 "A solid start to the series but the best is yet to come" | 2009-07-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1CQGAPQMN41LV |
Ankh-Morpork is the greatest city on the Discworld - a flat planet carried through space on the back of four elephants standing astride a giant turtle - and has seen fire, flood, famine and even the odd barbarian invasion during its long history, but even it is unprepared for the arrival of a much more devastating threat: tourism. Twoflower is the first visitor to the city from the distant Agatean Empire, and is happy wandering around taking 'pictures' of the 'sights' with his magic box and soaking up the 'authentic' atmosphere. This behaviour in Ankh-Morpork would normally result in him having the lifespan of a mayfly confronted by a supernova, but luckily the wizard Rincewind has kindly 'volunteered' to be his guide and protector in return for not having his extremities removed by the city's Patrician, who is anxious to avoid insulting a foreign power with an army in the millions.
Unfortunately, Twoflower's attempts to introduce the concept of fire insurance to the hardy and creative business-owners of Ankh-Morpork results in an enforced flight from the burning metropolis and the beginning of a long and very strange journey across the Disc, taking in dragons, spaceships and the fabled temple of Bel-Shamharoth along the way. All the while the only spell that has ever managed to lodge itself in Rincewind's mind is very keen to get itself said, which could be a very bad idea indeed...
Published in 1983, The Colour of Magic was the fourth novel by Terry Pratchett. His debut book, The Carpet People (1971), had been a modest success, but The Dark Side of the Sun (1976) and Strata (1981) had both been remaindered and it looked possible that this might be Pratchett's last published novel unless it took off in a big way. It didn't look too original either, being a fantasy rewrite of Strata (which saw a spaceship from Earth discover a mysteriously flat planet and investigate it). Of course, it was a big success, buoyed by good reviews, and became an eventual bestseller. Pratchett wrote a direct sequel, The Light Fantastic, and then more books set in the same world with different casts of characters. As of this time of writing the Discworld series consists of thirty-six novels with the thirty-seventh due in a couple of months and Pratchett is the world's biggest-selling living fantasy author after J.K. Rowling and Stephen King. Not bad for such humble beginnings.
The Colour of Magic, as the first book in the series, of course shows the Discworld in a far more embryonic state than later books. The subtler, satirical streak that develops over the first half-dozen books or so is also missing. Instead, the novel is a much broader and somewhat more obvious pastiche of swords 'n' sorcery. The targets that Pratchett goes after are interesting as Rincewind and Twoflower encounter cultures and monsters that Lovecraft, Howard and Leiber would have found quite familiar.
For all its distance from the later Discworld books, The Colour of Magic is still an entertaining and funny book. Pratchett's previous two novels had funny elements, but had broadly been trying to be more serious, 'proper' SF books. The Colour of Magic is clearly written with more confidence and in a more relaxed style. Even today it still raises a smile, possibly as some of Pratchett's targets have come back into vogue (the Cthulu-esque section resonates a bit more these days, especially), and taken on its own merits the book is solidly entertaining. Pratchett's characterisation still needs some work and his interpretations here of Death and the Patrician are notably different from the later books, but it was from this seed that the author began his ascent to becoming one of the dominating forces of modern fantasy, and it still holds up.
The Colour of Magic (***) is a bit old-school, but still amusing and entertaining, much faster-paced than his later work but at the same time lacking some of the subtlety and intelligence of other books in the series. It is available now in the UK and USA. Sky One broadcast a television adaption of the book and its sequel, The Light Fantastic, last year, which is now available on DVD in the UK and USA and on Blu-Ray in the UK. |
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 "What a GREAT read!" | 2009-06-01 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3TV5M3YUSYTQI |
| Terry Pratchett is a phenomenal writer! I'll tell you that any of his books, especially the Disc World series are well worth picking up! In my youth I loved the Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. Tolkien (and yes, I'm talking pre-movie adolescence, thank you). I read any fantasy/adventure novels I could get my hands on. Eventually I ran out of books worth reading.... In my late teens I even resorted to Harry Potter, which I thought was amusing (but with a very low reading level) until I stumbled upon Terry Pratchett. Oh what a day! It was as if I had been waiting for his writing since the first time I picked up a book! The worlds he has created within the Disc world series are so interesting and entertaining. On each page he has spelled out endless wit, comedy, and enchantment. The characters hook you from the start and in each book you learn more about them and how they intertwine with one another. The imagery Pratchett depicts with his stories is absolutely amazing! And one of the things that I think is the best about this series is you don't necessarily have to read them in a particular order. There are a few here or there within the series that do fit better together read in a certain order but besides those you can just go with the next one that strikes your fancy. Every time I finish one I CANNOT wait for the next! Soon I'll be done with the series and this is sad... But reading them all was well worth it! See for yourself! |
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| "A Fun Discworld Romp" | 2009-04-01 |
| - Reviewed By User: A6F795K7UU1CF |
Here is where it all began, the birth of the Discworld series, and the introduction of perhaps the most incompetent wizzard (yes, that is wizzard with a double z) in all of literature: Rincewind. In this book we find the first mention of the fascinating twin cities of Ankh and Morpork, and of course we are able to observe the benefits of owning luggage made from sapient pearwood.
