The Light Fantastic

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Terry Pratchett: The Light Fantastic (Hardcover, 1989, St Martins Pr)

Hardcover

English language

Published Oct. 11, 1989 by St Martins Pr.

ISBN:
978-0-312-48603-7
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OCLC Number:
13331552

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The Light Fantastic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the second of the Discworld series. It was published on 2 June 1986, the first printing being of 1,034 copies. The title, taken from a poem by John Milton, in which it refers to dancing lightly with extravagance. The events of the novel are a direct continuation of those in the preceding book, The Colour of Magic.

33 editions

Fantastic!

I love this opening quote:

The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn’t sure it was worth all the effort.

This was a brilliant read. Really enjoyed it.

Where I felt the first one to be perhaps a little disjointed - lots of fun little scenes but maybe a bit less in the way of compelling overall narrative - this one is so much better.

I'm aware that Sir Terry recommended people ignore the first two books in the reading order, and whilst I can see why he may have said that about the first one, this one is very much worth reading.

It's funny, heartwarming, interesting; the main story is compelling and well-paced; there's plenty of sharp observations on humanity. His talent only develops upwards from here, of course, but the improvement between the first and second books is remarkable.

It's …

Subjects

  • Popular English Fiction
  • Discworld (Imaginary place)
  • Fantastic fiction
  • Fiction
  • Science Fiction