One of my best friends has been recommending this series to me for almost as long as we’ve been friends. Yet I always found myself distracted by other books. Even still, they persisted.
So, here I am. Having finished the first book in the Discworld series. Surprise! My buddy was right. This book was amazing.
I’m looking forward to the inevitable “I told you so,” I’m gonna get from them later.
Rincewind is an incompetent and cynical wizard just trying to get by. One day, he meets Twoflower, an insurance clerk from a neighboring kingdom with a magic chest carrying his luggage. Rincewind quickly gets caught up in Twoflower’s life, and the two get caught up in all manners of trouble. With luck against him and Death hounding his every step, can Rinsewind survive his many bizarre adventures with his new companion?
The Discworld is the most bizarre, creative, and fun fantasy settings I’ve ever read through! Sure, other books might have more intricate magic systems or well-defined cultures and history. But none of them are flat discs sitting atop four titanic elephants standing atop a giant flying turtle in space!
Yeah, this book is weird. And it only ever gets weirder. Like the time Rincewind accidentally sends himself and Twoflower into the real world and stop a bomb attack on an airplane. No, I’m not joking.
On the subject of Rincewind, let’s talk about the characters. All of these guys are hysterical! Rincewind and Twoflower have a hilarious dynamic, with Twoflower’s blissful ignorance and optimism constantly clashing with the more cynical and realistic Rincewind. There are a ton of other fun members of the cast as well, such as Hrun the Barbarian and his overly-chatty sword, Kring.
Though I must complain about how this book treats its female characters. Namely in that every single one of them is either nearly naked or completely naked. Fuck, one of them starts as the former and becomes the latter. Would it be so bad for one female character in this book to be fully clothed?
Yeah, I get common decency isn’t a thing in a lot of places in the Discworld. Counterpoint: it didn’t need to be written that way.
In terms of pacing, this book is a tad unique. Rather than telling one overarching storyline, ‘The Colour of Magic’ instead tells a few separate short stories linked together purely by the cast. I like this; it’s like watching four episodes of a really good fantasy comedy!
Or an adult Saturday morning cartoon where Death acts like Team Rocket.
Overall, I really loved ‘The Colour of Magic.’ It was a wildly fun and bizarre ride through a fantasy world ripped right out of an acid trip and I enjoyed every second of it! I can’t wait to dive into the rest of this series; it’s set to become a new favorite of mine!
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