Filed under: book reviews, fiction | Tags: book reviews, discworld, fantasy, fiction, reviews, rincewind, terry pratchett, the colour of magic, the light fantastic, twoflower
“The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn’t sure it was worth all the effort.”
Terry Pratchett’s The Light Fantastic continues from the cliffhanging finish of The Colour of Magic. Our heroes, the wizard Rincewind and the tourist Twoflower, begin the story dangling off the edge of the world; thanks to one of the eight great spells (left behind by the creator) lodged in Rincewind’s head, the two travelers find themselves on a haphazard journey to save the Discworld.
The Light Fantastic is a great and early example of Pratchett’s literal engagement with the Discworld; for example, Great A’Tuin the world turtle acts like a regular, old turtle. Thus the strength of the main plot doesn’t have to rely on too far fetched ideas, something that seems to crop up particularly in fantasy, but rather depends on a turtle doing turtle-like things. This early book in the series does have a couple of developmental issues ranging from scene switches to some thematic humor issues, but these don’t take away from the story.
A lot of the fun in rereading The Light Fantastic is in discovering the loose assortment of foreshadowing. Pratchett seems to reference at least three future books. If not the best of the Discworld series, The Light Fantastic is a satisfying read with the usual Pratchet philosophical wanderings.
Conclusion: Keeper.
Filed under: book reviews, fiction | Tags: color of magic, colour of magic, discworld, fantasy, fiction, quotes, terry pratchett
“Twoflower was a tourist, the first ever seen on the discworld. Tourist, Rincewind had decided, meant ‘idiot.'”
The first book to occur on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, The Colour of Magic describes the journey of Rincewind and Twoflower — the Disc’s first tourist and tour guide. The reader follows them on their journey starting in Ankh-Morpork and concluding at the end of the world. Pratchett’s wit and style keeps the reader entertained along with his “serious” take on fantasy as his protagonists make their way through various fantasy genres including dungeons and dragons and magic pony.
The Colour of Magic often comes with a warning: though it’s the first it’s not the best, and some Amazon reviews seem to uphold this opinion. Though it’s rather unlike Pratchett’s later works, it’s a humorus and endearing novel in its own right. As Pratchett has described it himself, it’s a novel of travel and exposes the reader to the Discworld at its roughest stage. This is the “primordial goo” that the rest of the Discworld bubbles forth from and definitely worth a read.
Conclusion: Keeper.
Other opinions: Trish’s Reading Nook.
Filed under: book reviews, nonfiction | Tags: discworld, fantasy, humanity, lawrence watt-evans, nonfiction, terry pratchett, turtle moves!
I frequently hem and haw in regard to my “favorite” author but if someone forced my hand to make a list, and despite that it’s a list that would likely alter on a daily basis, Terry Pratchett would appear on the list every single time perhaps making Pratchett my favorite author ever. (Or perhaps simply uncloaking the feverish eyes of the fan girl living in a closet in my heart.) So when I stumbled across The Turtle Moves! an unauthorized expose on the Discworld story by Lawrence Watt-Evans I had to take a look at it.
I have never found an adequate way to explain the Discworld series and have many times seen the patina of fear glaze over a customer’s eyes as I ramble on how “it’s like this” but “also like this” and “like this too.” One of the memorable examples Watt-Evans provides is by comparing the Discworld to other fantasy and science-fiction books: Lord of the Ring fans have their ancient swords and elfin jewelry, Star Trek fans have their Klingon and spaceships, Discworld fans have their stamps, cookbooks, and bawdy drinking songs.
More so than many other books in the genre, Discworld is very much about humanity and people and their stories (and humor and at taking things absurdly literally). Watt-Evans set himself on a difficult path by exploring the 30+ novels, grouping them, and commenting on the many nuances of the Disc. Within the first few pages of the book Watt-Evans explains why you should be reading this: either because you like the Disc and can use a fix or because you’ve never experienced the Disc and ought to.
I admit I scanned much of the book because after starting it I thought, “Hey, I really should just reread Pratchett’s books.” I also confess that I disagree with one of the more emphasized issues in the book and that is the grouping of the novels (something Watt-Evans warned that various fans may do!). The odd thing about the Discworld is that it is often referred to as a singular series but truly it’s multiple series but unlike other fantasy series it doesn’t much matter what order you read any of the Discworld in.
So how do I disagree? Traditionally the books are frequently listed as character categorizations: Rincewind, Death, the Witches, etc. And Watt-Evans and I agree here, but some Discworld novels have limited or no re-appearing characters and I have always considered these stand-alone books. This is where we disagree as Watt-Evans intermingles the character categorizations with thematic categorizations. Nothing wrong with that, but ultimately I think it’s a bit sloppy to intertwine these as such extensive overlap does exist.
Watt-Evans book is fun and definitely written from a fan’s perspective as well as someone familiar with the fantasy genre. I confess I wasn’t overwhelmingly impressed (and was definitely a bit disappointed that the Discworld MUD was never mentioned (I spent a great deal of my life there!)) but it’s funny and I always enjoy reading other people’s opinions on interests I have. But what I liked best of The Turtle Moves! was not so much the commentary on Pratchett, but Watt-Evans illumination of the fantasy genre as a whole. I know very little of fantasy/science-fiction and there was a great deal of interesting information in the book. [1] I suppose what I really need to do now is give in and pick up Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature.
[1] Dear Lawrence, Please consider writing a book/article on the history of the fantasy genre so lay(wo)men like myself can broaden our horizons!
Adventures in Reading 