The genesis for Discworld, The
Color of Magic, ended at a cliffhanger, leaving readers peering
at the last page of the book and pondering what is coming next. In
The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett concluded the
misadventure of Rincewind and Twoflower. This also means, The
Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic should be read
together, back to back, as one book. Like its predecessor, The
Light Fantastic is a straight parody of the Sword and Sorcery
genre, and its story comes packed with wicked humor and eccentric
characters that will tickle your funny bone.
Synopsis:
A red comet appeared in the sky, and it
is heading to a collision course against Discworld!
But don't panic!
All hope is not lost, yet. Everyone
knows that in a story like this, there is always a hero who can save
the world. This story is no exception:
“I tell you, a man called Rincewind
can save Discworld from a total annihilation. “
“Ok, so who is Rincewind?”
“He is a wizard.”
“A wizard? Like Gandalf and
Dumbledore? A mighty wizard who can throw fireballs and conjure
stuff? Things are looking better already!”
“Umm, well, actually... Rincewind is
kind of inept. He can't really sling any spell or magic at all, and
he failed all of his wizardry classes at The Unseen University.”
“I see. But we are in a fantasy
story, where an inept hero can become very powerful after tapping
into his inner strength, learning ancient magic, and discovering
mighty weapons in a dungeon... stuff like that. It is called
character development! So, tell me, where is Rincewind?”
“Where is Rincewind? Ok, this is a
bit tricky. You know, the scientists say the world is actually a flat
disc, right? You see, if a world is flat then it also has an edge. If
you are standing too close to its edge, then you might fall over it.
And the last time Rincewind was seen, he was busy falling over the
edge of the world. “
“You gotta be kidding me!”
“Yeah...come to think of it, start to panic!”
My thoughts on this book:
Fans of Robert E. Howard and
Lovecraftian horror, rejoice! The Light Fantastic parodied,
numerous times, elements from the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Conan
the Cimmerian. Fans of Lovecraft can easily spot, and appreciate the
references to Cthulhu, Necronomicon, and tentacled monsters from
another dimension. Along the way, Sir Terry introduced a new
character to Discworld, Cohen the Barbarian, who is arguably the
funniest parody in the book. Cohen, is a wiry old man of small
statue. A legendary hero 87 years young, Cohen is a parody of the
archetypical barbarian hero. Cohen speaks funny because all his teeth
have fallen out, and his back constantly gives out whenever he swings
a sword. Cohen entered Discworld as a memorable character, his
involvements in the story brought a lot of smiles on my face, and I
am hoping to read more about Cohen in the later Discworld
books.
Aside from Cohen the Barbarian, I also
became very fond of another character, the Luggage. Yes, indeed,
Twoflower's luggage, a seemingly sentient, wooden casket that walks
on hundreds of small legs, is actually a character. I think the
Luggage stole the show in this book. Scenes that
featured the Luggage usually made me giggle and laugh. I can't wait
to read the next Discworld adventure featuring Rincewind and
the Luggage.
When it comes to storytelling, The
Light Fantastic told its story more cohesively than in its predecessor. Mind you, there are still moments in this
book that appeared random and out of place. There are still places,
where you can't help but feel that the story has a piece here, a
piece there, and it doesn't really connect together. But as a whole,
the story in The Light Fantastic is a lot easier to follow
than in The Color of Magic, and what started off as a parody
of a sword and sorcery adventure reached, surprisingly, a moving
conclusion.
The second outing for Rincewind and
Twoflower proved itself to be a fun and delightful read. The Light
Fantastic, together with The Color of Magic, not only
marked the beginning of a most well known series in the fantasy
genre, but these two books also serve as an excellent introduction to
Sir Terry's wonderfully imagined Discworld. For those who are
seeking a good way to tackle the massive Discworld library, I
highly recommend The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic
as the entry point to the series.
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