The Colour of Magic

Discworld, #1

7h 58m

Published by Penguin Audio.

3 stars (2 reviews)

Somewhere between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a magical world not totally unlike our own. Except for the fact that it travels through space on the shoulders of four giant elephants who in turn stand on the shell of an astronomically huge star turtle, of course.

Rincewind is the world's worst wizard who has just been handed a very important job: to look after the world's first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land. Unfortunately, their journey across the Disc includes facing robbers, monsters, mercenaries, and Death himself.

And the whole thing's just a game of the gods that might send them over the edge....

34 editions

reviewed The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #1)

The Colour of Magic

3 stars

I wavered between 3 and 4 stars for this. Overall I enjoyed it: I've read a couple of his other books and this is what you'd expect from a Pratchett novel (whimsical, witty, eccentric). You can feel the beginnings of his style taking shape here, which is fun to see. I get the feeling that Rincewind isn't a fan favourite character but I found him entertaining. That said it was a little all over the place plot-wise, and felt quite chaotic. The pacing was also not very refined. All in all though it's a solid start to the epic Discworld series.

reviewed The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett (Discworld -- 1, #1)

Torn between 3 and 4 stars

3 stars

Enjoyed it - a fun read!

Discworld and Sir Terry were a big part of my life growing up, he had a large impact on who I became.

I'm not sure for newcomers to his writing I'd fully recommend The Colour of Magic - I believe Sir Terry himself said to start from book three (Sourcery) - but this is an interesting historical artefact.

I plan to read through the entire Discworld series in the coming months (and years, I guess - I don't plan to only read Discworld non-stop), so starting from the very beginning to experience how Sir Terry's style developed was a key choice for me.

I did enjoy it a lot though! Torn between 3 and 4 stars. It's good! But I feel like 4 stars requires a level of excellence not quite attained here - it does feel a little disjointed at times, and some …

Subjects

  • Discworld (Imaginary place)
  • Fiction
  • Romans
  • Merveilleux
  • Fantasy
  • Samuel Vimes (Fictitious character)
  • Rincewind
  • Twoflower (fictional characters)
  • parody
  • humour
  • Dollhouses
  • Doll furniture
  • Miniature objects
  • Collectors and collecting
  • Miniature dolls
  • Fiction, humorous
  • Fiction, fantasy, general
  • Discworld (imaginary place), fiction
  • Fiction, humorous, general
  • Rincewind the wizard (fictitious character), fiction
  • Fiction, satire
  • Geographical myths