Difference between revisions of "The Color of Magic"

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'''''Colour of Magic''''' is a comedic novel by [[Terry Pratchett]] and the first book in the [[Discworld]] series.
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[[Image:Color of Magic - UK - Hard Cover.jpg|thumb|256x256px|The first edition hard cover.]]
  
I first picked this book up because my girlfriend at the time bought it. She was a huge fan of [[Good Omens]] and wanted to read more books by Pratchett. I didn't read very far into it and found it boring. Later, I had a co-worker who was a huge Pratchett fan and had read every one of the Discworld books continued to rave about him. I decided to give the book another chance and read it. It was pretty good.
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'''''The Color of Magic''''', spelled '''''The Colour of Magic''''' in the UK, is a comedic fantasy novel by [[Terry Pratchett]] and the first book in the [[Discworld]] series, published in 1983.
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I first picked this book up because my girlfriend at the time bought it. She was a huge fan of ''[[Good Omens]]'' and wanted to read more books by Pratchett. I didn't have a chance to read much of it, and, finding the first couple pages dull, didn't read any further. Later, a co-worker of mine who was a huge Pratchett fan and had read every one of the Discworld books continued to rave about him. Later still, I decided to give the book another chance and read it. It was funny, but not great.
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==Status==
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I do not own this book, but have listened to an audio book recording.
  
 
==Review==
 
==Review==
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{{Spoilers}}
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===Good===
 
===Good===
* Overall, the book is really funny. There are a lot of small jokes, ironic jokes, plays on tropes, etc. I chortled many times. Pratchett makes some hilarious descriptions.
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* Overall, the book is funny. There are a lot of small jokes, ironic jokes, plays on tropes, etc. I chortled many times. Pratchett makes some hilarious descriptions.
 
* Basing the world on real-life myths is a staple of fiction, but using the most ridiculous myths, like that the earth is supported by four giant elephants riding a huge turtle, was genius!
 
* Basing the world on real-life myths is a staple of fiction, but using the most ridiculous myths, like that the earth is supported by four giant elephants riding a huge turtle, was genius!
 
* The way Pratchett bases magic on scientific principles is pretty cool.
 
* The way Pratchett bases magic on scientific principles is pretty cool.
* The description of the Temple of Bel-Shamharoth, talking about all objects based around nine minus one and the square root of 64 was funny.
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* The description of the Temple of Bel-Shamharoth, talking about all objects based around nine minus one and the square root of 64 was funny because it so clearly jabs at the stupid taboos of religions.
 
* Death is a hilarious character.
 
* Death is a hilarious character.
  
 
===Bad===
 
===Bad===
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* I don't care much for childish silly humor, and there was a fair amount of it with Twoflower and his trunk.
 
* The book becomes rather hard to follow in the later portion when the characters are jumping between dimensions and the time line gets jumbled up.
 
* The book becomes rather hard to follow in the later portion when the characters are jumping between dimensions and the time line gets jumbled up.
 
* If sapient pearwood is nearly extinct, entirely magic proof, and extremely valuable, how does a middle-class wizard like Twoflower have a trunk made out of it?
 
* If sapient pearwood is nearly extinct, entirely magic proof, and extremely valuable, how does a middle-class wizard like Twoflower have a trunk made out of it?
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===Ugly===
 
===Ugly===
 
* Nothing
 
* Nothing
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==Cover Art==
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<gallery>
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Color of Magic - UK - Hard Cover.jpg|The first edition UK hard cover depicts a scene in the book, but I don't care much for the art style, and graphically, I find there is too much going on.
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Color of Magic - UK - Paperback.jpg|The UK paperback is a less-cluttered version of the original art. I still don't care for the art, but I like the layout more.
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Color of Magic - UK - Hard Cover - Special Edition.jpg|The UK special edition. Quite boring, really.
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Color of Magic - USA - Hard Cover.jpg|I think this is the US hard cover. The psychedelic art nicely depicts the turtle, elephants, and flat Discworld, with what appears to be, an octarine lens flare.
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Color of Magic - USA - Paperback.jpg|The North American paperback cover is graphically pleasant, but an awful representation of the book. The modern suitcase does not fit at all.
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Color of Magic - USA - Mass 2.jpg|An earlier US mass market cover. It depicts the imaginary dragon escape scene. Nice color usage, but the dragon looks goofy and the characters look too silly.
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Color of Magic - USA - Mass.jpg|The US mass market cover is just as bad, although, I like the Discworld stickers on the suitcase.
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Color of Magic - Unknown.jpg|Unknown region, appears to be US, but uses UK spelling. This is my favorite cover. It plays on [[Leonardo da Vinci]]'s [[Vitruvian Man]], but uses a turtle and four elephants.
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Color of Magic - Unknown 2.jpg|Unknown region. The characters and luggage are fitting. And although the woodblock art is quite skilled, I don't like the style for a book cover.
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</gallery>
  
 
==Links==
 
==Links==
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colour_of_Magic en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colour_of_Magic] - Wikipedia.
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{{Link|Wikipedia|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colour_of_Magic}}
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{{Link|GoodReads|https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34497.The_Color_of_Magic}}
  
  
 
[[Category: Books|Colour of Magic, The]]
 
[[Category: Books|Colour of Magic, The]]
 
[[Category: Fiction|Colour of Magic, The]]
 
[[Category: Fiction|Colour of Magic, The]]
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[[Category: Fantasy|Colour of Magic, The]]
 
[[Category: Comedy|Colour of Magic, The]]
 
[[Category: Comedy|Colour of Magic, The]]
 
[[Category: Books I've Read|Colour of Magic, The]]
 
[[Category: Books I've Read|Colour of Magic, The]]
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[[Category: Overrated|Colour of Magic, The]]

Revision as of 22:20, 10 May 2019

The first edition hard cover.

The Color of Magic, spelled The Colour of Magic in the UK, is a comedic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett and the first book in the Discworld series, published in 1983.

I first picked this book up because my girlfriend at the time bought it. She was a huge fan of Good Omens and wanted to read more books by Pratchett. I didn't have a chance to read much of it, and, finding the first couple pages dull, didn't read any further. Later, a co-worker of mine who was a huge Pratchett fan and had read every one of the Discworld books continued to rave about him. Later still, I decided to give the book another chance and read it. It was funny, but not great.

Status

I do not own this book, but have listened to an audio book recording.

Review

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

  • Overall, the book is funny. There are a lot of small jokes, ironic jokes, plays on tropes, etc. I chortled many times. Pratchett makes some hilarious descriptions.
  • Basing the world on real-life myths is a staple of fiction, but using the most ridiculous myths, like that the earth is supported by four giant elephants riding a huge turtle, was genius!
  • The way Pratchett bases magic on scientific principles is pretty cool.
  • The description of the Temple of Bel-Shamharoth, talking about all objects based around nine minus one and the square root of 64 was funny because it so clearly jabs at the stupid taboos of religions.
  • Death is a hilarious character.

Bad

  • I don't care much for childish silly humor, and there was a fair amount of it with Twoflower and his trunk.
  • The book becomes rather hard to follow in the later portion when the characters are jumping between dimensions and the time line gets jumbled up.
  • If sapient pearwood is nearly extinct, entirely magic proof, and extremely valuable, how does a middle-class wizard like Twoflower have a trunk made out of it?
  • I didn't care much for the ending which leaves a lot of loose ends.

Ugly

  • Nothing

Cover Art

Links

Link-Wikipedia.png  Link-GoodReads.png