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39-588: The Colour of Magic is a 1983 fantasy comedy novel by Terry Pratchett , and is the first book of the Discworld series. The first printing of the British edition consisted of only 506 copies. Pratchett has described it as "an attempt to do for the classical fantasy universe what Blazing Saddles did for Westerns ." The story takes place on the Discworld, a planet-sized flat disc carried through space on

78-802: A Macmillan subsidiary, in Amstrad/CDC, Commodore and Spectrum formats. Dave Langford reviewed The Colour of Magic for White Dwarf #64, and stated that "It's one of those horrible, antisocial books which impel the reader to buttonhole friends and quote bits at them. My ceiling is covered with brown spots from when I tried to read Pratchett's jokes and drink beer at the same time. Only native sadism makes me recommend this disgraceful work." Colin Greenland reviewed The Colour of Magic for Imagine magazine, and stated that "Terry Pratchett does for sword and sorcery what Douglas Adams did for science fiction." In 2015, Sam Jordison at The Guardian gave

117-412: A magical travelling shop, one of many that sell strange and sinister goods and vanish inexplicably the next time a customer tries to find them. These shops travel the multiverse, set adrift by a sorcerer's curse on the shopkeeper for not having something in stock. The three are able to return to Ankh-Morpork via the shop. As the star comes nearer and the magic on the Discworld weakens, Trymon tries to put

156-588: A mountain troll summoned by Offler the Crocodile God. The ignorant Twoflower ends up being led to the Temple of Bel-Shamharoth, a being said to be the opposite of both good and evil, while Rincewind ends up imprisoned in a dryad-inhabited tree in the woods, where he watches the events in Bel Shamharoth's temple through a magical portal. The pair are reunited when Rincewind escapes into the temple through

195-486: A poor grasp of local prices). When the landlord inevitably burns down the tavern to claim the money, the fire spreads and destroys the whole of Ankh-Morpork. Rincewind and Twoflower escape in the chaos. Rincewind and Twoflower travel towards the city of Quirm, unaware that their adventures on this journey are actually the subject of a boardgame played by the Gods of the Discworld. The pair are separated when they are attacked by

234-454: A positive review of The Colour of Magic . He discussed the arguments that it may not be the best introduction to the series: later books are more highly regarded; it does little to develop its characters and ideas; and modern readers may not be familiar with the "pre-1990s fantasy conventions" it lampoons. However, he argued that the book is "still more than worth reading in and of itself", praising its gags and satire. "Indeed, The Colour of Magic

273-734: A similar vein was Thorne Smith , whose works (such as Topper and The Night Life of the Gods ) were popular and influential, and often adapted for film and television. Humorous fantasies narrated in a "gentleman's club" setting are common; they include John Kendrick Bangs ' A Houseboat on the Styx (1895), Lord Dunsany 's " Jorkens " stories, and Maurice Richardson 's The Exploits of Englebrecht (1950). According to Lin Carter , T. H. White 's works exemplify fantasy comedy, L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt 's Harold Shea stories are early exemplars. The overwhelming bulk of de Camp's fantasy

312-400: A single volume by Corgi on 4 November 1993. It has been published in hardcover along with the graphic novel of The Colour of Magic, as The Discworld Graphic Novels. ( ISBN   978-0-06-168596-5 ) The Mob Film Company and Sky One produced a miniseries, combining both The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic , broadcast on Easter Sunday and Monday 2008. Sir David Jason played

351-510: A young woman named Bethan, Cohen the Barbarian, an octogenarian parody of Conan , attacks the druids. Twoflower is poisoned in the battle, forcing Rincewind to travel to Death's Domain to rescue him. The pair narrowly avoid being killed by Ysabell , Death's adopted daughter. As they escape, the Octavo tells Rincewind that it had arranged for its eighth spell to escape into his head, to ensure

