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g_knowlsie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
gloymmegei's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
abbeyiscoollike's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed it, but it didn't inspire me to read the rest of the series. I found it somewhat funny but ultimately I wasn't gripped by it.
jimbriel's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
omniscienttaco's review against another edition
5.0
I stumbled upon an obscure reference to this book in a Reddit comment section, and on their recommendation, I decided that this book was up my alley. I'm so glad I found Terry Pratchett! I'm excited that I have dozens more books to read with his style of writing!
My commute is way more fun now. :)
My commute is way more fun now. :)
murmiland's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
imyerhero's review against another edition
4.0
I’m reviewing these two books together, because despite being two books, they are two halves to a single story. The story of the first tourist on the Discworld, or alternately, the story of how the Discworld was nearly destroyed, or alternately the story of Rincewind and the Octavo, or even a story concerning how nice it is to have a hero around when you need one.
In the beginning of this two-part tale, we are first introduced to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld – an entire world in the shape of a disc, set on the back of four enormous elephants, riding on the shell of gigantic turtle flying through space. On the Discworld, magic is commonplace, the gods play dice games, and you really can fall off the edge of the earth. The future of Discworld will be forever altered upon the meeting of two unique individuals. First, there is Twoflower, the very first tourist on the Discworld. He is blissfully unaware of danger and dangerously full of imagination. He’s loaded to the gills with pure gold and has a luggage trunk that will follow him anywhere and protect him from anything. Or at least try. The second individual is Rincewind, a failed wizard who has been expelled from the Unseen University of Magic for being completely incompetent in the ways of magic. In fact, Rincewind has only ever been able to retain one spell – that of one of the great eight spells of the Octavo. Rumor has it all the other spells are so frightened of this one spell, they refuse to stay in Rincewind’s mind.
Rincewind is charged with keeping Twoflower safe and making him happy. This seems like it’d be an easy job, but considering their personalities are fantastically opposite from each other, Twoflower has quite the knack for irritating Rincewind. Between the two of them, they discover dragons, trolls, meet several gods, stop pagan sacrifices, arrange romances for heroes, visit Death’s house for a game of bridge, and fall off the edge of the Disc. We’re introduced to hundreds of violently alive characters, all of whom add a great depth (and often a high sense of hilarity) to the story and the Discworld itself.
Having never read any of Terry Pratchett’s works, I felt I should probably start at the beginning. “The Colour of Magic” was the very first book written about the Discworld which has now become so famous among sci-fi and fantasy readers. I feel I should say I’m forever indebted to my husband for introducing Pratchett and me. He has all the talent of a fantastically famous writer (he is one) and all the humor and randomness of Douglas Adams. There’s not so much that the story is lost, as in some of Adams’ works, but there’s quite enough to keep me giggling long into the night as I try and squeeze in just a little bit more reading. If you’re not a fan of either fantasy or sci-fi, but enjoy books with a social statement to make in a parable-like manner, these books would be a great place to start as an introduction to a phantasmagorically phenomenal series.
In the beginning of this two-part tale, we are first introduced to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld – an entire world in the shape of a disc, set on the back of four enormous elephants, riding on the shell of gigantic turtle flying through space. On the Discworld, magic is commonplace, the gods play dice games, and you really can fall off the edge of the earth. The future of Discworld will be forever altered upon the meeting of two unique individuals. First, there is Twoflower, the very first tourist on the Discworld. He is blissfully unaware of danger and dangerously full of imagination. He’s loaded to the gills with pure gold and has a luggage trunk that will follow him anywhere and protect him from anything. Or at least try. The second individual is Rincewind, a failed wizard who has been expelled from the Unseen University of Magic for being completely incompetent in the ways of magic. In fact, Rincewind has only ever been able to retain one spell – that of one of the great eight spells of the Octavo. Rumor has it all the other spells are so frightened of this one spell, they refuse to stay in Rincewind’s mind.
Rincewind is charged with keeping Twoflower safe and making him happy. This seems like it’d be an easy job, but considering their personalities are fantastically opposite from each other, Twoflower has quite the knack for irritating Rincewind. Between the two of them, they discover dragons, trolls, meet several gods, stop pagan sacrifices, arrange romances for heroes, visit Death’s house for a game of bridge, and fall off the edge of the Disc. We’re introduced to hundreds of violently alive characters, all of whom add a great depth (and often a high sense of hilarity) to the story and the Discworld itself.
Having never read any of Terry Pratchett’s works, I felt I should probably start at the beginning. “The Colour of Magic” was the very first book written about the Discworld which has now become so famous among sci-fi and fantasy readers. I feel I should say I’m forever indebted to my husband for introducing Pratchett and me. He has all the talent of a fantastically famous writer (he is one) and all the humor and randomness of Douglas Adams. There’s not so much that the story is lost, as in some of Adams’ works, but there’s quite enough to keep me giggling long into the night as I try and squeeze in just a little bit more reading. If you’re not a fan of either fantasy or sci-fi, but enjoy books with a social statement to make in a parable-like manner, these books would be a great place to start as an introduction to a phantasmagorically phenomenal series.
awrathall's review against another edition
3.0
Classic example of Pratchett's irreverent comic writing, though the plot is very all over the place and lacks a focus. Later Rincewind novels give the same humourous experience but are overall more satisfying to read.
kairosdreaming's review against another edition
2.0
I'd heard a lot about these books. The Disc World series is huge and even has a few movies to its name. I decided it had to be good right? Well, to be honest, I was very disappointed in this book. It wasn't near what I expected from all the hype that accompanied Pratchett's books.
