The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett, a Review
Somehow I’ve managed to go all these years and only read one Terry Pratchett book, specifically Good Omens, which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman. When you consider the number of books that Pratchett has written and their popularity, thats a pretty big oversight on my part. So I decided to correct it starting at the beginning with The Color of Magic.
The Color of Magic is Terry Pratchett’s first Discworld novel and it introduces some characters that go on to appear in future novels. There are two main characters in the book, failed wizard Rincewind and tourist Twoflower. The story, such as it is, has the naive Twoflower and reluctant Rincewind bumbling into one sort of trouble after another.
Given Pratchett’s huge popularity I was kind of disappointed by this book. The characters, such as they were, seemed shallow and the targets of humor predictable. While there was clearly a great amount of imagination and inventiveness in the Discworld itself, there really wasn’t much story on which to hang things.
In the end it came across as simply four short stories that were vaguely strung together by the idea of someone touring Discworld. If this had been a new book that had just come out, I wouldn’t bother picking up the author’s next work. Since in fact it isn’t and Pratchett has a big following, I’ve actually given his next book, The Light Fantastic a shot to see how things progress. But that’s another review.
Eoghann Irving is amongst other things the creator and Editor of Solar Flare. He has a life long interest in all forms of science fiction and fantasy and a pressing need to share this interest with anyone who will listen. Find out more at his personal website eoghann.com..
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
Brenda
I’m in the same situation as you - I’ve never read any of Terry Pratchett’s other work except for Good Omens (and I only picked that up because of Neil Gaiman). Thanks for reviewing these. I look forward to the next review so I can see whether the books are worth reading (so many books, so little time).
Oct 4th, 2005
Andrew Oakley
The basic problem for anyone who’s been around SF for a while, but is new to Pratchett, is the glaring similarity between his style and that of Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy author Douglas Adams. Indeed, less charitable people would say it’s less of a similarity, and more of a blatant ripping off.
Pratchett’s books are fun, but IMHO the fun tires quickly. You get these tired samey sections over and over again; the Adams-esque sarcastic summation of daily life, the modern technology amusingly rehashed for a medieval-and-magic universe, the plotlines unashamedly parodied from Shakespeare or whoever, the fantasy/RPG stereotype having a “nobody thinks of the henchmen’s families” moment.
For years I just couldn’t understand why Pratchett was such as best-seller; and then I got it. Pratchett sells because Pratchett can write lots of “good enough” books very fast in quick succession. He is a success because of volume over quality. Where a truly talented author might only have a handful of really good books, Pratchett can maintain the momentum of mediocrity. None of his books are real “must read” status (IMHO, of course; there are plenty who worship him as a literary genius), but if you’re bored at an airport, you can always pick up a Pratchett and be certain of a fun read.
Pratchett is… reliably fun. Damned by feint praise, indeed.
Oct 4th, 2005
Eoghann
Its funny you should mention Douglas Adams because a couple of times while reading The Light Fantastic (which I’ve finished but haven’t written the review for yet) I got a definite Adams feeling. Perhaps the biggest problem I have reviewing Pratchett is that I don’t laugh while reading the books and maybe they just aren’t engaging my sense of humor. Humor is after all a very personal thing.
Oct 4th, 2005
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