The Colour of Magic

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!