Book Review: The Color of Magic by Sir Terry Pratchett

The Color of Magic (alternate title: The Colour of Magic)
-Author: Sir Terry Pratchett
-Publishing Date: 1983
-Setting Genre: Fantasy, on the back of a giant turtle in space
-Narrative Genre: Satire, Travelogue, Picaresque
-Themes: Frustration of living in a world not based on logic, The put-upon tour guide,

Subjective Length: A day or two

Overall 7/10. I'm tempted to drop this to a six, solely for a lack of inter-genre appeal. However, its length makes it a little more palatable to readers who are not already fans of the fantasy genre, and the humor is all at once over the top, absurd, and understated in a classically British way. Pratchett is sometimes called the Douglas Adams of the fantasy genre, and I think the term fits admirably.

Controversial Themes:
Nudity: Characters are often nude, little is made of it except to mention the fact.

**SPOILERS AHEAD***SPOILERS AHEAD***SPOILERS AHEAD***SPOILERS AHEAD**

The main premise of the story is that the world is flat and is held on the backs of four elephants who are, themselves, standing on a turtle, which is flying through space. This volume contains four vignettes of life on this world, which follow Rincewind the wizard, and Twoflower: a tourist from a wealthy continent across the sea. What follows is a comedy of errors, made more poignant by the fact that Rincewind is under orders of the Patrician to keep Twoflower safe. Shortly after giving these orders, the Patrician received new instruction to have Twoflower killed. This information never makes it to Rincewind who continues through the story, following instructions he never knew had been countermanded. The two escape a burning building, an eldritch horror, a city populated by imaginary dragons (and the real men and women who ride them), a brief blip across dimensions to our own world, a current that threatens to drop them over the edge, a city bent on sacrificing them to their gods, and the story ends with Rincewind falling from the edge of the world, while watching a ship containing Twoflower as it circles the turtle in a scientific foray to learn the great turtle's gender.

There's not much I can add to a simple retelling of the preposterous events of the story, the humor's the thing, here. It's not so much what happens as it is the clever way a reader is told about what happens. If you enjoy humorous novels with a strong narrative voice, and an eclectic collection of characters, events, and places, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of The Color of Magic. I also have it on good authority that the rest of the discworld novels are worth a look as well. Happy reading, all.