The Discworld Diaries

[Marky Lazer]

Day eighteen:

I just read part one of The Colour Of Magic, surprisingly called, The Colour of Magic. I'll be reading The Sending of Eight and its prologue tonight (but in a different order than I just said; I guess the prologue before the actual story...). I'll refuse to share my opinions on the book (yet). I will only do so after finishing the entire book (which will be Sunday morning probably).

On Covers:
I fully agree that the Josh Kirby covers (and nowadays Paul Kiby) are way better than the inspirationless drab on the cover of my books, but, in my defence, they were the cheapest. My bank account didn't agree on buying fancy-covered hardbacks, really.

 

[Joel007]

They're just different covers in different countries, and I totally agree with not just buying a book because of it's cover

 

[The Upright Man]

the non-uk cover looked good, gave it a adult harry potter-esque theme.

just remember one thing marky..dont forget the "bloody tourists"

ull get wot i meen

 

[Marky Lazer]

Day nineteen:

Finished The Sending of Eight (I like the gods playing with dice) and started The Lure Of The Wyrm...

 

[Hilarious Joke]

Does Pratchett have chapters now?

 

[Marky Lazer]

Day twenty:
Almost finished The Lure Of The Wyrm, will be moving on to Close To The Edge. Expect a review of The Color Of Magic tomorrow...

Does Pratchett have chapters now?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Very few of the Discworld novels have chapter divisions, interweaving storylines instead. Pratchett is often quoted that he "just never got into the habit of chapters", adding later "I have to shove them in the putative YA [young adult] books because my editor screams until I do". However, the first Discworld novel, The Colour Of Magic, was divided into "books", as is Pyramids. Going Postal does have chapters, including both a prologue and epilogue[.]

 

[Addy]

I'll be watching this thread, as I'm reading The Colour of Magic right now, and I'm ordering some of the other books right now.

 

[Allegra]

Addy, you are gonna love the next one, The Light Fantastic - one of the best of the early discworld.

 

[GOLLUM]

I've never read a single word from Pratchett, so this thread is of interest to moi...

 

[Allegra]

Now I can see a huge haul of 30 something coming...

 

[Marky Lazer]

The Colour Of Humour--a review

The Colour Of Humour—a review

The Colour Of Magic by Terry Pratchett is the kick-off to the Discworld. The world being carried by four elephants that are riding a great turtle who himself floats around through space. Yes, that's the Discworld. And, yes, that is where all the magic mayhem happens.

This first Discworld novel is about the completely inept and spineless wizard Rincewind and the adventures he has with a tourist from the Golden Empire, Twoflower. The two characters are as dissimilar from each other as water and… well… as water and a barstool as you like. Where Rincewind is a first-class coward trying to save his own skin all the time, Twoflower is curious as a cat and wants to see each and everything the Discworld has to offer: Barbarians, Dragons, Goddesses, Stars, Galaxies, and whatnots. This results in events equally surprising as entertaining.

However, to me, the best part was at the very end, even after the author concludes his story with a hearty "THE END." There Rincewind encounters "Death." See below, but that, I found to be really hilarious.

There are a few things worth noting though. First, I find The Colour Of Magic really more four short stories than one big one. The only thing that links them together is the two main characters, Rincewind and Twoflower. Would one swap the name Rincewind for Odorol and Twoflower for Pete in, say, the second part, The Sending Of Eight, you would have another easily enjoyable story, and woulnd't worry one bit about Rincewind any longer. It looks like Pratchett ran out of ideas to make the first part into a suffiecient thick book, and so added an extra story. And another one, and another one. Four stories of fifty pages make a novel, he must have thought. I think The Colour Of Magic is more an "anthology" of four stories than one big one. But, hey, that can't possibly be a reason to not pick up the book…

Before the book starts, we get a chance to see some "unanimous praise for Terry Pratchett." The San Francisco Chronicle said, "witty, frequently hilarious." And so I was expecting laughing-out-loud, hilarious moments all the time. I didn't really find these, but one. The book was fully enjoyable and it did make me chuckle lots, but I find hilarious too big a word. Nonetheless the book is thoroughly enjoyable and funny, and, this being the first in a series of about hundred forty-nine, I'm expecting the books to steadily improve into… something more often hilarious.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Day twenty-one:

As I just showed above, The Color Of Magic is out of my way. I'm going to start tonight in the second of the series The Light Fantastic.

 

[Allegra]

Fair enough, Marky. From The Light Fantastic the books get funnier, still not constantly hilarious, no. pTerry's humour and satire are often subtle. In fact somewhere from the middle of the series the books started to get darker, deeper and less funny, but many people like them even better.

If you are looking for some hilarious fantasy read, I'd like to recommend a few Chris Moore's:

Amazon.com: Practical Demonkeeping: Books: Christopher Moore

Amazon.com: Island of the Sequined Love Nun: Books: Christopher Moore

Amazon.com: The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove: Books: Christopher Moore

Amazon.com: Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal: Books: Christopher Moore

 

[Joel007]

As his work progresses, Pratchett's humour tends to become less obvious in individual jokes, and more as an underlying part of the entire plot.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Day twenty-two:

I have to say I enjoy The Light Fantastic better than The Colour Of Magic; I'm now about sixty pages in.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Day twenty-three:

Nothing to add really; am halfway through The Light.

 

[manephelien]

How do you like the books so far? I just finished Moving Pictures, and that one was very slow for the first half, but picked up a lot in the second.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Day twenty-four:

Finished The Light, see review later...

 

[Marky Lazer]

Extravagantly fanciful and unrealistic*—a review

The Light Fantastic, the second Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, continues where The Colour Of Magic ended. This time we follow the incompetent wizard Rincewind and his overly curious companion Twoflower (and his Luggage that leads its own life...) when they have to avert an apocalypse that threatens the Discworld.


Rincewind is such an awfully lousy wizard because, a long time ago, one of the eight Spells from the magical tome the Octavo nested itself in the wizard’s mind and scares off all other spells that want a place in his brain. Coincidentally, this eighth spell is the key to stop the apocalypse, while it is also the key to unimagined power for all the Wizards’ Orders (who therefore of course hunt Rincewind down). To avoid “ Judgment Day” Rincewind meets—and gets the help from some of them—Cohen the Barbarian, a druid, trolls, a magical shop, a dwarf... well, pretty much the everyday fantasy world inhabitants…

Pratchett has improved his writing while working on The Light compared to The Colour. The plot is thicker, the jokes funnier, and the story (and the satire) altogether cleverer. I found this in pretty much all ways more satisfying then the Discworld debut.

Nothing more to say about it really besides that I recommend it to each and everyone. Except to Republicans; it’s commonly known they don’t have a sense of humour.

That’s that. Two down, several hundreds to go. Starting with Equal Rites.

PS Oh yeah, our favourite character “Death” returns, too; we even get to see his house...



* Extravagantly fanciful and unrealistic, the definition of "fantastic," and it also pretty much sums up the story of The Light Fantastic.

 

[Marky Lazer]

Day twenty-four:

I'm around eighty pages in Rites. Today, also, arrived The Discworld Mapp so I can keep track of where I am...