Fantasy/Science Fiction
1983

The Colour of Magic is the first in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Loved by millions, I came to the series much later than many and am only now discovering the wonderful place Pratchett created.

This is yet another(!) entry into the Excellent and Excruciating Write-Off hosted by Captivating CaptainD and Super Slarter.

The novel opens with a prologue describing the Discworld. It is a flat disc (think of a music cd but, of course, much larger) that lies on the back of four elephants, that in turn stand on the back of an enormous turtle, named The Great A'Tuin, moving through space. The peoples of Discworld discovered these facts when scientists from the kingdom of Krull built a pulley that enabled them to lower someone over the rim. To their disappointment, they could not ascertain A'Tuin's gender. Immediately from the beginning of the book, Pratchett's dry wit is evident as he pokes fun at creationists and evolutionists alike. "There was, for example, the theory that A'Tuin had come from nowhere and would continue at a uniform crawl, or steady gait, into nowhere, for all time. This theory was popular among academics. An alternative, favoured by those of a religious persuasion, was that A'Tuin was crawling from the Birthplace to the Time of Mating, as were all the stars in the sky which were, obviously, also carried by giant turtles. When they arrived they would briefly and passionately mate, for the first and only time, and from that fiery union new turtles would be born to carry a new pattern of worlds. This was known as the Big Bang hypothesis."

The novel proper opens with a description of a huge fire burning in Ankh-Morpork, the oldest city on Discworld. From the very first paragraph I see Pratchett is not only funny but also a lyrical, descriptive and intelligent writer who will have me reaching for the dictionary more than this one time. "Fire roared through the bifurcated city of Ankh-Morpork. Where it licked the Wizard's Quarter it burned blue and green and was even laced with strange sparks of the eighth colour, octarine; where its outriders found their way into the vats and oil stores all along Merchants Street it progressed in a series of blazing fountains and explosions; in the streets of the perfume blenders it burned with a sweetness; where it touched bundles of rare and dry herbs in the storerooms of the drugmasters it made men go mad and talk to God." With this impressive first paragraph, Pratchett has caught my attention, he's told me this world contains wizards and I want to know more, this is a book I will enjoy. A few miles from the city, two men on horseback watch the blaze with interest and then see a pair of figures approaching from the direction of the city. This is how we meet the two main characters of the book, Rincewind the Wizard and Twoflower. While Rincewind is a wizard, he isn't a very good one, having finished Unseen University with only one spell in his possession. During his time at the university, Rincewind had snuck into a room off limits to the students, had opened a book and the spell he saw there leapt into his mind. It was one of the Great Eight Spells and is believed to be so powerful, it will not allow Rincewind to learn any others. No one, including Rincewind, knows what the spell will do if he utters it. He does, however, possess a quick wit and a gift for languages, which he uses to survive and avoid work whenever possible. Pratchett's humour is not only dry but also delightfully sarcastic at times, as evidenced when the two outlaws confront Rincewind, thinking him to be a rich merchant fleeing the city with his wealth:

"'Why, it's Rincewind the wizard isn't it?' he said in tones of delight, meanwhile filing the wizard's description of him in his memory for leisurely vengeance. 'I thought I recognized the voice.'
Bravd spat and sheathed his sword. It was seldom worth tangling with wizards, they so rarely had any treasure worth speaking of.
'He talks pretty big for a gutter wizard,' he muttered.
'You don't understand at all,' said the wizard wearily, 'I'm so scared of you my spine has turned to jelly, it's just that I'm suffering from an overdose of terror right now. I mean, when I've got over that then I'll have time to be decently frightened of you.'
The Weasel pointed towards the burning city. 'You've been through that?' he asked.
The wizard rubbed a red-raw hand across his eyes. 'I was there when it started. See him? Back there?' He pointed back down the road to where his traveling companion was still approaching, having adopted a method of riding that involved falling out of the saddle every few seconds.
'Well?' said Weasel.
'He started it,' said Rincewind simply.'"

Thus we are introduced to Twoflower as Rincewind describes to the outlaws how they met and came to be escaping together. He is a tourist from a far land, cannot speak the language of the place he's visiting, is naïve with child-like innocence and excitement; I adored him. "Twoflower was a tourist, the first ever seen on the discworld. Tourist, Rincewind had decided, meant 'Idiot'." Twoflower arrived in Ankh-Morpork a few days prior to the fire, bringing with him the most amazing luggage anyone has ever seen: a huge chest with hundreds of little legs and feet, making it self-propelled. In addition, the case is sentient and proves to be very dangerous when anyone threatens it or it's owner. During this time Rincewind also encountered, for the first time, a character who becomes a recurring one throughout the novel. I came to love Death's sarcastic, dry wit. He is grimly resigned to the fact that everyone hates him and eventually decides to make Rincewind his personal project, since the wizard annoys him so much. Death always speaks in CAPITAL LETTERS, a device I thought very effective in communicating the dread we should feel on encountering this character. This dread, however, is offset by the things Death says. Pratchett makes him into an extremely likable personality, one you actually feel a little sorry for because really, he's just trying to do his job.

