The Light Fantastic: Discworld, Book 2
E**E
A Pratchett book!
Never a dull moment with this one. There were parts that had never confused but overall, it was a fun and quarky story to follow. I enjoy The Color of Magic so naturally I expected to like this one... and I did for the most part. It's a good candidate for theories and hypotheses. I plan to continue this series and see what is the essence of Discworld.
M**Y
Wonderful absurdity
This is well-crafted absurdity, that reads like non-sense but in the end makes sense in the 2nd half of the introduction to the DiscWorld you can feel the multi-dimensional universe evolve. We continue from the Color of Magic with our main characters arriving in a new locale, get into trouble, resolve the situation (or rather watch as someone else resolves it), and stumble onto the next location.In the first half of the adventure the story seemed random and ridiculous. As we start The Light Fantastic, we join the continuing journey of the unwilling wizard Rincewind and his travel companion and tourist, Twoflowers (along with his luggage) on a dizzying adventure with demonic possession, human sacrifice, lynch mobs, barbarian heros, trolls, world domination and the apocalypse.If you strip away the puns, weird settings and the unlikely heros, Pratchett basically wrote a classic tale of heroes on a quest to save the world except it was anything but classic or traditional. I also appreciate that the magic and fantasy was not stereotypical. There is lively dialogue, interesting characters and a good story, and of course, very funny in a Dad joke kind of way.Once you read a couple of pages you are hooked. It’s a great read and very original. I can’t wait to continue the magical craziness and reading Equal Rites.
R**D
A solid follow-up to The Color of Magic
The Light Fantastic does a great job of finishing what Pratchett began in The Color of Magic. Like that book, this one is mostly episodic, meaning that the main characters arrive in a new locale, get into trouble, resolve the situation (or watch as someone else resolves it), and move on to the next location.One of the things that I appreciate most about Pratchett’s writing is that it’s rigorously streamlined. Like Chekhov, he avoids excessive detail, giving us just the important bits. So, if he shows you a gun (or a book or a piece of luggage) in the first act, you can bet that it’s going to play an important role before the story is through. The book is like a series of satisfying payoffs.And despite Pratchett’s passion for puns and dad jokes, The Light Fantastic shows that he’s not afraid to set aside the yuks now and then to speak more directly—and pithily—to the reader. His satire offers plenty of commentary on contemporary civilization, but his straightforward critiques are just as on-point.That said, the plot of The Light Fantastic—particularly in the first half of the book—felt a little random to me. That might be my fault, since I had to put this book aside a couple of times to focus on other things, but generally, I think that the jumps from one episode to the next were explained better in The Color of Magic.Then again, it’s fantasy, and ridiculous fantasy at that. Maybe Pratchett doesn’t have to provide the characters with powerful motivations at every turn.Whatever the case, the bottom line is: I loved reading the book, and I look forward to picking up the next 38 (!!!) in the series.
C**R
Well-crafted Absurdity that Comes Together to Save the World
Terry Pratchett has written a classic tale of heroes on a quest to save the world. Just kidding! It’s Terry Pratchett and Discworld and there is nothing traditional about any of it. The pace is mad cap, the language is full of puns, the heroes are unlikely, the settings and sidekicks are even more unlikely, and the fun is nonstop. It should be impossible to write such pure nonsense that ends up making great sense. Once again, Terry Pratchett demonstrates how he is the master of a fantasy sub-genre that probably belongs to him alone. Clever, witty, rapid-fire. The Discworld novels fall into different categories: Tiffany Aching, Rincewind, the three witches, Sam Vines and the guards, and Death. This book is a novel of Rincewind. Each book focuses on one of them, although they cross over and pop up in each others' books all the time. It is best if you start from the beginning of a grouping and work your way through, otherwise you'll miss a lot of inside jokes, references, etc. There are charts on the internet that will show you the groupings. Having said that, I read Wee Free Men first, and it made me a fan. You can trust Terry Pratchett to not be too linear and to not be very predictable. Terry Pratchett does a wonderful job of maintaining the integrity of his absurd world and his characters while keeping everything fresh and creative. The humor is wrapped around serious themes. The characters have fantasy aspects, but they illustrate many universal truths of human nature. I cannot read too many of them in a row, but when I need something different, a Discworld novel is the perfect metaphorical palate refresher. Life on Discworld is threatened and extraordinary efforts by an eccentric unmatched team is required to restore balance. Rincewind is an extraordinarily inept wizard whose greatest talent is saving his own skin. He is assisted by the traveler Twoflower, the Luggage, Cohen the Barbarian, Bethan the Sacrificial Virgin, and others along the way. Like all the Discworld books, the tone is satirical and clever. This book did not make me laugh aloud as frequently as Wee Free Men, but it had its moments. Had to love the throw-away line about the luters! These books do not contain any scenes, language, or images that would rate even a PG-13 rating at the movies. If a reader does not have sufficient maturity, much of the book will be wasted, because you won’t get the jokes or understand the satire. I count myself lucky to still have so many novels of Discworld ahead of me.