You might be wondering, why would I possible only give this book a 3 star rating? I first read The Color of Magic almost 10 years ago, when I stumbled upon it while browsing in the University of Utah bookstore during a break between my graduate school classes. I was looking for something entertaining and light, something that would take my mind off the boring business text books that required so much of my time. The book delivered. I was immediately hooked, and over the last 1o years I've read all 36 of the Discworld novels. So, why 3 stars? Who, or what, has outshone this Discworld classic? The answer is easy, it's Terry Pratchett himself.
The Discworld novels have only gotten better as Pratchett keeps writing, both in complexity and execution. After reading Thud! (number 34), my favorite Discworld novel of all time, The Color of Magic feels a little less polished, and I realize how spoiled I've become. I'm trying to remember how I felt the first time I read this book, but I can't. I've lost the remembrance in the haze of too many books over too many years, but it must have really blown me away. I remember buying the next four books in the series at the same time, so it must have impressed me. That isn't to say that this book isn't good. It is! It just can't compare to later Discworld novels. So, if you haven't ever visited Discworld before, start at the beginning, so you can appreciate this book for yourself, in the way it should be. One caveat, it does end with a bit of a cliff hanger, so have The Light Fantastic handy. |
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| "The 8. colour" | 2009-03-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2IGYM7K8MFJRC |
This was my first meeting with Terry Pratchett, whose books I have been warmly recommended on a number of occasitions, and I must agree with the multitudes of readers out there who claim to have enjoyed it. It is funny and original without being absolutely reformatorily groundbreaking, somewhere in between Douglas Adams, Jerome K. Jerome, and Tolkien. The style may seem a bit untraditional, for example does Pratchett not make use of chapters in his work (often not, anyways), and it can, at times, seem a quite random series of events that are playing out in front of you, and not a tightly woven story with a clear progression through time and space. This, upsetting as it might be, to my mind actually seems rather fitting to the Discworld world, where things are not as we are used to them here on earth.
My guess is, that this is not a book for everyone, but you'd be hard pressed to find someone who didn't at least think it a bit humourous. For fans of D. Adams and fantasy in general, I think it should be rather much of a hit. |
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| "A Comfortable Pair Of Pants" | 2009-03-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1SE9B4G61RALG |
There's not a whole lot I can say plot-wise that hasn't already been discussed - The Discworld is a flat world on the back of a giant turtle (The Great A'Tuin) and sandwiched between in a kind of pachyderm filling are the four elephants that keep things steady.
The story itself is, unlike later Discworld stories, divided into a number of parts, each dealing with a different section of the adventures of Rincewind the inept wizard (who wears a pointy hat with the word "Wizzard" on it - even though he knows only one Spell, and it's debatable as to whether he learned it or the Spell learned him) and the first ever tourist Twoflower.
They balance each other out, with Rincewind's natural cynicism and pessimistic attitude continually being buffered by Twoflower's naive yet hopeful outlook on practically everything, as the pair find themselves encountering imaginary dragons, barbarian heroes, trolls, thieves, assassins, and even Death himself. Of course, the Luggage (made of Sapient Pearwood and roaming around on hundreds of legs...) is disturbing yet endearing as well.
This is a book that I enjoy reading and re-reading when I cannot bring myself to start something new - hence the title of my review. I admit the first read through was a little jarring - Pratchett is not just another fantasy author. At first the story seems a little silly, a little borrowed, a fraction absurd (and it is meant to be), however one needs to look a lot deeper into the story, past the outer layers of comedy, to find that this book is actually telling a story deeper than the genre usually allows.
A fine first Discworld book, a favourite old read of mine, and definitely one worth picking up, whether you're a newcomer to the Disc or a seasoned traveller. |
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| "The first DiscWorld Book" | 2009-03-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1O28YIZAXK19Q |
| Good read, though not as entertaining as some of the later ones I have read. That said, a great start to the wonderful Discworld series and an entertaining and enjoyable read. |
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