The Colour of Magic

Pratchett signature witty prose in its infancy. It introduces the Discworld, his famous fantasy world in the shape of a disc, hold by four elephants carried by a giant turtle that floats trough space. The coward and weakling Rincewind, a expelled magician who knows only one spell which he cannot ever cast, is charged to protected the incredibly naive and optimistic Twoflower, the Disc's first tourist visiting the world most vicious, dangerous and smelly city. The world is interesting, the prose kind of good but the story fails to keep you interested to read through.

My first Pratchett book. I started with this as an audiobook and then life got in the way and it kept getting auto-returned so I would splice in the ebook from time to time. By the end it probably ended up being about 50% read and 50% listened to. I enjoyed both. The narration was lovely for the audiobook, though a little swift. I found it easier to follow on 0.95 speed.

Being lots of little stories put together felt a little disjointed but I appreciated the world building, character development, and humour. I got a little lost at times but ploughed through and it didn't affect my enjoyment or understanding too much. Somewhere between 2 and 4 stars, a fine start to what I trust will be a fantastic series.

This book took me a while to get into. There were so many characters introduced so quickly, and the world was so unique that I had no idea what the rules would be. But once I figured out who the main characters were and accepted that instead of a quest, they only wanted to see the world and stay alive, I started to enjoy the book. I had read reviews before I started it, and people seemed to really think the authors writing style was hilarious. I saw a few moments, but I may not have the right sense of humor for it. I think I would really enjoy it if I reread it.

Age range: 15+
Younger readers would probably just be confused.

I wanted to like this book. I wanted to like this series. As someone who loves Fantasy, the Discworld books are often recommended to me. While I love the idea of the world, the execution of character development and lore feels underdeveloped for me, at least in this novel. It's possible that I will read another Discworld book in the future, but I'm not hurrying off to do so.

The Big Bang theory. chuckle I read some of the Discworld books, years ago. I remember liking them, but don't really remember them. I begin the journey anew, then, and with the greatest of eagerness. The only reason The Colour of Magic gets three stars is because I'm certain that there are four- and five-star books in the series.

I missed so much when I listened to the book the first time around. Now that I have read it I really really loved it. I haven't read much books that read quite like Terry Pratchett's and I love his style so much. The only reason this isn't 5 stars is because of the lack of clothes on 2 of the 3 female characters introduced in this book. I wanna read all of Discworld. The world building is amazing, though it is sometimes hard to understand what is going on. 

The wit and joy is just one of a kind.

I gave this only three stars because, while it's a great book, compared with what comes later it's nowhere near the heights the series reaches. If you're new to Discworld, I'd suggest not starting here (other reviewers offer their suggestions) but coming back to it later to see how it all started.
I reread it as I'm trying to reread the series in order, just as I did originally beginning in around 1990. I can't recommend the Discworld novels highly enough, even the least good (like this first entry) are very funny but the best are philosophical masterpieces and comically brilliant. The Colour of Magic suffers from trying to cram too many ideas into a short book - later efforts would have taken just one or two and developed them. It's also more a clear parody of a certain genre of novel, with gods and heroes at the periphery while minor-ish characters like Death would later go on to dominate.
Rereading it now, it feels odd that it was ever published but as you progress through the series you'll be glad it was.

Just an incredibly joyous read

I just loved the way this book was written. Terry Pratchett's way of writing was truly unique and you can see his personality shine through.

H built two characters who were very likeable and sent them on such an insane adventure in less than 300 words which is an incredible feat for sure. Books just aren't written like this anymore I feel.

Menuda fantas??a. Necesito m??s de lo mismo.

I've heard really good things about this series (and some not so good). It sounds like the type of series I would like. But this first book DIDN'T GO ANYWHERE. I was a bunch of aimless wondering. When I finished the book I wasn't even sure there was a climax. It really felt like the first 200 pages of a 800 page book. I'm going to give this series two more books to win me over (maybe four considering they are only about 200 pages).

