The Color of Magic
by Terry Pratchett
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Book Reviews of The Color of Magic
Book Review: Pratchett's a riot!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my second time reading this awesome book. The first was when I was 17 and new to fantasy. This book played a huge role in getting me hooked. I had previously read only dungeons and dragons novels such as Chronicles, and this was my first step away from that. It was the funniest thing I'd ever read. Now I am revisiting it as a 25-year-old and its still a blast as his style and wit make a mockery of the epic fantasy most of us are used to. It is so refreshing! I'd give it five stars, but as someone else says, "Pratchett gets better in later books."
Rincewind is a wizard, but due to a technicality- he is unable to cast a single spell throughout the book! Instead he manages to escape DEATH himself, a various assortment of Diskworld's gods, thieves, assassins, a city-engulfing fire, magicians, dragons, and monsters -thanks to an overly developed sense of cowardice and some very odd allies. They include a four-eyed insurance salesman on vacation, a talking sword, a demon camera, and a treasure-chest that run and eat people! This may sound ridiculous, but it is so well done that beginners and veteran fantasy readers alike will laugh aloud through out this one.
Read The Light Fantastic afterwards. It concludes what Colour Of Magic starts without slowing down the pace and humor at all! And There's more Rincewind books after that. They are next on my list!
Book Review: If you like Rincewind buy it, beware of the spelling of this edition
Summary: 3 Stars
This book has received mixed reviews, some praise it as the best of the Discworld series, some say it's the worst. Personally I am one of those who didn't like it, but that's okay. It had its funny moments, but if your not a fan of the main character of an individual Discworld book, you won't enjoy the book so much. In other words, if you like Rincewind, you will love this book too and will want to reread the whole series of his books so that everything stays in context. if you don't like the false Wizard's stories so much, I'd put of reading this book until there are no more Pratchett books left to read.
For readers new to the world of Discworld I have to say this an ideal starting point in the series, just bear in mind that if you don't like it do not give up on the series until you've read at least one other book of the author with a different protagonist. Reading order is not that important so in choosing the first book to read pay attention to the back covers and buy the one which grabs your imagination the most.
One note on the American edition by HarperTorch: I bought this edition as it was half the price as the Corgi edition, but the Americanization has taken away from the genuineness of the book. I don't have anything against American spelling, but it is my opinion that a publisher should respect the spelling of the author, even if he is British.
Book Review: Not Pratchett's best, but the beginning of Discworld
Summary: 3 Stars
Wherein we meet Rincewind, Twoflower, and The Luggage.
If you've never read Discworld books, I envy you. You have such a diverse and brilliant literary quest ahead of you, starting here.
'The Colour of Magic' is actually a collection of four short stories around the theme of a tourist from one part of the fantasy world is visiting another part, with Rincewind, the most incompetent wizard as his tour guide. Twoflower, the tourist, is all the sterotype tourists rolled into one. Rincewind is, well, Rincewind, occasionally more so. Rincewind is a wizard, except he can't really do any magic. He would be the hero of the book, except that would require bravery, which is on a par with his magic ability. Well, Rincewind is the eternal coward, who never wins a fight, never gets into a fight, but manages to survive every fight. The Luggage is Twoflower's travel trunk, and both cleans the laundry and eats assailants. You'll see that for yourself...
As you read 'The Colour of Magic', you can feel how vividly Terry Pratchett must see this world, and the fragile roots of many later developed threads of the Discworld series appear here. On the other hand, it is a first effort, and a little clumsy at times.
On the whole, I enjoyed it, but nowhere near as much as later installments in the Discworld series.
Book Review: A perfect start to a very good series
Summary: 5 Stars
The Discworld series is absolutely hilarious, wonderfully entertaining reading, but it is not quite perfect. The plots are a little too...well...similar to each other. Someone or another is always saving discworld from imminent doom...the ending is always just a little too overdramatized, and not quite coherent enough.But The Color of Magic is the exception. The characters don't end up on some cosmic quest to save the universe. Instead, they are flung around wildly by the forces of ridiculously good luck and absolutely horrible luck, Rincewind hanging on by his fingernails and Twoflower just enjoying the ride. I find that this sort of story, with its totally unpredictable plot turns and its charming, not-so-heroic characters, draws me in much more than the standard out-to-save-the-world Discworld book.
Don't get me wrong: the rest are great. Terry Pratchet is a comic genius. In my opinion, Discworld is Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's only real competition for funniest, funnest (a word which has been brought into existence solely for this purpose) and most ridiculous series of all time.
Yes, the other books are good, but if you are a Discworld reader who has somehow missed Color of Magic, or just a humor or fantasy fan who has somehow missed the series altogether, this particular book is a must.
Book Review: Amusing and above average, but not stellar
Summary: 4 Stars
Rincewind the (mostly) failed wizard is forced into a series of adventures with an insurance risk assessor "tourist" named Twoflower. Along for the ride is Twoflower's sentient, mobile, and ferocious luggage.I'd heard many good things about the Pratchett's Discworld books, and so decided to start the series with the first published book. It wasn't quite what I expected. Don't get me wrong, Pratchett is a very good writer, but this book didn't reach out and grab me like I thought it would. Perhaps I'd read too much about how funny the Discworld books are. This one had a number of chuckles (some laugh out loud) but generally read more as consistently amusing than roll-on-the floor funny. Most of the fun comes from the interaction between Rincewind's pathetic, survivalist instincts, and Twoflower's tourist mindset. Pratchett also pokes fun at various fantasy clichés -- the magic sword, the brave hero, and the gods, to name a few. The main problem with "The Color of Magic" is that much of the story wasn't funny or unique enough to push it above the level of ordinary good fantasy.
I can see lots of potential in Pratchett's writing so I'll definitely read more of the Discworld series. It often takes authors a few books before they hit their stride and I suspect that this is the case for Pratchett.