Discworld Recap: The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Mort

QUARTER TWO BEGINS HERE!

The Colour of Magic, as it turns out, was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Pratchett clearly has as much fun coming up with the physical laws of the Disc as he does developing the characters, and does both with increasing talent. The Colour of Magic flows seamlessly into The Light Fantastic, and Fantastic in and of itself flows a lot better than Colour. In the second book, Pratchett has done away with typical book structure, with no chapters, which lets the work flow freely and without pause.

While reading of the details of the creatures and laws of the Disc are endlessly amusing, Pratchett sacrifices neither plot nor characterization for the sake of world-building. Rincewind develops believably from a shriveling coward to a shriveling coward with a sense of honor, and Twoflower slowly becomes aware that being uninvolved with the plot does not make him invulnerable. The more episodic nature of the first book hinders this only slightly, but once the main plot takes over the characters get thrust more center-stage.

Mort is something a bit different. Rincewind makes a mere token appearance, and Twoflower none at all, while a new character named Mort takes center-stage. He unwittingly becomes Death's apprentice, but Death has other plans for him. And falling in love gives Mort an agenda all his own, one which very nearly tears reality apart. This book is simply outstanding--the plot is more compelling, the characters developed, and Death is actually a fleshed-out, sympathetic character. The plot is loaded with twists, turns, and clever wordplay, as well as--like the previous two--a fairly satirical and always interesting look at how fantasy works from a (slightly more) logical standpoint.

All three are great reads and highly recommended.