“Wizards, adventures, and bloody tourists getting into trouble.”
Hello! Yes I’ve been away for a while, mostly because I spent a glorious week in Spain and honestly didn’t get much reading done as I was so busy getting up to mischief, making friends, and drifting in the sea (mostly at the same time). I am pretty certain that stealing a week has done me the world of good, never the less I am still recovering and have been at home for two days now.
Before I left the UK, I slipped this little beauty into my rucksack – which didn’t get read on either plane, as on both of them I dozed and had very weird dreams about rooms of cake (yes, be jealous). The Colour of Magic was my introduction to the Discworld all those years ago and it is the first in the Discworld series – for those of you that don’t know the Discworld is a disk shaped world that is floating through space on the back of a giant turtle. Lately I’ve felt a distinct lack of comic fantasy in my life so this was a really perfect pick for travelling.
The Colour of Magic – Terry Pratchett
So, it was quite fitting to pick up and take travelling as the Colour of Magic follows Twoflower a very oblivious and naive tourist who is discovering the city Ankh-Morpork. Who by some strange circumstances meets and employs the ragged failed Wizard, Rincewind. The pair are forced to flee the city and travel across the disc after a bartender sets fire to his pub after Twoflower sells him insurance. Unknown to them their journey is actually part of a game that the Gods of the Disc are playing. Twoflower and Rincewind are the champions of the Lady, and are pitted against the champions of Zephyrus, (the god of slight breezes), Fate, and Offler the Crocodile God.
Within the Colour of Magic is also perhaps one of my favourite characters of all literature, Twoflower’s Luggage. If you’ve not read this novel you may be wondering what I’m talking about, but Twoflower’s Luggage is made from a particularly potent magical wood and this box follows him around regardless of how or when they get separated. It is also a man-eater, it has lots of tiny legs, and is usually very, very angry.
This is a winding story, where Rincewind is forced to rescue Twoflower and vice versa, from the most terrible forces on the Disc and also from their own shortcomings. It is a book that contains imaginary Dragons, wizards, powerful spells trapped in places they shouldn’t be, questions about the sex of the great turtle the Disc rides on, Gods making mischief, and also is generally a pleasure to read and a lot of fun and humour.
Even if you’re only a tiny bit interested in fantasy, read it. It’s great fun and Terry Pratchett is an awesome writer and for all of the winding changes in the story the narrative maintains a rich sense of self. It’s playful, it’s engaging, it’s an addictive world! I can’t say enough about it, just go and read it. Go and find out why the Luggage is just amazing!
The Shelf Wanderer 