Saturday 29 October 2011

Review: The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett

On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. There's an avaricious but inept wizard, a naive tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course THE EDGE of the planet . . .

Discworld Series:
The Colour of Magic (Rincewind book 1)
The Light Fantastic (Rincewind book 2)
Equal Rites (Witches book 1)
Mort (Death book 1)
Sourcery (Rincewind book 3)
Wyrd Sisters (Witches book 2)
Pyramids
Guards! Guards! (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 1)
Eric (Rincewind book 4)
Moving Pictures (Industrial Revolution book 1)
Reaper Man (Death book 2)
Witches Abroad (Witches book 3)
Small Gods
Lords and Ladies (Witches book 4)
Men at Arms (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 2)
Soul Music (Death book 3)
Interesting Times (Rincewind book 5)
Maskerade (Witches book 5)
Feet of Clay (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 3)
Hogfather (Death book 4)
Jingo (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 4)
The Last Continent (Rincewind book 6)
Carpe Jugulum (Witches book 6)
The Fifth Elephant (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 5)
The Truth (Industrial Revolution book 2)
Thief of Time (Death book 5)
The Last Hero (Rincewind book 7)
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
Night Watch (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 6)
The Wee Free Men (Tiffany Aching book 1)
Monstrous Regiment (Industrial Revolution book 3)
A Hat Full of Sky (Tiffany Aching book 2)
Going Postal (Moist von Lipwig book 1) (Industrial Revolution book 4)
Thud! (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 7)
Wintersmith (Tiffany Aching book 3)
Making Money (Moist von Lipwig book 2) (Industrial Revolution book 5)
Unseen Academicals (Rincewind book 8)
I Shall Wear Midnight (Tiffany Aching book 4)
Snuff (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 8)
The World of Poo
Raising Steam (Moist von Lipwig book 3) (Industrial Revolution book 6)
The Shepherd's Crown (Tiffany Aching book 5)

Discworld Related books:
The Discworld Mapp - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Briggs
Terry Pratchett's Discworld Colouring Book - Paul Kidby
Terry Pratchett's Discworld Imaginarium - Paul Kidby

Visit Terry Pratchett's website for more information

Review:
I first discovered Terry Pratchett's Discworld series when I was in my teens and I have been a massive fan of his work ever since, over the years I've read most of the series but I thought it was about time I started a re-read. Although you don't have to read the series in order I have a bit of a thing when it comes to series so I have had to start again at the beginning.

If you've never discovered the Discworld books (although that is highly unlikely lol) then I can't recommend the series enough, Terry Pratchett has a fantastic imagination and a way of writing that will have you laughing throughout the whole book. The Colour of Magic is our introduction to Discworld, a flat, circular world that rests on the back of four giant elephants who are standing on an even bigger turtle that is flying through space. Has that caught your interest? How can you resist something as brilliantly crazy as that? I would love to spend time inside Terry's mind and see where he gets his ideas from!

Here we follow the adventures of the not very successful wizard Rincewind as he tries to keep hapless tourist Twoflower safe. The pair bumble along from one mishap to the next somehow managing to avoid serious injury despite being in the most difficult circumstances. They will meet dragons & barbarians, have more than one brush with Death and are constantly trailed by a walking luggage chest with very big teeth.

There are hundreds of reviews out there for this book so I'm not going to go into much more detail, I'll just say that I love the characters, I love this world and from experience the series just gets better and better with every book. If you like fantasy and are looking for something that is quirky and fun you can't go wrong with any of these books and I would highly recommend the series.

Source: Purchased

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

4 comments:

  1. I've never read a discworld book... my sister LOVES them and even my boyfriend who doesn't read has read this one and loves it, he's still working on the next!
    I think I have to read this soon though because I've only heard good things!

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  2. The Colour of Magic is a fair introduction to Pratchett's humour, but it's generally agreed that the series got a lot better when the books started to include things like plots -- TCoM is a fairly random pastiche, primarily of Fritz Leiber.

    I wouldn't say don't read it, but you will get a better impression of the Discworld if you skip to Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters or even Guards! Guards!

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  3. Last year I made it my goal to read as many Terry Pratchett books as I could. I started off great, but I think I only 4-5 over the year before I got distracted by other things. I'd still really love to read more Discworld books, especially catching up on the Tiffany Aching books.

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  4. @ Raimy - you really must try a Discworld book, they're fab! Even my ex (who only read about 5 books in the 9 years we were together!) really enjoyed this one and The Light Fantastic. I love trying to find the book that will turn a non-reader into a reader lol.

    @ Clint - I agree that this isn't the best in the series, I'm always impressed with each new release and the later books are much, much better but I still love this for the complete randomness and the humor. Terry is definitely one of my favourite authors :o)

    @ Clover - I keep thinking I must finish re-reading this seris so I can get started on the more recent ones. The trouble is that TBR pile is just way too big! I'm sure you have the same problem. You should definitely read the Tiffany Aching ones though, I love the witches :o)

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