The first 30% of this book is pretty good, and might perhaps deserve four stars on its own. The rest of it is a bit better than I remembered from previous readings: it's at least inventive and readable. But the plot is rather aimless.

The whole book suffers somewhat from being a story about Rincewind the failed wizard, and all stories about Rincewind seem to consist of him endlessly running from one predicament to another. Some readers may enjoy this, but I find it rather tedious. Perhaps because this is the first Discworld book and everything is new, at least to the author, this is not the most tedious of the various Rincewind stories.

A disadvantage of being the first book is that various aspects of the Discworld haven't yet settled down into their final form. In particular, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork doesn't yet have a name, and doesn't seem quite the same as the man we later come to know as Havelock Vetinari—although Pratchett is said to have stated that this Patrician is indeed Vetinari. He just doesn't seem quite himself.

First appearances of Rincewind the incompetent wizard, Twoflower the tourist, the Luggage, and Death.

I just do not like fantasy

So, I have given the fantasy genre a fair shot. I read Hitchhikers Guide, Narnia, and now this. I am just not an adventure gal, do not find the humor funny, and will be sticking to sci-fi.

My first Discworld book, but more importantly the book that finally ended my run of constantly DNFing books. This is the first novel I've read in its entirety in over a year. And it's good to be back in a reading mode. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a beautiful reading streak.

Ignoring all advices of not starting from the first chronologically released book, I picked up The Colour of Magic for my first experience of Sir Terry Pratchett's world, and to be honest, I was not disappointed. It was a fun, exciting story. I loved the characters and the relationship between Rincewind and Twoflower. Their contrasting personalities was a lot of fun. While I enjoyed all sections of the book, I did feel the book losing its steam the more it went on – each succeeding section being a bit less engaging than the one before.

I thoroughly enjoyed the ingenious setting of the book. The Discworld is such a cool world with seemingly limitless possibilities and is ideal for a fantasy series. If the books keep getting better as the series go on, I can't wait.

Executive Summary: Started slow, but finished strong.Full ReviewI've been meaning to read Discworld for awhile. A good friend of mine loves the series and recommended it to me over 10 years ago, but I just never got around to it.He suggested I might be better off starting with [b:Guards! Guards! 64216 Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8) Terry Pratchett https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400992253s/64216.jpg 1128601] than this book. However between picking up the first few books on a sale, and my general need to read thing in publication order.My understanding is that while all the books are set in Discworld, there are several different sub-series with recurring characters. The [b:Guards! Guards! 64216 Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8) Terry Pratchett https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400992253s/64216.jpg 1128601] one is supposed to be a different set I guess. I don't pretend to know enough about it. I do know there are big complicated charts on the whole thing.I found this book a slow start. I was expecting things to be a lot funnier. I'm not sure if I just wasn't getting them, or they weren't as prevalent.It took me awhile to get through the story. I didn't really care too much for Rincewind or Twoflower. The luggage however was pretty amusing.It all changed for me in the last quarter or so though. I was really cracking up at some of the jokes and overall was reading at a much faster pace.All and all it's enough to get to try the next one at some point, which is good considering I already own it. Hopefully I work may way up to [b:Guards! Guards! 64216 Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8) Terry Pratchett https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1400992253s/64216.jpg 1128601] to see if I like that more.

Being the first Discworld book, The Color of Magic is vastly different in many ways from the books that follow it. The characters of Rincewind and Twoflower are not as well defined as they would later become in the series and the Discworld itself is also still an idea in its infancy.

This doesn't mean that Sir Terry Pratchett's humor is any less hilarious though. The dialog is witty and filled with puns and innuendos that you might only catch on a second or third read-through, and the story is pretty well written from beginning to end.

Reading The Color of Magic after the passing of Sir Terry Pratchett really makes me both sad and happy, sad that such a wonderful writer and person passed away, and happy that he gave us one of the most enduring universes in all of literature.

Rincewind is not having a good life. He flunked out as a wizard due to a bet, and now he is stuck playing tour guide to the first tourist on Discworld. Their antics are amusing at first but quickly lose their luster. Death is the best part of the book, but I was delighted to see THE END.

