The Color of Magic

by: Terry Pratchett
Imagine, if you will... a flat world sitting on the backs of four elephants who hurtle through space balanced on a giant turtle. In truth, the Discworld is not so different from our own. Yet, at the same time, very different... but not so much.
In this, the maiden voyage through Terry Pratchett's divinely and recognizably alternate dimension, the well-meaning but remarkably inept wizard Rincewind encounters something hitherto unknown in the Discworld: a tourist! Twoflower has arrived, Luggage by his side, to take in the sights and, unfortunately, has cast his lot with a most inappropriate tour guide--a decision that could result in Twoflower's becoming now only Discworld's first visitor from elsewhere...but quite possibly, portentously, its very last. And, of course, he's brought Luggage along, which has a mind of its own. And teeth. {cover copy}
This book was... I can only describe it as delightfully weird. I mean... so weird. Quirky weird. Fun weird. On certain levels, when I think back on it, it was like reading a transcript of my three-year-old's imaginative playtime, but with a plot. Things take unexpected turns and go so many different places in such a small book. It also vaguely reminds me of the Hobbit (even occasionally the Sci Fi series written by CS Lewis) and many other fantasy novels, while still being wholly its own thing. There's a quirkiness to the writing/character speaking style that reminds me of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy as well. And all of this boils down to just being, as I said, delightfully weird. I plan to get and read the rest of the novels eventually, though I don't have a burning desire to run and get them all right away. I took my time with this book and enjoyed it over several days, despite its short length. I think this will be a series that will entertain whenever I'm feeling the need to read something I'm invested in, but that won't screw with my emotions overmuch. A perfect lounging read. Which for fantasy is actually pretty rare. Most fantasy novels I don't feel that way about. Again, just adds to its quirkiness factor!

In a distant and secondhand set of dimensions, in an astral plane that was never meant to fly, the curling star-mists waver and part... {first line}
"You don't understand at all," said the wizard wearily. "I'm so scared of you my spine has turned to jelly, it's just that I'm suffering from an overdose of terror right now. I mean, when I've got over that then I'll have time to be decently frightened of you."

"Now I want you to listen very carefully to what I am about to say... otherwise you will die. In an interesting fashion. Over a period."

"(He) often suspected that there was something, somewhere, that was better than magic. He was usually disappointed."

"...radiated dangerous amounts of raw enchantment."

"A spell is still a spell, even when imprisoned temporarily in parchment and ink."

"The true dragon, on the other hand, is a creature of such refinement of spirit that they can only take form in this world if they are conceived by the most skilled imagination. And even then the said imagination must be in some place heavily impregnated with magic, which helps to weaken the walls between the world of the seen and unseen."


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