"RINCEWIND? Death said, in tones as deep and heavy as the slamming of leaden doors, far underground.
'Um,' said Rincewind, trying to back away from that eyeless stare.
BUT WHY ARE YOU HERE? (Boom, boom went crypt lids, in the worm-haunted fastnesses under old mountains..)
'Um, why not?' said Rincewind. 'Anyway, I'm sure you've got lots to do, so if you'll just-'
I WAS SURPRISED THAT YOU JOSTLED ME, RINCEWIND, FOR I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT WITH THEE THIS VERY NIGHT.
'Oh no, not-'
OF COURSE, WHAT'S SO BLOODY VEXING ABOUT THE WHOLE BUSINESS IS THAT I WAS EXPECTING TO MEET THEE IN PSEPHOPOLOLIS.
'But that's five hundred miles away!'
YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME, THE WHOLE SYSTEM'S GOT SCREWED UP AGAIN, I CAN SEE THAT. LOOK, THERE'S NO CHANCE OF YOU-?
Rincewind backed away, hands spread protectively in front of him. The dried fish salesman on a nearby stall watched this madman with interest.
'Not a chance!'
I COULD LEND YOU A VERY FAST HORSE.
'No!'
IT WON'T HURT A BIT.
'No!' Rincewind turned and ran. Death watched him go, and shrugged bitterly.
SOD YOU, THEN, Death said. He turned and noticed the fish salesman. With a snarl Death reached out a bony finger and stopped the man's heart, but he didn't take much pride in it."

The use of the word "sod" here shows there are a couple of instances during The Colour of Magic where Pratchett uses terms that may not be familiar to non-British readers. They are few and far between however (another example later in the book was the word treacle.)

After fleeing the burning city, Rincewind and Twoflower begin an exciting and dangerous journey through Discworld. Along the way they gain another traveling companion, Hrun the Barbarian and his talking sword, encounter dragons (that you can see only if you believe in them,) dragon riders, a creature shaped like a human but made entirely of water, a dead man that can still speak and have adventure upon adventure. They discover things about themselves neither they, nor we, had realized including Rincewind's bravery and Twoflower's cunning and sensibility. They travel very far, even to the edge of the disc and the novel ends with both a figurative and very literal cliffhanger, setting the reader up with eager anticipation for the next in the series.

The Colour of Magic is a quick, fun read while being intelligently and beautifully written. It's quite fast paced as the characters get out of one situation only to keep falling into other, continually more frightening ones. I laughed out-loud numerous times and found myself completely caught up in the adventures of the characters. The down-trodden Rincewind who's only luck is ever bad, the excitable tourist Twoflower and even the dull-witted Hrun become quite possibly the most unlikely trio of heroes you will ever encounter. We often cheer for the underdog and these three characters practically define the term. They became very real to me, their voices were distinct in my head and I could easily picture the places and events they reluctantly become a part of. The three, especially Rincewind and Twoflower, begin their relationship tenuously (at least Rincewind viewed it that way and, in fact, originally attempted to cheat Twoflower out of some money.) However, over the course of the narrative they become reluctant friends, relying on each other through the dangerous scrapes they get into. Pratchett has created a complex world with touches of science fiction but is mostly fantasy based. The discworld has mythology and also religion -- the gods direct events in people's lives by way of a game, something like chess. While the events may be directed, the individual's reaction to them is not controlled by the gods, which frustrates them (and sometimes they cheat.)

Yes, I loved this book and would recommend it to adults, teens and even older children who enjoy fantasy and/or humour. I thought the length just right at 230 pages in the paperback copy I own. It's unique and original, something quite difficult to find in the fantasy genre these days.

The Author

British writer Terry Pratchett was first published in a school newspaper at the young age of thirteen. His first published novel was The Carpet People in 1971. Since then he has written many books including, so far, 26 in the Discworld series. In 1989 Pratchett received the British Fantasy Award for Pyramids and in 1998 was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature. His books have sold more than 21 million copies and been translated into 27 languages.

http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/

To see another review I wrote on the Terry Pratchett book, Maurice and His Educated Rodents click here.

I have four (yes, four!) other entries for this write-off (cause I kinda like the hosts.) They are: A Beautiful Mind, Romeo Must Die, Carole King's Tapestry, and William Hung's Inspiration.

This has been another entry into the Excellent and Excruciating Write-Off, hosted by CaptainD and Slarter. At this point, I'm trying desperately to come up with a corresponding excruciating entry but it'll be fashionably late. They're such understanding fellas though, I'm sure they won't mind. Oh yes and by the way... while editing this review I discovered the book is quite good at squishing moths.. now if that isn't very helpful, I don't know what is!


Recommended:
Yes