Group Read: The Color of Magic

[Glenno]

This is the third time I have read this book and I am up to Rincewind meets Hrun the Barbarian. The first time I read this book I recall being confused by Sir Terrys style - particularly no chapters and all his invented terms. It made more sense the 2nd time and this time after reading most of his Discworld series I am appreciating Sir Terry's writing excellence. However In my opinion it is not his best book which I think is Going Postal (maybe because I enjoyed the TV Mini series) or maybe they are just all favourites.

[Kaya]

I must admit I am not very far yet, but I did find that I had a little bit of confusion as to who was talking at the beginning when Bravd, Weasel, and Rincewind were talking. As I continued on though, my confusion was clarified. I really enjoy the subtle humor of Terry Pratchett's style and I am excited to read more.

[Glenno]

Brian wrote: "Finished today and it was well worth the reread. Reintroduced me to a lot of characters and brought back to memory about the origins of the luggage.

Now the question is , do we go straight on to [..."

As a suggestion how about reading the beginning book from a different discworld collection. By that I mean either rincewind, Death, Witches, City Watch, etc... There are also a lot of standalone books.
I would go with whatever you decide until there are enough members to do a meaningful poll.

[Kaya]

Staggering with some standalone stories could be a good option until more people join.

[Glenno]

The standalone books in the Discworld series are (I think):
Pyramids, Moving Pictures, Small Gods, Maurice and his amazing Rodents, The Truth & Monstrous Regiment.

[Karen]

I've held off on posting my thoughts on Colour of Magic. It isn't my favourite Pratchett book and I'm still not very fond of this first Discworld book. I think it was just that for me it was a little all over the place in comparison to the majority of the Discworld books.

I'm really looking forward to reading Mort next month since that book was my first introduction to the Discworld series and even though that introduction was years ago I'm sure my review will be far more positive for that one than it was for the first book.

[Mark]

i chose to read the graphic novel of this as i had never done so before.

art work was good kept to the storyline pretty well.

as said above its not my fave either.

[Mark]

For newbies i recommend Guards! Guards!

[Glenno]

Finished reading "Colour of Magic" today which is now the 3rd time I have read this book. This is my least favourite book in the series.

In my opinion the wit and satire is overdone and every sentence seems laced with some comedic prose to the point at times for me it became tiresome. Plus I agree with others that the story is quite fragmented and often hard to follow - especially for a first time Discworld reader.

As a regular Discworld reader who is used to Sir Terry's style I did enjoy this book and picked up on little snippets that I had missed on my previous readings.

My overall impression is that this being Sir Terry's first Discworld novel he had a lot to say and wanted to get it all out in one go. His later novels certainly absolved him for any faults in his first book.

[Glenno]

Good choice Brian.

[Mary]

I remembered that Death was quite different in this book than the later ones. I remembered that the Patrician was quite different (view spoiler)[and indeed, I think that the fans who argue it's obviously Snapcase have a good case (hide spoiler)].

What I hadn't remembered was that Ankh-Morpork was quite different. Indeed, I was reading the bit about all other cities being reflections of it, and thinking, "Lankhmar." Albeit having been primed by the pseudonymous appearance of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

[Mary]

Indeed, having been primed by the appearance of Lankhmar, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, when I hit Death, I thought, yup, that's Death.

Leiber's Death that is, parodied but recognizable.

[Mary]

Hrun the Barbarian is clearly Conan, and Conan had some pretty Lovecraftian adventures. One can see the effect.

[Kaya]

Finished it finally, I think it took me longer to finish because I had to reread some sections due to confusion about where the characters were and how they got there. After rereading a section I usually understood what was happening, and realized what I missed. I like the witty humor and the plot line. The setting just jumped around a lot, confusing me at times. Overall I enjoyed it.

[Mordechai]

Puns like "reflected sound of underground spirits meaning "echo-gnomics" were part of what I loved about this book when I first read it, sometime in the early 1980s. And Pratchett has improved a great deal since then, which is only for the good.

[Mordechai]

We spoke elsewhere about how TP developed characters and themes, and now I must add entire races.

I just reread The Fifth Elephant. Great stuff, as usual. I found something interesting. In this book, the gnomes are like the Mcfeegles are in the Tiffany aching books. There is a gnome in the Watch named Mr Swires, iirc, and he acts just like a Mcfeegle. The gnomes are nothing like the gnomes without personality in earlier books, and nothing like the artistic and cultural geniuses of the very latest books, especially Raising Steam.

[Wabisabigio]

I had some difficulties with this and did not enjoy it. :( I hope The Light Fantastic will be better...

[Mordechai]

Wickedgio wrote: "I had some difficulties with this and did not enjoy it. :( I hope The Light Fantastic will be better..."

They get better, I promise. (Like Bill & Ted.)

[Mordechai]

Can someone please explain to me what the joke is in the name "Ankh-Morpork?" I just read in the introduction to A Blink of the Screen: Collected Short Fiction that he took to the series because (among other things) of the name "Ankh-Morpork," which delighted him.

Can someone please explain to me the reference or joke PTerry was making by naming the city "Ankh-Morpork?"

Thanks in advance!