4.5 stars.

It's always said that this isn't a good introduction to Discworld - I struggled with it the first time I read it and read the graphic novel of this and The Light Fantastic first - and I still agree, but this was more enjoyable than I expected or remembered. Its too much almost making fun of Fantasy and not enough of what Pratchett would settle into, but it's really fun and a good introduction to Rincewind. I'm glad I finally decided to reread these.

Eternally grateful that this book exists and launched my favorite fantasy series.

It is entertaining and worth it if you're familiar with a lot of standard fantasy tropes and want to have a laugh. I thought of it as a Hitchhiker's Guide for the fantasy set.

It is like a twisted game of D&D where the player characters don't know they are playing a game. It's really four novellas stuck together, telling the stories of Rincewind and his charge, Twoflower who are taking a tour around the Disc.

Twoflower is a clerk from “foreign parts,” desperately seeks to escape his office rut and have a little adventure in the metropolis of Ankh-Morpork, where the heroes and villains of his fantasies reside. Rincewind, would-be-wizard and academic failure of Unseen University, has to either keep Twoflower unharmed or incur the wrath of the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork. Of course the journey with Twoflower might also kill him.

It's interesting to see the genesis of some characters/elements of the Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, Octarine, The Great A'tuin, Vetinari, Death and so on. Also the Luggage, who is a horrifying monster, yet practical carrying device, and frequent deus ex machina for the travelers.

If you want to read some Discworld, it's not necessary (or even recommended) to start with the Colour of Magic. Most readers suggest going for a subseries and reading from there. Guards! Guards! or Wyrd Sisters are a great introduction to the Nightwatch/Witches subseries respectively. These are where I started. The characters in those books have a little more depth to sink your teeth into and the humor gets better as well. But Colour of Magic is still a lot of fun.

This was another book I read on a recommendation and wound up enjoying more than I thought I would. Discworld has always been a bit of an intimidating series to me so I was a little hesitant to pick this up on my own. First of all, it's sprawling, there are 41 entries, something like 5 or 6 different storylines, and a reading order that gives me a headache. More importantly, it's foundational, this is a series that apparently everyone but me has read and loved, it parodies and has been parodied in a million other works- and here I was, worried it might read a little dated, and then I'd be the only person I know that doesn't like Discworld.

Thankfully my worries were unfounded; The Color of Magic is like reading a rollercoaster. This book was only 228 pages but I had to take my time with it because almost every page had something insanely interesting and imaginative on it. Rincewind and Twoflower are a whirlwind that tears through the Discworld, at such a breakneck pace that I had to take a moment to remind myself of the setting and context with every new development. I can safely say that I was never once bored reading this, and if I find out that someone was, I would strongly recommend they donate their body to science. That said, the pacing is definitely a double-edged sword, I could totally see some readers being put off by the sheer volume of insane developments and the sudden changes in setting/plot/narration/universe.

Every time this series has come up in conversation (usually they're Brits) it's always been something along the lines of, “This is such a killer series, I absolutely devoured it as a kid.” I'm jealous! I wish so desperately that someone had plopped this book down in front of me as a wee lad, I think that I would have dropped everything and finished the series given the chance. As an adult, the humor agrees with me, and I really enjoyed the non-conformity of the story structure. For a young and impressionable mind, it's books like this that are the kind to really open a door, and for me in particular this could have been something akin to The Animorphs or Harry Potter.

I'll definitely work my way through the rest of the Rincewind storylines, and I am keen to read Mort as well!

Eh, it's no Small Gods

The version of the audio book I had was, at worst, terrible... at best, inconsistent... audio quality. But the story was very good and generally engaging.

Very happy I finally got round to reading Terry Pratchett and look forward to making progress through the rest of the Discworld series.

it was a wird read tbh , i was switching between audiobook and the book itself , not the best to start getting to know about discworld

A la primera mitad le costó arrancar, pero la segunda mitad es espectacular