SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
Group Reads Discussions 2008
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The Color of Magic - Done? The story continues...(no plot spoilers)
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Brooke
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Aug 01, 2008 09:38AM
Just in case anyone gets to the end of Color of Magic and wonders what happens next, the 2nd Discworld novel, The Light Fantastic, picks up right where Color of Magic leaves off. Color of Magic is the only Discworld novel I've read so far that has a cliffhanger.
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I recently reread The Light Fantastic (having read it many many years ago without ever having read The Color of Magic, which I had subsequently read a few years ago). In some sense, what really struck me is that these are really a single book broken into two halves.
I have to say that I really don't care what happens next. I didn't find this book amusing, intriguing, compelling or anything. After I read it, I heard that it really isn't the best Discworld novel. However, I really have no desire to read any more.
Just finished the novel a few minutes ago. Enjoyed it immensely.
Color of Magic runs up to a cliffhanger and then just stops...I wonder if that is more Pratchett's doing or the publisher's doing.
I just finished the Color of Magic. I will probably read The Light Fantastic to see what happens next, but I'm not in a hurry to rush out and buy it (like I was with A Game of Thrones - I was in Busan, South Korea, so I actually gave in to instant gratification impulse and bought an electronic version of A Clash of Kings - sometimes I think the internet is really bad for me!).
I went straight from Colour of Magic into The Light Fantastic and I enjoyed it much more than the first one.
I've just finished The Light Fantastic and thought it started a bit in the middle of the story. Well, here is obviously the explanation. Now I really have to read Colour of Magic as well. Anyway, I thought that The Light Fantastic was pretty good, hopefully Colour of Magic doesn't dissappoint me too much.
Hmm ... actually, if you started with Light Fantastic (instead of Colour of Magic) ... then you really did start in the middle. Colour of Magic ends in a cliff hanger and Light Fantastic picks up where Colour dropped off.
I was groaning and laughing out loud again yesterday when I got to the scene in Light Fantastic where the barbarian chieftain say: "What then are the greatest things that a man may find in life?"Oddly, I was re-watching the movie this was parodying just a couple of days ago.
But the twist that made me laugh was the guest's response of "Hot water, good dentishstry and shoft lavatory paper."
So what movie was I watching? :)
Yeah, I've read quite a few of Pratchett's books and at some point I stopped trying to read them in any specific order. In this case I obviously should have tried. Anyway, let's see how it goes the other way round..
Close. It was a movie popular in the early 80s and had "the Barbarian" in the title. :)
I like sci-fi that is somewhat believeable. It can involve strange races of people and alien planets, but I could just never reconcile the idea of a discworld riding on the backs of elephants riding on the back of a giant turtle. A little too unreal for me. The characters were weak, I was never compelled to care about them or what happened to them. The book was an easy read, but the story was shaky with no real substance. I know this seems to be one of the favorites among the sci-fi community, but I just couldn't figure out why.
TeraD,The Discworld series is most certainly fantasy, not science fiction.
Having read most of Terry Pratchett's books already, I've gotta say that I agree with one of the comments above - the Colour of Magic (while still fun) isn't the best of his work.Made me all nostalgic for the first time I read it, though.
Ungh! Monsterous Regiment? I thought it was his worst! Lol!I guess that I like the City Watch series most, and my favourite would be Guards!, Guards! , even if just for the Dirty Harry spoofs.
I've also got a certain fondness for the Bromeliad, although that could just be 'cos of the line "Can you threaten someone with a gnu?"
My favorites were Wyrd Sisters and all of the Night Watch books. Hard to single one out among those as the characters just get better and better.
Wyrd Sisters was the first one that made me really laugh out loud several times. The witches are hilarious. And who can beat a name like "Granny Weatherwax?" Still though, for consistency and growth, the Night Watch books are the best.
Granny Weatherwax is my favourite Pratchett character, besides Death! I also have a soft spot for Rincewind, but I really prefer Interesting Times and The Last Continent to the first couple of books.
I can see why people think this is sci-fi. At times I also felt like it had a sci-fi theme. I think the fact that there are other worlds, and even the space suits. Though I would myself say fantasy, I can see where sci-fi fans come in.
I couldn't agree more Bunny. And I know this really goes in the "hero" thread... but to me she and Vimes are perfect examples of Discworld heroes. Rincewinds efforts are almost entirely accidental.
Brooke, I disagree. I can concede that this book is fantasy, but it is also strongly sci-fi. There is a lot of science embedded into this piece of literature...
Concerning fantasy vs. sci/fi:In the Rincewind books, what we term science is portrayed as something R. really wishes was real – like we might wish that magic was real – but he is constantly disappointed: On the Discworld, science is fantasy.
There is a lot of science embedded into this piece of literature...I have to echo Bunny Watson here and say, no, there isn't.
There's more about tourism than there is about science, and no one's calling it a travel book.
You stated before that it wasn't believable enough, especially the Discworld balancing on the back of elephants standing on a turtle. It is simply not the intention of the series for readers to try to take anything seriously. It's satire - The Color of Magic itself being primarily a parody of cliches in fantasy novels. It plays with heroes and hero quests and world building and magic and dragons and wizards and Dungeons & Dragons.
Approaching The Color of Magic and expecting a believable science fiction story would be like approaching McDonalds and expecting filet mignon. It's just not what it's for.
Bunny,I absolutely had no intention of including any value judgments! I just tried to think of a situation where you'd expect something that was absolutely not what you'd actually get.
And honestly, I hate steak, I'll take McD's angus burger over it any day. :)
