Like Douglas Adams did with science-fiction, Terry Pratchett takes the typical conventions of fantasy and turns them on their head for comic effect with his popular DiscWorld series.

By having a slightly skewed view of fantasy conventions, Pratchett points out the strengths and the fallacies of the genre. And he always does it with a story that has more than its share of laugh out loud moments. Pratchett is also a master of construction language to come together in interesting ways. It's not just that what he says is funny, but it's how he puts the words together that is one of his great strengths. While not quite as pronounced or as memorable as Douglas Adam's ability to construction near perfect sentences that made you both laugh and think at the same time, Pratchett still does a great job.

A lot of the DiscWorld stories are satires on modern life. By having things set in the universe of the fantastic where rules of magic exist, Pratchett is able to say things he might not normally get away with in conventional fiction.

Oh and he also writes some pretty entertaining stories along the way.

That said, Pratchett is an author who improves with age. And while the Color of Magic is his first DiscWorld novel, it's not exactly a great starting point to the series. Yes, the typical Pratchett elements are all here, but you can see Pratchett still honing his craft. The story is told in four blocks with the linking characters of Rincewind and Twofold as they tour across DiscWorld, having various adventures and running into trouble. It's a nice overview and quick tour of DiscWorld but it pales in comparison to later novels in the series.