390-571: Is hired as a guide to naive Twoflower , an insurance clerk from the Agatean Empire who has come to visit Ankh-Morpork. Thanks to the abundance of gold in his homeland, Twoflower, though only a clerk, is immensely rich compared to inhabitants of Ankh-Morpork. Initially attempting to flee with his advance payment for agreeing to be Twoflower's guide, Rincewind is captured by the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, who forces him to protect Twoflower, lest

429-522: Is the perfect introduction because it leaves me hungry for more." Fantasy comedy The subgenre rose in the nineteenth century. Elements of fantasy comedy can be found in such nineteenth century works as some of Hans Christian Andersen 's fairy tales, Charles Dickens ' "Christmas Books", and Lewis Carroll 's Alice books. The first writer to specialize in the subgenre was " F. Anstey " in novels such as Vice Versa (1882), where magic disrupts Victorian society with humorous results. Anstey's work

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468-494: The Innovative Corporation , of Wheeling, WV and then published as a single volume by Corgi on 12 November 1992. Part 1 was originally announced for publication by Innovative on 10 December 1990, but it was delayed as Terry Pratchett had not been shown the artwork for approval as contractually required and disliked it, so the first issue had to be redrawn. The graphic novel is split up into several chapters like

507-689: The Discworld. They are saved when the Octavo , the most powerful book of magic on the Discworld, readjusts reality to prevent the loss of one of its eight spells. The spell had lodged in Rincewind's head when he was a student at Unseen University . Rincewind, Twoflower and the Luggage end up in the Forest of Skund. The wizards of Ankh-Morpork use the Rite of Ashk-Ente to summon Death to find an explanation for

546-463: The Octavo's actions. Death warns them that the Discworld will soon be destroyed by a huge red star unless the eight spells of the Octavo are read. Several orders of wizards travel to the forest of Skund to capture Rincewind, who is currently staying with Twoflower and the Luggage in a gingerbread house in the forest . In the subsequent chaos, Rincewind and Twoflower escape on an old witch's broom. The Archchancellor of Unseen University attempts to obtain

585-589: The Wyrmberg riders, whom he names Ninereeds, allowing him to escape captivity and save Rincewind from being killed in a duel with one of the three heirs of the Wyrmburg. Twoflower, Rincewind and Ninereeds snatch Hrun, but as they attempt to escape into the skies, Twoflower passes out from the lack of oxygen, causing Ninereeds to disappear. Hrun is saved by Liessa, but Rincewind and Twoflower find themselves falling to their deaths. In desperation, Rincewind manages to use

624-467: The Wyrmberg's power to temporarily summon a passenger jet from the real world, before he and Twoflower fall into the ocean. The two of them are taken to the edge of the Discworld by the ocean currents and nearly carried over, but they are caught by the Circumfence, a huge net built by the nation of Krull to catch sea life and flotsam washed in from the rest of the Discworld. They are rescued by Tethis

663-408: The Wyrmberg, an upside-down mountain which is home to dragon-riders who summon their dragons by imagining them, and are separated when the riders attack them. Rincewind escapes capture but is forced by Kring, Hrun's sentient magical sword, to attempt to rescue his friends. Twoflower is imprisoned within the Wyrmberg, and because of his fascination with dragons, is able to summon one greater than those of

702-489: The backs of four gargantuan elephants – Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen – who themselves stand on the shell of Great A'Tuin, a gigantic star turtle. The surface of the disc contains oceans and continents, and with them, civilisations, cities, forests and mountains. The story begins in Ankh-Morpork, the biggest city on the Discworld. The main character is an incompetent and cynical wizard named Rincewind , who

741-622: The beginning of The Light Fantastic . The Colour of Magic is one of the few Discworld novels to be divided into sections or chapters, the others being Pyramids , Going Postal , and Making Money , along with the Discworld novels for younger readers, which consist of the five Tiffany Aching books ( The Wee Free Men , A Hat Full of Sky , Wintersmith , I Shall Wear Midnight , and The Shepherd's Crown ) and The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents . The sections are: The four main parts are lengthy, and have been likened to short stories or novellas rather than chapters. In