A**M
Great book but horrible printing quality in paperback
This is a review specifically of the printing quality, not Pratchett's writing. The paperback version, printed by HarperCollins, is of noticeably low quality. The Color of Magic didn't have this problem, but the letters are jagged and blurry throughout the entire book. It looks like it was printed on an old dot matrix printer instead of a modern inkjet or laser printer. Unfortunately distracting during the reading experience.
K**R
Fun
Terry is the master of feel good fantasy. A magical realm where anything can happen and things never become too dire that a funny comment or action can't lighten the mood.
K**R
If you haven't yet read a Discworld novel you had better get started!
The late Sir Terry Pratchett had a brilliant sense of humour; he was extremely well read which clearly shows through his writing; excellent at one liners that catch you out causing real laugh out loud belly laughter; the ability to understand politics, social science, the "establishment" and many complex religious and historical theories and roll them into his books 'tongue in cheek' but never disrespectful. Where else could you read the plot of Macbeth with witches interwoven with dwarfs, trolls, eccentric academics and a rag rag mixture of a police force who include vampires, trolls, dwarfs, werewolves and a person assumed to be human called Nobby Nobs who is tentatively like Baldrick from the TV series "BlackAdder?"The majority of his characters were named after fans that he knew in RL. Each character with their individuality draws you in, makes you want to get to know them better and then makes it impossible for you to choose a favorite as you will love them all!All I can say is "Welcome to Discworld!" An imaginary disc, propped up by large elephants swimming through space on the back of a giant turtle. Once you read a couple of pages you are hooked. You are compelled to read the vast amount of Discworld books and then read them again, and again, and again!STP was taken by a form of dementia and passed away far too early and in his prime. It is certainly our loss but he lives through his wonderful Discworld characters - too many to mention and through his clever ingenious plots who I guarantee you will howl with laughter at.God bless you STP ! You certainly brightened up my life through Discworld. I just wish I could have met you !Enjoy reader! Enjoy!
V**T
Discworld starts to evolve
This is a great improvement on the first novel, the colour of magic. The characters are really beginning to evolve and there is more richness to the narration. Death is becoming more fleshed out so as to speak and developing into the multi layered personality we come to live in later novels. We are introduced to Cohen the barbarian, a character if ever there was one and Rincewind himself shows himself to be a true hero, if entirely involuntarily. Some great insights into human behaviour which become the norm in later books. That said, I'm still not entirely sure what the sight spells are supposed to do.....
T**R
Really who doesn’t know about Discworld?
This was the second book in the series and it’s interesting as his style then was more whimsy than coded commentary on 20th century England. It’s a great read and very original but if you have started with later books when he has hit his stride you may miss the more layered and insightful elements they have.It isn’t a criticism, just my feelings about his development.
D**E
How did I miss him
I've only just found Terry Pratchett. I'm reading him with my children and I won't lie to admitting that we are all very much enjoying it.The only annoying part is I've been told to read them in order, so its annoying to have to wait for the right book to be on sale.Great imagination though and we'll written.
A**E
a fantastic read. It's definitely recommended that you read this
A direct sequel to 'The Colour of Magic', 'The Light Fantastic' follows Rincewind, the Discworld's most inept wizard, and the good-natured tourist Twoflower as they delve into further adventures. This time they find themselves trying to save the Discworld itself, albeit somewhat reluctantly on Rincewand's part.As with almost all of the Discworld novels, a fantastic read. It's definitely recommended that you read this, and 'The Colour of Magic' first if you're reading the Discworld novels for the first time. The first two books are actually quite different from ones further down the line, but it's interesting to see where they started out, and how much they, and the Discoworld itself, evolved over time.
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