Group Read: The Color of Magic

[╟ ♫ Tima ♪ ╣ ♥]

I love the suitcase! Hope everyone has had a good week, forgive me while I play catch up with the book. =)

[Alison]

i just finished it. i got into the book and actually started liking it, then it was over. what i didnt like though was the third section or chapter. in the end it tied everything together, but for most of the chapter it made no sense. i give it 2:.5 stars, since im not much of a fantasy person. its good for me to get out of my box though.

[Anja]

I have a hard time getting started

[╟ ♫ Tima ♪ ╣ ♥]

I must take a moment to ask that anyone interested please go read the revised original post for the thread, as there have been some changes regarding the moderating for the rest of the month.

I am glad to see that, while not all has worked out as planned, that it seems many people are really enjoying their read this month! And that some people are giving it a shot despite it being very far out of what they normally would read. I hope everyone has a great month!

[Faye]

Oh, Tiffani! I hope your hand surgery and recovery goes very well. Thank you for moderating efforts to date.

Is anyone else up to asking weekly questions to keep us moving along? I'm reading, but moving slowly and not up to schedule.

[Faye]

So how's everyone's reading going? Are you on track, way ahead or lagging behind?

[Alison]

im done faye!

[KenziTheRagin, Group Read Curator]

...I finished it during week one. I couldn't put it down.

[Mekerei]

I finished in the first week, but read it so fast that I've decided to go back and re-read it after reading other reader's comments.

My favourite character is definitely the luggage

[Diane]

First and most importantly, I hope you are feeling better Tiffani and recovering well! I'm sure I am not alone in sending thoughts and hopes for your speedy and complete recovery!!

Now on to the book:

I finished the book last night. I'm sure I would have finished the book in the first week, had I let myself read ahead.

I don't normally read sci-fi or fantasy, so I was surprised I found as many text to text connections between The Color of Magic and classic fantasy and sci-fi books and themes.
My favorites were Pratchett's "nods" to the Kracken and H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu as well as the reference to Lovecraft's theme of Forbidden Knowledge with Rincewind's knowledge of one of the Eight Great Spells, which destroyed his knowledge of all other spells -- if Rincewind ever had such knowledge!!

Did anyone else have any favorite connections like this or "ah-ha" moments?

What did you enjoy most about the book?

For me, Pratchett's use of language stuck out so vividly, and I enjoyed his turning words on their side so much. Fortunately I read this on my nook and could easily look up words that I thought he was making up or using incorrectly. In some ways, his use of words with different meanings and creating new words from other known words reminded me of the word-play in The Eyre Affair. To me this book would not have as much impact as a movie or audiobook for those reasons.
My favorite made-up word was "chelonaut" - Traveler to the Turtle -- as opposed to Astronaut -- traveler to the stars.

What were your first or overall impressions about the book and did your opinion change as you read?

I think I would have found the book a bit disjointed if I had read from start to finish in one sitting or one week. First there's the Turtle, then the tourist then the barbarian, wait now there's a chess game with the gods, ... [I'll stop here in case someone has not finished the book yet] To me, it felt like he threw everything including the kitchen sink in this book? and I'm not sure why he did that. Did Prachett think this was his only shot to write a book?

Did other readers get this impression?? I'm think of Mekerei and Mackenzie and others who read it in one week, did you get the disjointed feeling or did it flow more smoothly reading it at once??

[Mekerei]

Diane said: ... did you get the disjointed feeling or did it flow more smoothly reading it at once??

It’s a Catch-22 when you devour a book – I want to know what is happening and how things go, but when it has complex themes (ie threw everything including the kitchen sink in this book) and made-up words you miss things.

That's why I'm reading it again. I have found different parts of the story tickle my fancy more ... the visit to Wyrmberg; home to dragons that only exist in the imagination. Especially because the names of the dragons' riders feature punctuation in the middle (A nod to the Dragonriders of Pern the series by Anne McCaffrey – one of my favourite series).

I’ve found the audio book in my library and have put it on my iPhone so I can listen to it while walking. Hearing it read puts a different take it – I’m enjoying hearing those made–up words pronounced as perhaps Terry Pratchett mean them to be (can’t wait to hear the dragon riders’ names).

This is not a style that I normally read, perhaps because it is so different is why I’m giving it three (what the heck?) tries.

[KenziTheRagin, Group Read Curator]

Diane wrote: "First and most importantly, I hope you are feeling better Tiffani and recovering well! I'm sure I am not alone in sending thoughts and hopes for your speedy and complete recovery!!

Now on to the ..."

When I read it, I very much felt like it was four different mini-adventures in the book. In this way it had a disjointed feel, but I looked at it as less disjointed and more like how life is. Sometimes, life is just a series of events that can lead to crazy places.
Spoilers follow!
For instance, in parts two and four(I forget the actual section names at the moment) there is the involvement with the Lady, and the presence of Death throughout, that lets you think the divine are keeping a hand in it at most times. Also, things are being set in motion by the rulers of Discworld that would have effects in the story that, from Rincewind's and Twoflower's perspectives, came out of nowhere.
The story does have transitions into each sections main conflict, as well. To me, it would be more broken up if it didn't include a description of how they arrived at the next location, no matter how short that description actually is.

My very favorite part is still in the beginning when Pratchett says that there is a theory that all the Turtle worlds are converging for the "Big Bang", and the later mention to how important it is to know their Turtle's gender if this is the case. Yay juvenile humor!

Initially, the book seemed like it would be a very silly, but entertaining read, and that seemed to hold true throughout. It was sort of refreshing how the story seemed to have so much occur, too.

[Nicole]

Diane wrote: "First and most importantly, I hope you are feeling better Tiffani and recovering well! I'm sure I am not alone in sending thoughts and hopes for your speedy and complete recovery!!

Now on to the ..."

Having read the book in the first week and then letting it settle into my mind, I've had the time to think and ponder over how it was written and how it impacted me. I'm a silly sort of girl and puns and play on words always amuse and tickle me to no end. So this book was right up my alley. I, too, loved the "Big Bang" theory and the suitcase was definitely my favorite character, with Death pulling a close second.

I understand what you mean by the read being disjointed. At first, I was wondering if perhaps my copy of the e-book had somehow become corrupted because of how it can quickly jump from one section to the next. I was seriously wondering if I was missing a major part of the story. That was a slight turn-off for me, but it was one I could quickly move past.

Honestly, I loved how he referenced things from our world in his fictional world. Twoflower being an 'insurance agent' (sorry, couldn't remember how they spelled it in the book and my Nook isn't handy at the moment), made me giggle so much. Especially when explaining the concept to people who had never heard of such a thing.

I loved the first book so much, I've already begun the second. I can't wait to read the entire series!

[Mekerei]

I enjoyed The Color of Magic as an audio book. It added to what I had already read and I really enjoyed how the the dragon rider's names sound. How I thought they sounded - "in my head" and how they were pronounced were two totally different different things.

I thought that things were funny when I was reading, but hearing them made them so much more hilarious. I'm sure that I got some funny looks as I was out walking. I have been to the library to get more Terry Pratchett audio books for when I'm out walking - the miles just seem to melt away; a definite plus!

[Anja]

I gave up on this one, I seldomly do, but can't get into the story.