Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett's profoundly irreverent novels are consistent number one bestsellers in England, where they have garnered him a revered position in the halls of parody next to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen. In The Light Fantastic only one individual can save the world from a disastrous collision. Unfortunately, the hero happens to be the singularly inept wizard Rincewind, who was last seen falling off the edge of the world...

The Light Fantastic

" What shall we do?' said Twoflower. Panic?' said Rincewind hopefully. He always held that panic was the best means of survival. As it moves towards a seemingly inevitable collision with a malevolent red star, the Discworld could do with a hero. What it doesn't need is a singularly inept and cowardly wizard, still recovering from the trauma of falling off the edge of the world, or a well-meaning tourist and his luggage which has a mind (and legs) of its own. Which is a shame because that's all there is..."

Sarah Sammis

I can remember standing in the duty free shop before the start of the Alaskan cruise. There was a spinning rack of science fiction and fantasy paperbacks. I had the money for one book. It came down to two: The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. As I was in a hurry I didn't even notice that they were books one and two in the then new Discworld series. I chose The Colour of Magic because I liked the title best.

I promptly forgot about The Light Fantastic until nearly twenty years had passed. In fact, I forgot about Terry Pratchett except for remembering that I had loved The Colour of Magic until my husband discovered my old copy. He is a more avid reader of series than I am and promptly went on a Discworld binge. In 2002 while on a business trip to Vancouver he picked up a bunch of the early Discworld books, including The Light Fantastic. He brought them home, read them and put them on our bookshelves before I even noticed that we had them.

In the meantime, I'd taken to reading the more recent Discworld books. When I was doing a shelf purge for the Friends of the Library I found our copy of The Light Fantastic and realized I had never read it, even though I knew the basic plot both from my husband describing the book to me and from watching the The Colour of Magic miniseries which combines the first two books. I read the book during down times at my Census enumerator training back in April.

Anyway, the book starts off where Colour of Magic ends. Rincewind, Twoflower and his luggage have fallen off the disc. They are saved by a very powerful spell with a mind of its own. Meanwhile, the entire world seems to be swimming towards certain doom in the form of a bright red star. If the wizards of Unseen University can stop fighting amongst themselves they might be able to put things to right.

When I talk to other Pratchett fans about The Light Fantastic the general consensus seems to be that the second book is better than the first. Here I have to buck with popular opinion and choose The Colour of Magic. There's something so delicious absurd about a tourist who acts like someone from any generic metropolis here on Earth going on vacation in a city built up of fantasy tropes such as Ankh-Moorpork. I think part of the magic for me is that I was playing tourist while reading the book.

With The Light Fantastic Pratchett expands his focus from Ankh-Moorpork to the disc as a whole, including the great Atun and the four elephants, to explain how the world works and all the other fantastic creatures and magical places. It's fun and all but it seems like too much jumping around from location to location for such a short book.

That being said, my favorite version of The Light Fantastic has to be The Colour of Magic miniseries. It's worth seeing if you haven't had the chance.

Wilde

Not one of his best but still made me smile.

Rhiannon Mansfield

I am enjoying this series so far. This book was by far better than the first so I have hope that the rest will continue to get better. Have to make a library trip tomorrow to get a few more.

Gillian Rose

3.75 stars

An enjoyable read (despite no chapters, dammit Pratchett!), but I also kinda feel like nothing really happened? I find the characters hilarious and they're on some sort of journey, but it wasn't clear to me exactly what.

Stijn de Boer 

About halfway through this was a 3 star book for me. It had some good moments, but wasn't nearly as interesting as the first Discworld novel. However, the climax more than makes up for some of the less gripping parts of The Light Fantastic. There's still a lot of room for improvement pacing-wise, though, so 4 stars.

Omar AlHashmi

Well this book just solidified that I have to continue with the discworld series. One of my biggest problems with the first book was that I didn't feel like it was structured well. The Light Fantastic was such a big improvement and felt way more cohesive than the first book. The book was also much much funnier which is a plus. I still find it amazing how I am halfway through a paragraph and suddenly get to a line and start laughing out loud. It is certainly my sense of humor, something that isn't in your face and too easy to get. Something that you actually have to look back a few times until you get it. Anyway I really loved the book and cant wait to continue the discworld series

Masa

I liked it. Not really loved it, but it's still good. 

Michael M.

I've never been this emotionally attached to a piece of luggage. I never imagined an author could convince me luggage is sentient and make me tear up at the end of a novel over it.

Bravo!

Kerri McDonald

This book is better than the first, I have to say. I enjoyed The Colour of Magic and the introduction to Discworld, but this book was way more exciting and fun and just engaging. I've been meaning to read the Discworld series for awhile and I wasn't 100% sure I was going to continue after the first book. Now I think I'm well and truly hooked! I love Terry Pratchett's writing style and his brand of humor. My particular favorite in this book was:

"Rincewind, all the shops have been smashed open, there was a whole bunch of people across the street helping themselves to musical instruments, can you believe that?"
"Yeah," said Rincewind, picking up a knife and testing its blade thoughtfully. "Luters, I expect."

I do so love a good pun. I think I will be continuing my adventures in Discworld.

Natali Topliff

Building on the story started in The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett was able to have alot of fun with the plot as the characters had been established.

Eilidh 

Meh!!
How do I feel??
Well, I perfer other Discworld bokks definatly but it's okay. I think it's better than The Colour of Magic but I don't think the wizard ones are for me. I will eventually read them though, hopefully!
I feel as though the plot was okay, the characters too. But it still wasn't reallg for me.

Now I just need to decide what Discworld to read next...

Kyle Sawatsky

Jeff Gila

Caoimhe Creaven 

It is known as the Discworld. It is a flat planet, supported on the backs of four elephants, who in turn stand on the back of the great turtle A'Tuin as it swims majestically through space. And it is quite possibly the funniest place in all of creation... As it moves towards a seemingly inevitable collision with a malevolent red star, the Discworld has only one possible saviour. Unfortunately, this happens to be the singularly inept and cowardly wizard called Rincewind, who was last seen falling off the edge of the world.

The Light Fantastic

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