Reading The Color of Magic is akin to eating an entire bowl of ice cream just a little too fast...sure, it may cause your head to hurt at times, but the sweet rewards make it all worth it!Filled with ambitious wizards and ruthless assassins, the city of Ankh-Morpork has survived many dangers in the past, but now it faces an even more destructive force...TOURISM!!! When a rich but bored outsider named Twoflower decides to explore the city in search for adventure, it soon becomes an adventure for everyone around him, too! Twoflower's well-meaning but careless ways earn him the attention of pirates, dragonriders, and various supernatural entities, all looking to rid Twoflower of his treasure...not to mention his life! Soon failed wizard Rincewind reluctantly becomes Twoflower's guide, and as Twoflower explores more and more of Discworld looking for the adventure of a lifetime, Rincewind tries desperately to make sure his lifetime lasts for more than five minutes!This was me for about 80% of this book...Annnnnnd here I am for the other 20%....What I loved most about this book was definitely the humor. Some authors can only come up with a great laugh-out-loud moment once or twice in a book, but Pratchett is able to pull one off in just about every page! There are oodles of witty dialogue all throughout the novel, as well as some great slapstick moments. In addition, Pratchett gives us some excellent satire, too. I got a big kick out of how familiar some of Twoflower's ideas were, like when he convinces a bar owner to "place a bet" on whether or not the bar will be damaged...Twoflower calls this process "inn-sewer-ants"! By having the other characters mock the "outrageous" concepts Twoflower introduces them to, it did a magnificent job painting an amusing picture of some of the absurdities of everyday life. "The Color of Magic" isn't just a humorous book, it actually manages to pull off several different kinds of humor!Also, I was amazed with the extent of Pratchett's imagination! While some elements of this book are your standard fantasy archetypes, Pratchett really ups the ante by giving us some brilliantly creative concepts as well. With translucent dragons, trolls made out of water, a sentient piece of luggage that manages to display so much personality without ever saying a word, and an upside-down swordfight that has to be seen, errr, read to be believed, Pratchett never runs out of new ideas to entertain his audience with.Alas, while I enjoyed this book very much, I did have a couple of issues with it. For one thing, I felt like Pratchett tried to cram way too much into a book that's barely over 200 pages. So many characters and creatures come and go, it quickly becomes difficult to keep track of what's going on! I have some friends who didn't enjoy the "Game of Thrones" book as they found it confusing, but at least George R.R. Martin takes a good amount of time to establish all the characters, whereas this book can sometimes feel like trying to watch a NASCAR race where all the cars are speeding in a different direction! Also, some of Pratchett's ideas were a little too "out-there" for me...I knew this was going to be a problem right away, when Pratchett begins the book by revealing that Discworld is a planet that is carried on the backs of four elephants who are all standing on the shell of a giant turtle that is floating through space..."This is an awful lot to throw at me on page one, Mr. Pratchett!"Also, while "The Color of Magic" works beautifully as a comedy, I'm afraid the actual story doesn't quite hit the mark. The book is divided into four parts, and each part feels like a separate book. Almost anyone introduced in one section is absent in the other three, so we're left wondering what happened to many different characters. While the events of Rincewind's and Twoflower's journey are fun to watch, there's very little true progression or closure. This storytelling technique was especially baffling in the fourth segment, where Pratchett keeps referring to an adventure that we never got to see, as it occurred inbetween the third and fourth sections. This disjointed method of storytelling prevented the book from becoming anything more than just a comedy of errors, as amusing as those errors may have been.So, while I felt this book would have been better if it were a bit longer and some of the concepts had been more fleshed out, I still had a lot of fun reading this hysterically funny adventure. I've been told that the first couple of books in the Discworld series pale in comparison to the later ones. Considering how entertaining "The Color of Magic" was, if this truly is one of the weaker entries, I can't wait to read more of the Discworld series!
