Reviews

Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

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hotdogmafia's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

For context, I've read through Monstrous Regiment, Mort, and then The Color of Magic, currently reading through The Light Fantastic (I'd rate them roughly in that order).

For the amount of people who recommend against starting with this book for new readers in the Discworld, it contains a lot of the magical whimsy and written wit that goes through the novels I've read. The main differences between this book and the others are: 1. The story is broken up into basically four short stories that follow the main protagonists on a continual journey and 2. The story carries a less-serious, more parodical tone rather than witty, satirical, though still focused on the wider narrative that pervays the rest of the novels. These differences, to me anyways, do not create enough of a problem to prompt me on not recommending this book first, especially considering many people liking reading a series chronologically.

Rincewind is not a bad character, I find him to be refreshing change of pace from overly-stoic protagonists in most media. I don't even think he is all that cowardly, there are a few instances where he blatantly enacts cowardice, but most of the time he just deals with being in a terrible situation.

I like each of the short stories here, each one filling a specific niche. The Color of Magic short story serves as the introduction to many important pieces to the world of the Disc. More importantly, it introduces Rincewind and Twoflower, and takes place in the twin-cities of Ankh-Morpork. The Sending of the Eight is a dungeon crawler story that explores questions about the deities of the Disc and the magic system. The Lure of the Wyrm is a story of dragon-tamers and political intrigue. Lastly, Close to the Edge is the story that ends off the book by tackling life at the Rim. I prefer The Color of Magic the most, I really like how it functions in the grander narrative, then I'd take Close to the Edge, The Lure of the Wyrm, and the Sending of the Eight.

This is a great book, both to newcomers and to seasoned inhabitants of the Disc.

anerdlereadle's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

niqoole's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

cbala6's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bperl's review against another edition

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3.0

A fun (and utterly absurd) parody of fantasy fiction. Worth the read, but I'm not sure I'll pick up the second book.

rebeccasreadingrambles's review against another edition

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4.0

I really enjoyed this book, but it took me a while to get through it. I had to get into the different style of the writing, which is interesting and definitely different from any other books I've read. I loved the characters (especially Twoflower) and had so much fun following them through crazy adventures. Discworld is an awesome setting and I will definitely be reading more. Whenever I picked this book up it entertained me and confused me at the same time. Really fun.