The Colour of Magic

, #1

Audiobook

British English, English language

Published July 7, 2022 by Transworld.

(2 reviews)

Featuring a new theme tune composed by James Hannigan. 'It was octarine, the colour of magic. It was alive and glowing and vibrant and it was the undisputed pigment of the imagination . . .' Somewhere between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a magical world not totally unlike our own. Except for the fact that it travels through space on the shoulders of four giant elephants who in turn stand on the shell of an astronomically huge star turtle, of course.Rincewind is the world's worst wizard who has just been handed a very important job: to look after the world's first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land. Unfortunately, their journey across the Disc includes facing robbers, monsters, mercenaries, and Death himself.And the whole thing's just a game of the gods that might send them over the edge . . .You can listen to …

21 editions

"Jerome K. Jerome meets The Lord of the Rings (with a touch of Peter Pan)"

That sentence was on the front cover of the edition I've read (although I usually despise comments places there apart from title/author) and it was quite on the spot for once: the style and irony of Jerome K. Jerome applied in an archetypal fantasy novel. Not sure about the Peter Pan's part of that comment, as I didn't read it yet, but I guess: Twoflower makes for it?

In any case, it was a very slow reading compared to the first one I've discovered from the Discworld saga ("Sourcery"), so the enthusiasm went a bit down and it's understandable I found it less appealing also given it's the first one -but I've liked it nonetheless as an absurd/whimsical reading! ;)

Torn between 3 and 4 stars

Enjoyed it - a fun read!

Discworld and Sir Terry were a big part of my life growing up, he had a large impact on who I became.

I'm not sure for newcomers to his writing I'd fully recommend The Colour of Magic - I believe Sir Terry himself said to start from book three (Sourcery) - but this is an interesting historical artefact.

I plan to read through the entire Discworld series in the coming months (and years, I guess - I don't plan to only read Discworld non-stop), so starting from the very beginning to experience how Sir Terry's style developed was a key choice for me.

I did enjoy it a lot though! Torn between 3 and 4 stars. It's good! But I feel like 4 stars requires a level of excellence not quite attained here - it does feel a little disjointed at times, and some …