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The Colour of Magic

by Terry Pratchett — 08 Apr 2024

The first in his incredible Discworld series, the story tells of the adventures of a tourist who comes to Ankh-Morpork to “see the world”.

The first of the incredible “Discworld” series of books by Terry Pratchett. The world is a gigantic disk which is carried through space on the back of four gargantuan elephants, which stand on the back of a colossal turtle.

Twoflower is a naive tourist who arrives from the rich and powerful Agatean empire in the port city of Ankh-Morpork, seeking adventure. Although Twoflower is a lowly insurance adjuster, the abundance of gold in the Agatean empire makes him immensely rich in Ankh Morpork. The concept of tourism is wholly alien to the rough city, but wary of displeasing the Agatean empire, the inept wizard Rincewind is tasked with accompanying Twoflower and keeping him out of trouble.

The two of them have several adventures involving a gang of thieves, sentient luggage chests, an imp in a camera, mountain trolls, dragon-riders and upside-down mountains, dragons which can be imagined up on a whim, sea-trolls, and surprisingly, a passenger jet and space capsule.

Fast paced, witty and wholly irreverent, the whole tome is uproariously funny, and eminently quotable. The discworld series as a whole celebrates and pokes fun at the the swords-and-sorcery genre of stories and the Colour of Magic is a wonderful start to the whole “Discworld”.