The Color of Magic
by Terry Pratchett
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Book Reviews of The Color of Magic
Book Review: Was this a story?
Summary: 2 Stars
I am a fan of the fantasy genre, and also a fan of dry, witty humor, and from what I gathered from my better-read friends, the Discworld series is an exemplary cross between the two. I therefore dove into this book with very high expectations, which is probably a shame, because it frankly failed to live up to them.
It's not that the book failed to be funny; I laughed aloud many times as I read it. It's not that it failed to be witty; on the contrary, I often felt that an intended witticism might have been so subtly crafted as to slip right by me, unnoticed.
What the book failed to do, in my opinion, was to tell a story. Sure, there is a series of events that take place, but for all intents and purposes, no one event really leads into another in any significant way. It feels something like flipping through several television channels, all of which are playing different episodes of the same bizarre comedy. The tragic offshoot of this is that none of the characters seem to have any discernible development, nor are they ever placed in any meaningful danger (as you quickly learn that there are no rules involved and they will always escape in some random and improbable manner). It's farce, in fantasy novel form, but it's not quite funny or witty enough to feel worth the trouble.
However, I know that this is the first book of a widely-read and popular series, and I will give the author the benefit of the doubt that the later books will be better. So I will continue to read a few more, in hopes that my complaints about The Color of Magic are unique to the volume, and not common to the series.
Book Review: How Did I Miss This???
Summary: 5 Stars
Note: since I HATE them myself, not one spoiler is included below...
I have been an evangelizing fan of both Kurt Vonnegut (best American dark humorist) and Douglas Adams (best sci-fi humorist) since I was in high school. I have read most of their works twice. After having taken a couple of years off, I was about to swoop in for a third reading of their classics -- starting with KW's "Cat's Cradle" and "Deadeye Dick", then moving on to DA's "Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency" -- when Terry Pratchett's name popped up on a list of recommendations from Amazon.
After reading Pratchett's "The Color of Magic" (the first in the long Discworld series), I am absolutely bewildered by the fact that I have never even heard of this guy. For me, it was like being a twenty years long fan of Hemingway, only to wake up one day to discover that there's this other guy named Fitzgerald writing about the disaffected youth of the Lost Generation as well.
I am afraid that Pratchett has flown under the RADAR screen of others, so I'm here, trying to get the word out. He's got funny, funny, stuff packed in relatively short but highly inventive packages -- ready made for those like me who spend several hours a week on public transportation.
Net/net: if your sense of humor is a little twisted (think Monty Python or Dr. Who) and your sense of literary adventure strays towards the Hitchhiker series, or any of Vonnegut's novels, or even Mark Twain, then I guarantee you'll enjoy Pratchett's escapist, whirling, g-rated, and frolicing Discworld series.
Book Review: First Experience Reading Pratchett, and Likely the First of Many
Summary: 4 Stars
I guess everyone has those authors floating around in their peripheries, often recommended by friends and favorite authors, who you know you'll like but just never have gotten around to reading. Terry Pratchett has been one of those authors for me. Everything about my tastes has suggested that I'd like him, and sure enough, having read The Color of Magic, I expect I'll be reading more of Pratchett in the future.
I began with The Color of Magic because it's the first of the Discworld novels, even though I'd heard that it wasn't Pratchett's very best. I'll admit that it does feel, at moments, like a first novel. The plot is episodic, really several shorter stories with the same key characters. As the first in a series, the novel strays sometimes from the story itself to describe the Discworld universe. These moments seem tangential in the immediate reading experience, though I'm sure they're important for fleshing out a storyworld that can sustain the series.
Still, the novel has a certain undeniable magic. Pratchett has a talent for word-play, and the characters and situations are likable and absurdly funny. The running motifs, like the luggage and Death, are called upon deftly to create the best moments of the novel. And in the various creations in this novel alone--the circumfence, the imagined dragons, the eight spells, and Discworld itself--Pratchett exhibits a seemingly endless imagination. I've copies of the next Discworld novel and the recent, acclaimed Nation on my shelf, and look forward to exploring more of Pratchett's world.
Book Review: The start of a long, wonderful friendship
Summary: 4 Stars
An oft-quoted statistic claims that 10% of all the novels sold in England are fantasy, and 10% of them are written by Terry Pratchett, thus making Pratchett the author of 1% of all the novels sold in Britain. It doesn't matter of this is accurate and up-to-date, what is true is that Terry Pratchett and his DiscWorld novels are a major phenomenon in the UK and they are popular among American readers as well for their satirical wit, amusing reversals of old clichés, and hilarious characters.
As the first in a long series, COLOR OF MAGIC pales next to some of the other novels (especially MORT) because the story devotes itself to exposition of the fabulous world in which these stories take place; the plotline wanders so as to take us to as many different parts of the world as possible. We also make our first acquaintance with characters such as Rincewind, a second-rate wizard, an underachiever some of us might identify with more than a whiz-kid like Harry Potter. The most unforgettable character here, no doubt, is the suitcase that walks around on its own legs - watch out, it bites, too.
The DiscWorld's laws and geography are not consistent, since as Pratchett says, one cannot really map a sense of humor. (That hasn't stopped someone from publishing a concurrence, but I'm sure it's all in fun.) This is a wildly imaginative, intelligent, and hilarious introduction to a long, wonderful series of stories; the kind of reading that is great fun for adults and bright younger readers alike.
Book Review: Fluff in a Can
Summary: 3 Stars
Well, at the risk of disagreeing with most of the other reviewers, I was heartily disappointed with Mr. Pratchett's literary skill. Perhaps I expected too much based on the reviews here, but I tend to think not.
While the book is definitely a satire and Mr. Pratchett can pen the occasional laugh out loud irony and he is clearly well read in the fantasy genre (see his opening scene uncredited reference to Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser) I don't think that defining a book as satire is an excuse for a lack of character development or a lack of a real plot. There wasn't much of either in this book. Perhaps even more annoying was that when the characters would get into a pickle, it seemed like dumb luck rather than any action on their part would resolve the situation. Sure, I know that the author can make anything happen in "his" book, but I enjoy books more when it seems like the character is actually affecting his destiny.
The book just came off as rather average. If you're in junior high, you'll probably love this book. If you are looking for a fantasy version of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, this is up the same alley, although not as clever or zany.
If Piers Anthony is your favorite author, buy this book. If you prefer Isaac Asimov but are in the mood for something lighter, try the Myth Adventure series by Robert Asprin, the Callahan's saloon series by Spider Robinson, or Harry Harrison's Stainless steel rat series.