As the sun plays hide and seek for another day and the grey clouds rule the sky I am once more seated next to the radiator and tapping at the keys.
I had a bit of a tired day yesterday, sort of like the sun did. I wandered over to the shop to pick up a few foodie bits and was completely shattered after I got back. Therefore I decided that a catch up of Misfits was in order and I spent a happy afternoon munching cheese and chive twists and getting through the last 4 episodes I had missed.
So far today I have not done too much but I do plan to go out later today and take myself for a walk but first things first.
#### SPOILER ALERT ####
The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
After the roller coaster ride of the last book I thought I would read something completely different and plumped for a sort of tried and trusted author in Terry Pratchett.
I have to say that, unfortunately I felt this one was a bit of a let down. For some reason the story just does not seem that focused and there is not much to it and at the end it dwindles into what is obviously a set up for a sequel. I do not plan to read the sequel so at the end of the book I felt like I had invested all my time into a story I was now not even going to see the conclusion of. What is perhaps worse... I do not really care what the next book is, want to get it and/or want to actually read it.
I do not know what I find more annoying with this one.... the fact that none of the characters seem that interesting or the fact that the story is just not that good. Let me explain.
Rincewind is a cowardly failed magician who never finished magic school. He apparently has a spell inside him (one of the Eight) but no-one is sure what the spell actually does. It tries to escape a few times but we never do find out..... Alas. Rincewind is a sort of tour guide to Twoflower who comes from a different world and thinks that everything he sees is great, fantastic and amazing. He is sort of an explorer and he has a sideline in in-sewer-ants (get it???). He is the gullible idiot in the novel. Then there is The Luggage that travels with him which has a personality all of its own... and teeth... and attitude! It says something for a novel that a wooden trunk come to life is arguable the most interesting character in the book. At least the luggage has some kind of purpose. It holds Twoflower's money, it is very protective towards him and follows him wherever he goes. It is also quite funny that this piece of luggage is so determined to keep up with Twoflower and will literally cross any ocean to be with him.
For me there is not really a lot to the story. Somehow Rincewind gets drafted into being a tour guide and protector for Twoflower who has a slightly unhealthy obsession with bar brawls and heroes. So... there are fights, then a fire and they end up fleeing the city. Then they wander around discworld for a while (six months or so apparently) and have a lot of adventures. There does not really seem to be any rhyme or reason for these adventures other than to fill the time. We do not learn anything new about the characters during these adventures, the characters do not change during or after them. There is a cave with a monster and some dragons that appear only when you believe in them. Oh... and let us not forget Hrun the Barbarian (Conan has nothing to worry about there), the people in the trees and the normal array of trolls, bad guys.... and Death (always hilarious when he comes around!). There is some kind of attempt by Pratchett to draw in a bigger, overlapping story/moral with the game played between the Lady and Fate but that just does not come to anything. In the end we end up at the end of the world and that is where the story ends. Seldom was there a more obvious set up for a sequel.
Point to note: somewhere along the line either Twoflower has learnt to speak the local lingo or others can just "magically" start understanding what he says. When he arrives he has a phrasebook and Rincewind has to do the interpreting for him as Twoflower is said to speak a different language but at some point that seems to be no longer the case. Then there is the little slip up with the name change for one of the characters we meet in the Wyrmberg from Liessa to Lianna (p168).
To me it just seems that we are just filling the time by introducing a variety of characters that will (probably) return in later books. There seems to be no real point to any of it. I was quite disappointed at the end of it, especially since I have read other Discworld books and enjoyed them.
For those who ware interested, the colour of magic is Purple. Do with that what you will.
Title: The Colour of Magic
Author: Terry Pratchett
238 pages
Corgi Books
ISBN# 0-552-12475-3
Books to be read: 146
No comments:
Post a Comment