780-536: The book, and is faithful to the source material in that it is built up like classic barbarian stories (in this case comics à la Red Sonja ). Crucial differences between the book and comic include the cutting-out of some of the adventures in Ankh-Morpork and Krull, along with combining the characters of Galder Weatherwax and Ymper Trymon. Also, in the book, the female Dragonriders are described as being topless, as barbarian women in fiction tend to be. However, in

819-470: The case of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and its 2019 sequel . The Light Fantastic The Light Fantastic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett , the second of the Discworld series. It was published on 2 June 1986, the first printing being of 1,034 copies. The title is taken from L'Allegro , a poem by John Milton , and refers to dancing lightly with extravagance, although in

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858-465: The god Fate, who insisted on their sacrifice after they cost him the earlier game. Rincewind and Twoflower attempt to escape, but end up stealing the capsule, which is launched with Twoflower inside, the tourist wishing to see the other worlds of the universe. Rincewind is unable to get into the capsule in time, and falls off the Disc alongside it, the Luggage following them soon after. The story segues into

897-485: The graphic novel the women wear chain-mail chestpieces as well as the clothing described in the book. It has been published in hardcover, along with the graphic novel of The Light Fantastic , as The Discworld Graphic Novels ( ISBN   9780061685965 ). The Mob Film Company and Sky One have produced a two-part adaptation, combining both The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic , directed by Vadim Jean and broadcast over Easter, 2008. David Jason starred in

936-404: The novel it is explained as "the light that lies on the far side of darkness, the light fantastic. It was a rather disappointing purple colour." The events of the novel are a direct continuation of those in the preceding book, The Colour of Magic . The book begins shortly after the ending of The Colour of Magic , with wizard Rincewind , the tourist Twoflower , and the Luggage falling from

975-437: The part of Rincewind. He was joined by David Bradley as Cohen the Barbarian , Sean Astin as Twoflower, Tim Curry as Trymon, and Christopher Lee taking over the role of Death from Ian Richardson (a role he previously portrayed in the animated series Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters ). The production team wanted to get fans involved in the adaptation so some of the extras used in the adaptation (in mob scenes and during

1014-454: The portal, and they encounter Hrun the Barbarian, a parody of heroes in the Swords and Sorcery genre. The trio are attacked and nearly killed by Bel-Shamharoth, but escape when Rincewind accidentally blinds the creature with Twoflower's magical picture box. Hrun agrees to travel with and protect Twoflower and Rincewind in exchange for heroic pictures of him from the picture box. The trio visit

1053-433: The red star to crack open, birthing eight infant world-turtles. They follow their parent Great A'Tuin , the massive turtle who carries the Discworld, on a course away from the star. The Octavo falls and is eaten by the Luggage. Cohen and Bethan leave to get married. Twoflower and Rincewind part company as Twoflower decides to return home, leaving the Luggage with Rincewind as a parting gift. Rincewind decides to re-enroll in

1092-524: The role of Rincewind. Sean Astin , best known for his role as Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings film series, took the role of Twoflower. Christopher Lee took over the role of Death from Ian Richardson (a role Lee had previously played in the animated series Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters ). The plot was adapted for a text adventure computer game in 1986, by Delta 4 and released by Piranha,

1131-510: The sea troll, a being composed of water who had fallen off the edge of his own world and onto the Discworld, where he was subsequently enslaved by the Krullians. The Krullians then take Rincewind and Twoflower to their capital, where they inform them that they intend to use a space capsule to launch over the edge of the Disc in order to learn the sex of Great A'Tuin, and that they also intend to sacrifice Rincewind and Twoflower in order to appease