The Colour of Magic is the first book in the series, although I've heard that they can mostly be read as stand-alones. Which is probably a good thing since I believe there are over thirty novels in the series. This one involved two main characters of Rincewood the incompetent wizard and Twoflower, a bumbling tourist. They encounter a myriad of characters along the way, including Death. Coerced into keeping Twoflower safe, Rincewood encounters all sorts of hazards and people trying to kill them. Especially since Death himself is interested in Rincewood. They travel and meet dragons, edge-worlders (Discworld is of course a disc, balanced on the backs of four elephants who in turn stand on a turtle), trolls, and other strange beasts, most of whom are not very friendly.
Rincewood and Twoflower are not very exciting characters. They don't have a lot of development and their conversations are not very intriguing. Rincewood especially I just found annoying. There is only so far you can make someone inept and he didn't really seem to have any redeeming qualities. Just a lot of luck. Twoflower is little better, but at least he has some interesting background compared to Rincewood.
The writing was very jumpy. So many characters and and places were introduced in the beginning that I never got them sorted out in my head before having to move on to the next thing in the plot. The story also jumped around a lot. I'd no sooner get to one point in the novel then it seemed that they were already on a new adventure without resolving the last. I just wasn't a big fan of the way it flowed. There were a few funny moments, but it wasn't enough to make up for the majority of the book.
I do hope these books get better. I'm going to try a few more because there's got to be a reason the series is so popular. I have heard that the writing and plots get better so I am somewhat excited to read more. Here's hoping that I can leap into Discworld with further novels.
The Colour of Magic
Copyright 1983
210 pages + extras
Review by M. Reynard 2010
The Colour of Magic is the first book in the series, although I've heard that they can mostly be read as stand-alones. Which is probably a good thing since I believe there are over thirty novels in the series. This one involved two main characters of Rincewood the incompetent wizard and Twoflower, a bumbling tourist. They encounter a myriad of characters along the way, including Death. Coerced into keeping Twoflower safe, Rincewood encounters all sorts of hazards and people trying to kill them. Especially since Death himself is interested in Rincewood. They travel and meet dragons, edge-worlders (Discworld is of course a disc, balanced on the backs of four elephants who in turn stand on a turtle), trolls, and other strange beasts, most of whom are not very friendly.
Rincewood and Twoflower are not very exciting characters. They don't have a lot of development and their conversations are not very intriguing. Rincewood especially I just found annoying. There is only so far you can make someone inept and he didn't really seem to have any redeeming qualities. Just a lot of luck. Twoflower is little better, but at least he has some interesting background compared to Rincewood.
The writing was very jumpy. So many characters and and places were introduced in the beginning that I never got them sorted out in my head before having to move on to the next thing in the plot. The story also jumped around a lot. I'd no sooner get to one point in the novel then it seemed that they were already on a new adventure without resolving the last. I just wasn't a big fan of the way it flowed. There were a few funny moments, but it wasn't enough to make up for the majority of the book.
I do hope these books get better. I'm going to try a few more because there's got to be a reason the series is so popular. I have heard that the writing and plots get better so I am somewhat excited to read more. Here's hoping that I can leap into Discworld with further novels.
The Colour of Magic
Copyright 1983
210 pages + extras
Review by M. Reynard 2010
liesunddas's review against another edition
4.0
"Die Farben der Magie" ist das erste von vielen Scheibenwelt-Büchern von Terry Pratchett und ein rundum gelungener Einstieg. "Das Licht der Phantasie" baut direkt darauf auf, weshalb ich empfehlen würde, die Bücher nacheinander zu lesen.
Terry Pratchett hat geniale, aber dabei auch sehr absurde, Fantasy geschrieben. Es ist unglaublich, was für eine Welt er geschaffen hat! Der Einstieg in die Scheibenwelt fiel mir leider etwas schwer und es kamen sehr oft neue Charaktere hinzu, die man sich merken musste. Insgesamt haben mich die Bücher aber auf jeden Fall überzeugt und ich werden ncoh weitere Geschichten aus der Scheibenwelt lesen.
Terry Pratchett hat geniale, aber dabei auch sehr absurde, Fantasy geschrieben. Es ist unglaublich, was für eine Welt er geschaffen hat! Der Einstieg in die Scheibenwelt fiel mir leider etwas schwer und es kamen sehr oft neue Charaktere hinzu, die man sich merken musste. Insgesamt haben mich die Bücher aber auf jeden Fall überzeugt und ich werden ncoh weitere Geschichten aus der Scheibenwelt lesen.