Magic never dies. It merely fades away. I first visited the world of Discworld at the age of twelve when I was still wolfing down picture books and fingering through easy-peasy written books. Then one day, I saw a friend prancing around with this book to classes. I have a sharp eye on colourful book covers and this one's won me over. I demanded asked to borrow this and right on the spot, he let me.Back home I immediately flipped to page one. Upon the first few paragraphs however, my brain went dead.Has someone ever tell you a joke that is supposed to be funny but you just don't get the meaning? That was how it was like with this book. I didn't get the humour and the worldbuilding was much too intricate for me to swallow.So in the end, I gave up after 15+ pages in. The next few days after my defeat, the book was returned back to its owner. I did not look back after that. Six years later, I revisited Discworld, and I can safely say that I absolutely love the adventures this time. The worldbuilding took a while to piece itself together but when it did, the final image is fantastic and utterly magical. Imagine a whole world being carried on the backs of four elephants standing on the shell of a large, gigantic turtle (sex undertermined) as it moves slowly throughout space.Bizzare, isn't it?That is what I would describe the whole story. Bizzare, and completely out-of-the-blue. Rincewind who's an incompetent, dull-witted wizard found himself acting as a tour guide for the naive, gullible, and painfully optimistic Twoflower who had just arrived in Ankh-Morpork hoping for an unforgettable adventure. Armed with a hundred-legged Luggage that can snap and bite, a bag full of gold and a picture box (camera), he is the very image of a tourist except with the label 'KIDNAP ME AND TAKE ALL MY GOLD' slapped on his forehead. When Twoflower got kidnapped for his money, Rincewind was forced to rescue the fellow.Tourists, Rincewind decided, meant Idiot.The Colour of Magic is a series of adventures and unfortunate events between a cynic wizard and a happy-go-lucky tourist.I don't think I've ever laughed this hard after Good Omens, another fun satirical book. The story is always delivered in full humour, always even when things turn a wee bit grim. This time though, the witty remarks are not lost on me. Much like the title promised, the book is full of colour and magic (don't expect too much from Rincewind though. He may be a wizard but he only knew one spell). It never failed to keep me on my toes with its fantasy elements that keep pouring in. There are dryads, elves, dragons you must imagine to conjour to life, a walking Luggage, an imp who paint pictures, a talking sword, hydrophobic wizards, gods, goddesses, and DEATH Himself. Adventures after adventures! If you want a fun read then this book is something to be reckoned with.'It was octarine, the colour of magic. It was alive and glowing and vibrant and it was the undisputed pigment of the imagination, because wherever it appeared it was a sign that mere matter was a servant of the powers of the magical mind. It was enchantment itself.But Rincewind always thought it looked a sort of greenish-purple.'
What do You think about The Color Of Magic (2005)?
I read this book way back in high school, when I lived in England. Having forgotten everything except for the fact that there was a trunk that liked to eat people, I bought the book (again) to see how it stood up these many years later. As I've read I've received goodreads messages and been spoken to by several people who have warned me that Pratchett was just warming up with this one, that he hadn't reached his highest form yet. I still have to read more of his work (I'm planning on Mort and Guards! Guards!), so I have no benchmark to measure against other than what I thought in high school versus what I think now. And while the book is funny, it's not as hilarious as I remember it. I've probably become a little jaded since those days, which is more a reflection of me and my experiences than it is of Pratchett and his writing. That's not to say that the book was bad, it wasn't. In fact, it's got some moments of pure brilliance and was, in some ways, much more well-written than I had expected. The exchange between the Arch Astronomer of Krull and Goldeneyes Dactylos smacks strongly of the sort of humor one would expect in a Jeeves and Wooster story. And that is the highest compliment I think I can give to a piece of humorous writing. The section on the Wyrmberg sniffed in Michael Moorcock's direction. And at least a couple of the characters were spoofs of two of my favorites: Fafhrd and Grey Mouser.I must admit that I also liked Rincewind, the bungling wizard. Some have labelled him a coward. I'd call him . . . normal. Someone like you or me: allergic to pain, justifiably afraid of being dropped from great heights, fearful of fear itself, and yet he commits himself to get done what needs to get done when it really matters . . . most of the time. Unlike, say, Gandalf, Rincewind is full of foible and, as a result, a really loveable character. At least he was for me. I feel for the guy. Sometimes what I'm feeling is embarrassment, but I feel for him.Poor Rincewind. I do hope to see him again.Twoflower, the other main character, I liked at the beginning, but by the end of the book he seems to have become rather withdrawn and almost a touch (just a touch) sullen. I couldn't figure out why he changed so much through the book, so I'm left to speculate.Maybe he became jaded after high school, just like me.
