Author: Terry Pratchett
Cover Artist: Josh Kirby
Publisher: Corgi Books
Binding: Paperback
Publication Date: 1985
The discworld offers sights far more impressive than those found in universes built by Creators with less imagination but more mechanical aptitude.
The Sending of the Light – Prologue
People have been bugging me to read Pratchett for ages and last week I finally gave in. The absurd humour of Discworld has earned Pratchett a large number of fans and since the publication of The Colour of Magic over 30 Discworld novels have appeared. I’m still not quite sure how they all relate to each other, it doesn’t seem to be one continuous series, so to avoid getting lost in somewhere in the series I started at the beginning. I found The Colour of Magic very entertaining but I don’t believe this work is the reason for Discworld’s popularity.
As you may have guessed from it’s name, Discworld is in fact just that. A disc. But one being supported by four gigantic elephants which in turn are supported by the great turtle A’Tuin. As you can imagine the Discworld looks rather different from what we’re used to and if that wasn’t enough, there’s also quite a bit of magic present to account for even more strange sights. Obviously such a strange world is inhabited by strange creatures and watched over by an equally strange pantheon.
One such strange creature is the failed wizard Rincewind. Rincewind knows only one spell that was accidentally locked into his mind after a silly bet and which caused him to be kicked out of school. He has since made his home in the bad part Ankh-Morpork, working as little as he can get away with. This ambition is rudely disturbed by the arrival of a tourist, an as of yet unheard concept, from the counterweight continent. This man by the name of Twoflowers is followed by a treasure chest on a thousand little feet and is quite obviously clueless. Twoflowers offers Rincewind a job as tour guide. Easy money as far as the wizard is concerned, but are some encouragement but the local magistrate (the kind that may keep your head attached to the rest of you) to keep up the good work, it quickly becomes clear it is far from the ideal job for Rincewind.
The Colour of Magic follows Rincewind and Twoflowers through four connected adventures. Although definitely linked, they do give me the idea that Pratchett tried to make a book out of for short stories. It is undeniably funny though. In rapid succession Pratchett makes fun of tourism, insurance and a host of fantasy clichés. Especially the scenes with the stereotypical barbarian/hero Hrun are hilarious at times and Death is absolutely brilliant. On the one hand I enjoyed Pratchett’s absurd humour but on the other I didn’t consider it a memorable read. Still, the later ones considered to be better. I’m not convinced yet, but I think I’ll try another one.
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