I Read Books: The Colour Of Magic
Being in the middle of a (re-) read of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber, I decided to take a quick look at Terry Pratchett’s first Discworld novel. Pratchett is riffing off the lads several times in this. The first section is a story that Rincewind the Wizard is telling to Bravd the Hublander, a barbarian from the cold lands, and The Weasel, a city thief. They owe old Fredor at the Crimson Leech eight silver pieces*.
The story moves through four sections. In the first Twoflower, the unfeasibly rich (due to coming from a land where gold is common) Discworld’s first tourist comes to Ankh-Morpork, links up with the Wizard Rincewind and the influx of gold upends everything, economics trumping fantasy or logic. In the second they find themselves caught in up in evil temple with a hideous old god, and escape with Hrun the barbarian, a classic Conan figure in a much sillier fantasy world. In the third they find themselves in Wyrmberg, a dragon-city in a high magic zone in which the recently assassinated lord is trying to decide which of his children will rule after him. In the final section Rincewind and Twoflower find themselves on the edge of the planet.
The whole thing is a game of the gods, with Fate trying to destroy Rincewind and Twoflower, the unlikely champions of The Lady**.
All this could be played straight but Rincewind is genuinely incredulous at the wacky goings on, Twoflower reacts with awe and wonder at terrifying events and people in general undercut what they’re saying in ironic and entertaining ways and fail to communicate.
Read This: For an amusing parody fantasy world
Don’t Read This: Pratchett later turns his comic barrels on topics less flimsy than slightly old-fashioned fantasy tropes and that’s more interesting
* Fafhrd and the Mouser are lax at playing their debts and their favourite inns in Lankhmar are the Silver Eel and the Golden Lamprey.
** A theme picked up in later Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories
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