1170-517: The section "The Colour of Magic", the characters Bravd and The Weasel relate to Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser from Fritz Leiber 's Sword series. "The Sending of Eight" has Lovecraftian references, and "The Lure of the Wyrm" parodies Anne McCaffrey 's Dragonflight . A graphic novel , illustrated by Steven Ross and adapted by Scott Rockwell, was first published as a four-part comic in 1991 by

1209-401: The seven spells still in the Octavo into his mind, in an attempt to save the world and gain ultimate power. However, the spells prove too strong for him and his mind becomes a door into the "Dungeon Dimensions", home of terrifying eldritch creatures. Rincewind and Twoflower manage to kill the now-mutated Trymon. Rincewind reads all eight of the Octavo's spells aloud. This causes eight moons of

The Colour of Magic - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-424: The spell, but accidentally summons the Luggage on top of him, crushing him to death. His apprentice, Ymper Trymon, uses the opportunity to advance his own power, intending to obtain the eight spells for himself. Rincewind and Twoflower encounter a sect of druids who have assembled a "computer" from large standing stones , and learn of the approaching red star. As Twoflower attempts to stop the druids from sacrificing

1287-404: The spells could not be used before the appointed time. Rincewind and Twoflower travel with Cohen and Bethan to a nearby town, where the toothless Cohen leaves to have dentures made, having learned of them from Twoflower. Rincewind, Twoflower and Bethan are attacked by a mob of people who believe the star is coming to destroy the Discworld in response to the presence of magic. The trio escape into

1326-573: The television series I Dream of Jeannie , Kröd Mändoon . Examples on radio are the BBC 's Hordes of the Things and ElvenQuest . Fantasy comedy films can either be parodies ( Monty Python and the Holy Grail ), comedies with fantastical elements ( Being John Malkovich , Barbie ) or animated ( Shrek ). It has also been used with fantasy as the primary genre and comedy as the secondary, as in

1365-549: The tourist's death provoke the Agatean Emperor into invading Ankh-Morpork. After Twoflower is kidnapped by a gang of thieves and taken to the Broken Drum tavern, Rincewind stages a rescue alongside the Luggage, an indestructible, enchanted and sentient chest belonging to Twoflower. Before this, Twoflower convinces the Broken Drum's landlord to take out a fire insurance policy at an inflated valuation (Twoflower having

1404-520: The university, believing that with the spell out of his head, he will finally be able to learn magic. The cover of a United States paperback release features a mistake, with Cohen's name stated to be " Conan ". A graphic novel adapted by Scott Rockwell and illustrated by Steven Ross and Joe Bennet, was first published as a four-part comic in June, August, December 1992 and February 1993 by the Innovative Corporation of Wheeling WV, before being published as

1443-577: The works by Christopher Moore . There are also comic-strips/graphic novels in the humorous fantasy genre, including Chuck Whelon 's Pewfell series and the webcomics 8-Bit Theater and The Order of the Stick . Other authors of the genre in modern times include C.K. McDonnell , Jasper Fforde , Neil Gaiman , Robert Rankin , John Brosnan , Craig Shaw Gardner , David Lee Stone and Esther Freisner , as well as countless independent authors. The subgenre has also been represented in television , such as in

1482-604: Was comic. Pratt and de Camp were among several contributors to Unknown Worlds , a pulp magazine which emphasized fantasy with a comedic element. The work of Fritz Leiber also appeared in Unknown Worlds , including his Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, a jocose take on the sword and sorcery subgenre. In more modern times, Terry Pratchett 's Discworld books, Piers Anthony 's Xanth books, Robert Asprin 's MythAdventures of Skeeve and Aahz books, and Tom Holt 's books provide good examples, as do many of

1521-537: Was popular enough to inspire several imitations, including E. Nesbit 's light-hearted children's fantasies, The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) and The Story of the Amulet (1906). The United States had several writers of fantasy comedy, including James Branch Cabell , whose satirical fantasy Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice (1919) was the subject of an unsuccessful prosecution for obscenity. Another American writer in

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