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The Colour of Magic

Discworld #1 / 34
by Terry Pratchett
The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1) by Terry Pratchett
★ 7.46 / 263

On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. There's an avaricious but inept wizard, a naive tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course THE EDGE of the planet...

The wackiest and most original fantasy since Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

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Updated January 17, 2017
Category: Fantasy, Humor, TV series
Release date: 1983
Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett

Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE (1948–2015) was an English author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his Discworld series of about 40 volumes. Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971, and since his first Discworld novel (The Colour of Magic) was published in 1983, he wrote two books a year on average. His 2011 Discworld novel Snuff was at the time of its release the third-fastest-selling hardback adult-audience novel since records began in the UK, selling 55,000 copies in the first three days.

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Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s, and has sold more than 85 million books worldwide in 37 languages. He is currently the second most-read writer in the UK, and seventh most-read non-US author in the US.

Pratchett was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, the first Discworld book marketed for children He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2010.

In December 2007, Pratchett announced that he was suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's disease. He later made a substantial public donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust, and filmed a television programme chronicling his experiences with the disease for the BBC. Pratchett died on 12 March 2015, aged 66.

Photo: Terry Pratchett at Worldcon 2005 in Glasgow. Picture by Szymon Sokół. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Discworld

Series contains 34 primary works and has 35 total works. Current series reading order on below.

The Discworld series is a continuous history of a world not totally unlike our own, except that it is a flat disc carried on the backs of four elephants astride a giant turtle floating through space, and that it is peopled by, among others, wizards, dwarves, soldiers, thieves, beggars, vampires and witches. Within the history of Discworld, there are many individual stories which can be enjoyed in any order. But reading them in the sequence in which they were written can increase your enjoyment through the accumulation of all the fine detail that contributes to the teeming imaginative complexity of this brilliantly conceived world.

Related series Discworld Mapps
Related series The Science of Discworld
Related series Discworld (for young readers)
Related series Discworld Reference
Related series Discworld (picture books)

The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1)
★ 7.46 / 263
The Light Fantastic (Discworld #2)
★ 7.82 / 199
Equal Rites (Discworld #3)
★ 7.76 / 200
Mort (Discworld #4)
★ 8.14 / 236
Sourcery (Discworld #5)
★ 7.54 / 178
Wyrd Sisters (Discworld #6)
★ 7.84 / 207
Pyramids (Discworld #7)
★ 7.78 / 157
Guards! Guards! (Discworld #8)
★ 8.08 / 178
Eric (Discworld #9)
★ 7.00 / 172
Moving Pictures (Discworld #10)
★ 7.50 / 170
Reaper Man (Discworld #11)
★ 8.58 / 230
Witches Abroad (Discworld #12)
★ 8.14 / 187
Small Gods (Discworld #13)
★ 8.10 / 162
Lords and Ladies (Discworld #14)
★ 8.16 / 149
Men at Arms (Discworld #15)
★ 8.50 / 149
Soul Music (Discworld #16)
★ 8.08 / 161
Interesting Times (Discworld #17)
★ 7.84 / 138
Maskerade (Discworld #18)
★ 8.36 / 138
Feet of Clay (Discworld #19)
★ 8.60 / 130
Hogfather (Discworld #20)
★ 8.54 / 182
Jingo (Discworld #21)
★ 8.30 / 113
The Last Continent (Discworld #22)
★ 7.64 / 96
Carpe Jugulum (Discworld #23)
★ 8.22 / 108
The Fifth Elephant (Discworld #24)
★ 8.40 / 96
The Truth (Discworld #25)
★ 8.16 / 86
Thief of Time (Discworld #26)
★ 8.38 / 87
Night Watch (Discworld #27)
★ 8.72 / 99
Monstrous Regiment (Discworld #28)
★ 8.34 / 73
Going Postal (Discworld #29)
★ 8.74 / 86
Thud! (Discworld #30)
★ 8.14 / 64
Making Money (Discworld #31)
★ 8.28 / 60
Unseen Academicals (Discworld #32)
★ 8.02 / 70
Snuff (Discworld #33)
★ 8.08 / 41
Raising Steam (Discworld #34)
★ 7.62 / 29
The Last Hero
★ 8.44 / 16

Book Reviews

June 19, 2020
Pippa avatar
Pippa
3 ratings, 3 reviews, 0 posts
★★★★★★★★★★ 10 / 10

I fell in love with this author by the second paragraph. Here is a delightful satirical writing style, full of humour and eloquent in its execution. It’s clear right away if you are going to connect with the dry wit and the prose so beautifully crowded with lighthearted potshots at humanity.

The first of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, this novel plays with conventional ideas about the world, especially mythological archetypes and their use in the sword and sorcery fantasy genre. His tongue-in-cheek physics adds a pinch of Sci-Fi to the mix. The Color of Magic is often compared to Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for its humour but is written with more finesse.

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It lightened my heart to read this book. Surges of delight from the clever turns of phrase alternated with laughter as I read along. I particularly enjoyed this satire of fantasy because I am fascinated with the concept of reality and all its interpretations.

Here is a snippet of Pratchett's description of a wizard appearing out of thin air, an effect you might experience in a movie:
“Now the turning wizard was half man-size. At that point the growth was faster, there was a sudden crowded moment, a rush of air, and an explosion of sound. Rincewind tumbled out of the air, screaming. He hit the floor hard, choked, then rolled over with his head cradled in his arms and his body curled up tightly."

Birds are shown to carry messages, and a few pages later a man about to dispatch a message approaches a cage of white doves. But there are other cages there, and, “From one cage he removed a glossy coated rat, rolled the parchment into the phial attached to a hind leg, and let the animal go. It sniffed around the floor for a moment, then disappeared down a hole in the far wall.” The image of rats scurrying through underground tunnels with notes tied to their rear legs fits well into this city in a world of scoundrels.

Terry Pratchett obviously had a great time writing these books. He was a masterful writer and it's easy to see why so many have had fun reading the Discworld series. I thoroughly enjoyed The Color Of Magic and am on to read The Light Fantastic.

I mentioned this review in a blog post here: https://habyrd.com/blog/important-message.html  

December 4, 2007
Bluejay avatar
Bluejay
59 ratings, 27 reviews, 0 posts
★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8 / 10

I actually read this book (or more like half of it) in Finnish a long time ago and decided to give the Discworld another try in the original language. Although this fist novel of the series is relatively short book, it's not a fast read, at least if you want to catch all the jokes. And there's plenty. I never thought Death could be so funny. I would have given this maybe 3,5 stars if it was possible, but ended up choosing 4. I will bankrupt myself purchasing the rest of the series.

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