A "guided" tour of Discworld (The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett)

Member Name: sandemp

Product:	The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
Date:	10/05/05 (155 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great read, Introduces Discworld and, it's inhabitants

Disadvantages: Not as complex as later books

I’ve been quite the fan of Science Fiction novels ever since I was a young teenager, and one of my favourite series of books is the Discworld novels written by Terry Pratchett. Although I’ve read countless of the books, it came as a bit of a shock to find I hadn’t actually read the very first book in the series, The Colour Of Magic. As soon as I realised this I had to remedy the situation and I have this very day finally managed to read it, and now I’m going to share my thoughts on it with you.

---About Discworld---

On the back of a giant space turtle stand four enormous elephants, on whose shoulders rest a flat circular planet that from now on will be known as Discworld. While here in our world we have electricity and science, in Discworld they have magic, in fact the magic is such an intrinsic part of life that no-one thinks anything of it. This is also a world of gods, trolls and dragons that only exist if you believe in them hard enough.

---About our (anti-)heroes---

The book focuses on two main characters, well make that three, as the last of the trio may not be exactly a one but it certainly is full of character.

--Rincewind--

Now I suppose Rincewind could be very loosely described as a wizard, and he was a student at the Unseen University* so I suppose it’s as good a description as any. But he’s not a particularly good wizard, in fact he’s totally useless and only knows one spell (or at least it knows the inside of his brain) and if he ever uses it, it might just mean the end of the world.

There is one thing, however that Rincewind is very good at, and that is staying alive. If cowardice and running away were Olympic sports then he’d not only win gold, but also hold the world record in both events.


*The Unseen University is where the wizards learnt to be wizards, a bit like Hogwarts but instead of girl’s they have an Orang-utan (the librarian).

--TwoFlower--

As Discworld’s first tourist TwoFlower is a bit of an oddity, as he “experiences’ all that the world has to offer, he seems to float through the book, never showing any concern for his experiences. In his home kingdom, Trob, he is a Inn-sewer-ants salesman. And I would imagine a very good one at that, as he manages to sell it to one of his captors.

As with many tourists in our world, he gets by with a peculiar mix of naivety, generous tips and his trusty travel guide. As he travels chaos follows him, but somehow he never seems to notice.

--The Luggage--

Picture if you will a pirate’s treasure chest, now imagine that it’s grown hundreds of tiny legs and a gaping mouth with teeth !! Then add a touch of vicious determination to satisfy it’s desire to follow and protect it’s master and you almost have The Luggage. There is so much more that could be said about The Luggage, but I’ll leave it there so that you can discover this piece of baggage for yourself.

---About the Story---

As the book opens we are transported to the twin cities of Ankh-Morpork, which just happens to be on fire, and our eponymous heroes are attempting their escape not only from the flames but also various parties that wish them dead.

As the book continues we are treated to a “guided” tour of Discworld, as we follow Rincewind & Co. as they struggle to survive the rigours of the ultimate in alternative tourism.

---About the writing style---

The writing style in this book is not quite the same as in the books that follow it in the series. Unlike the later book it is split into sections, that while not quite chapters, do give natural breaks for those times when you can’t finish the book in one sitting.

There also don’t seem to be as many postscripts* in this book as I am used to, they are still there but only a couple at the beginning of the book. This was a little disappointing for me, as I enjoy that feature in the books as it adds an extra layer to the story.

The humour was, however, the best part of the book, I found myself smiling, giggling and outright laughing as I made my though the book, it was one of the funniest I have read, and definitely upto the standard I expected.

There are however still plenty of layers in the story, as well as loads of parodies of our lives, I particularly liked the Discworld version of a camera, and Pratchett’s take on trade unions.

* Just like this.

---Questions the book answers---

* Where do the gods go when they’ve finished manifesting themselves?
* What does a frog really turn into when it’s enchanted?
* Do dragons really exist?

---About My Opinion---

I’ll now give my opinion on various aspects of the book :

--The book cover--

The cover is what drew me to the first Discworld book I ever read, and this is just as eye-catching. Full of action, it really does represent the story inside perfectly.

--The Storyline--

While I’m not sure there is really a storyline as such, (more a series of adventures), I loved this book and finished it in two sittings. I found that I really wanted to know what happened next, and felt as though I was being given a guided tour of Discworld.

I can honestly say there was not even one paragraph that I was tempted to skip (and I have quite a short attention span) and I was really loathed to put the book down for the night.

--The characters--

Both major and minor characters were well developed, and I really found myself gunning for Rincewind in his survival attempts. Although some of the characters were not as well rounded as they become in later books (DEATH for example was not quite what he becomes), the start is there for later elaboration.

I must say that I didn’t quite feel the same empathy with TwoFlower, but there again, this may have been quite intentional, as the character does seem detached from his surroundings.

--Re-readability--

I’ve just finished reading this, and I can’t help but feel that I’ve somehow missed some of the jokes, so I can see myself reading it again in the near future. I do find that all of the Discworld books need to be read at least twice, as the first time I’m concentrating too hard on the story, while on subsequent reads I can allow myself to look a little harder for the in-jokes.


---My Overall Opinion---

I was a little apprehensive that I wouldn’t enjoy this book as much as I had the ones that I had read previously (that were later in the series), but I actually loved it. I found that I had started reading it knowing that the characters were not likely to be as well-developed, I found myself pleasantly surprised. I also found that reading this gave me the background information, that I hadn’t even realised was missing, and I’m sure as I return to the later books I will get even more pleasure from them.

I am therefore recommending this book not only to those new to the Science Fiction genre and writings of Terry Pratchett, but also to those who like me somehow missed the first book, as it truly is an excellent introduction to Discworld.

---Technical Bits---

Available from Amazon for £4.89 or borrow it from your library for free.

ISBN : 0552124753
No. Pages : 238

Summary: