibility of character-forming Outward Bound camps in the wilderness.

Just as the short story A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices was later expanded into a sort of prologue to Thud!, it is possible this short has the same potential relationship to the as-yet-unwritten Scouting for Trolls. Or else the material is being recycled for other writings.