—Forrest
Por fin me he puesto con el reto que tenía entre manos, comenzar desde el inicio la saga Mundodisco del fallecido Terry Pratchett; aunque ya había leído algún volumen suelto (porque en esta saga poco importa el orden en realidad), en esta ocasión quiero seguir el orden de publicación.En este primer volumen nos narran a través de cuatro capítulos la historia de Dosflores, un singular turista de una lejano Imperio que desea conocer a los famosos héroes de Mundodisco, vivir emocionantes aventuras y realizar recuerdos o cuadros de la ciudad más grande y corrupta, Ankh-Mopork. Gracias a ello iremos conociendo todo un elenco de simpáticos personajes como son el fracasado mago que solo sabe un hechizo Rincewind, la graciosa Muerte, el guerrero bárbaro Hrun y algunos de los dioses de Mundodisco más poderosos como son Dama y Sino.Cada capítulo es totalmente diferente, aunque tienen como hilo conductor las peripecias de Dosflores y Rincewind; aventuras en las que Pratchett va haciendo pequeños homenajes a obras clásicas de la fantasía como Dragonlance o Conan. Es estilo de Pratchett es espectacular, sobre todo por la forma directa que tiene y como te hace prestar atención a lo claramente importante de lo que está narrando. Eso sí, es un estilo un tanto loco de contar historias, aderezado con bastante humor inglés y donde cada párrafo o descripción desborda imaginación con escenas la mar de divertidas, descabelladas y completamente absurdas en algunas ocasiones.Lo que encontré negativo en esta novela es que al principio estamos totalmente perdidos, no entendemos la mitad de lo que nos está contando, o al menos así fue en mi caso. Luego comienzas a comprender como van las cosas en Mundodisco, el disco con una cúpula azul apoyado sobre 4 gigantescos elefantes y a su vez sobre la Gran Tortuga A´Tuin; donde la magia, el color y los números tienen mucha importancia; un mundo habitado por héroes, dioses, dragones imaginarios, trolls y un sinfín de criaturas.Sin duda quiero continuar con la saga, aunque son 40 volúmenes y creo que me llevará la vida, de pronto creo que enseguida caerá el segundo, ya que quiero saber cómo continúan las andanzas de Rincewind y compañía.
—Mangrii
“Rincewind tried to force the memory out of his mind, but it was rather enjoying itself there, terrorizing the other occupants and kicking over the furniture.” Hey, look at that! That’s what happens to my brain all the time!Seriously though, if you like humorous fantasy there is no escaping Terry Pratchett, and the colour of magic is probably one of the staples in the genre. And for good reason! It's got word plays: the most memorable might be Twoflower working with inn-sewer-ants, although I think the Circumfence scene is probably my favourite.There are plenty of fantasy tropes being subtly mocked: the unlikely hero, a dozen deus ex machine solutions and even interfering gods, when they're not too busy playing their own games that is.And of course there is the fantastic, snappy luggage that gets very upset and behaves like a bulldozer when it doesn’t get its way. I just loved the sound of his bizillion little feet. So it's creative and funny; why didn’t it get the full 5 stars?I’m not sure I can explain it, but i'll try: the storyline just doesn’t really flow smoothly; it kind of reads like cobblestones. And I don't like biking over cobblestones. It makes my arms itch.
—Hanne
