The expansive and goofy universe of the Discworld series by British author Terry Pratchett is something I have been looking to get into for a while now. The series is often compared to Monty Python and Douglas Adam’s The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which is one of my favorite books. Nonetheless, at 41 novels in length, this is certainly no small task, especially given the somewhat confusing continuity and variety of subseries that make up the entirety of Discworld.

Fortunately, the internet exists and as a result, there are a variety of reading guides and diagrams that fans have constructed to alleviate this issue. After perusing a fair few of these, I gathered that a majority of the discourse online recommends Guards! Guards! as the starting point. Nevertheless, after discovering that the first chronologically published work was The Color of Magic, I decided to start there as I don’t like being told what to do.

The major story of The Color of Magic begins by setting the scene. In a far-off corner of space, there is an entire world in the shape of a disc balanced on the back of four giant elephants. These elephants in turn stand upon the shell of an even larger sea turtle, which swims through the cosmos eternally. I love how incredibly unique this setting is. The absurdity of it immediately gives you a sense of the overall tone but also sets it apart from other fantasy worlds.

The main protagonist is a wizard by the name of Rincewind. “Wizard” is somewhat of a strong description, as Rincewind only knows one spell and was thrown out of his magic school before graduation. As he is milling about a bar one day, Rincewind encounters a man by the name of Twoflower, who has recently traveled to the city of Anhk-Morpork from a far-off land called the “Counterweight Continent.” This land is thought to exist in order to provide a central point of balance for the disc on the backs of the elephants that hold it up.

As a result of the large abundance of gold in the Counterweight Continent, Twoflower is unwittingly an extremely rich man on this part of the Disc, and Rincewind readily agrees to act as his tour guide of the land. What follows is an accounting of the various predicaments they find themselves caught up in while sightseeing.

I immediately see why people compare these books to Monty Python. It’s filled with that dry, sarcastic, and often tangential British humor that was typical of the franchise. If that isn’t something you find funny, then I wouldn’t recommend any of these books. Though I’m usually a fan of this type of humor, I wasn’t really laughing too much during my initial read of The Color of Magic. It’s certainly clever, but oftentimes I found myself somewhat bored by the various side plots or questioning the importance of exposition given to deliver only a mildly amusing punchline.

I did enjoy the variety of predicaments the lead characters find themselves in here. You get everything from imaginary dragons to eldritch horrors connected to the number eight. It’s certainly entertaining and creative stuff. Each new encounter always adds that humorous spin to a classic fantasy trope or cliché. The world-building is quite elaborate. It’s clear from just this brief tale that Pratchett constructed dozens of cultures and nationalities, which is always something I respect.

I think my biggest issue with the story is Rincewind as a protagonist. He is so useless that I often didn’t really care about him. I feel he would be stronger in a supporting role, where he could enter and exit the story periodically after providing short bits of comedy. I would have preferred if Twoflower had been the main character, as I found his naïve positivity to be much more endearing.

Another big miss for me here was the ending. It felt a little too anticlimactic for my taste with much still unresolved. I suppose this was the intent, as the story does continue in the direct sequel titled The Light Fantastic. Nevertheless, I wished there was at least one more chapter here.

I was left feeling relatively ambivalent towards the debut entry in this otherwise legendary series. Nonetheless, I certainly see the potential and will certainly be continuing the series as it is quite easy to get through one of these books. They make for a light-hearted and incredibly memorable experience.

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The Color of Magic

$8.99

6.5

Score

6.5/10

Pros

• Imaginative world
• Humorous tone

Cons

• Rincewind as a protagonist
• Some dull side tangents