 Trade In this Item for up to £5.30
Trade in The First Discworld Novels: "Colour of Magic", "Light Fantastic" for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £5.30, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Terry Pratchett's bestselling Discworld comedies have become an almost terrifying phenomenon generating spin-offs and merchandise on a scale to rival Tolkien. This snazzy omnibus edition of the two novels that began it all comes from their original publisher Colin Smythe Ltd with a new Josh Kirby cover painting. Collectors will love it, but although it's huge fun for fantasy buffs The Colour of Magic (1983) may not be a new reader's best gateway to Discworld. Parts of it rely on pastiche spoofing Fritz Leiber's rogue adventurers, H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu horrors and Anne McCaffrey's dragonriders. The episodic story sees the comically inept wizard Rincewind and Discworld's first naive tourist Twoflower pursued by Death (and worse) to the disc edge where the sea pours off into space--and beyond. Their adventures continue in The Light Fantastic (1986) which is both funnier--lots of rapid-fire jokes--and darker, foreshadowing the adroit balance of hilarity and grimness that makes the best Discworld novels tick. Pratchett applies merciless common sense to fantasy: when a wizard seals himself in a box intended to keep out Death, the lack of airholes means that he very soon hears a hollow voice say "dark in here, isn't it?" These books are loved by millions. --David Langford
Product Description
Together in one volume, here are the first two Discworld novels, featuring Rincewind the wizard and his Luggage, Twoflower and innocent tourist and Cohen the Barbarian, the world's oldest and greatest hero. And not to mention Death, who's not so bad once you get to know him.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
These Two Stories Should Have Come in One Book to Begin With,
By
This review is from: The First Discworld Novels: "Colour of Magic", "Light Fantastic" (Hardcover)
I'd give this book a five, but you have to leave room for his future works which get better. The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic were Pratchett's first two novels, and possibly the funniest stuff I've read yet. I'm usually into the more serious works of fantasy fiction, but reading this parody of the genre left me in stictches. It takes a bit to get into it because it starts off by describing this world as being a flat disk carried on the back of four giant elephants who in turn, are on top of a enormous turtle. Don't ask. Then we meet our heroes: A short tourist with four eyes who doesnt speak the language, but has enough gold to capture the attention of every lowlife thief and robber in the city. The tourist's luggage is made from the magical wood of a special pear tree and as a result- it has a mind of its own, many feet and teeth and follows the tourist everywhere. And the third main character is Rincewind... a failed, coward of a wizzard who can't learn any new spells because he has accidentally memorized one of the eight most powerful spells on the disk- a spell so powerful that no one knows what it does and he dare not say it. In fact, all other spells are AFRAID to go near it. This is just the beginning. Pratchett's wit and spaced-out imagination take the reader on a wild ride where nothing in fantasy is sacred. Now these first two books come together in one book, and I say thats the way they should have come from the beginning. The first book ends with a cliff-hanger (disk-hanger) that is neatly resolved in the second story. And hardcover is a plus, because this IS a classic that belongs on any fan's shelf. It is highly recommended as a breath of fresh air to any fantasy fan- serious or not. I think I liked it even better the first time I read it eight years ago at 16.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pratchett is my god,
By
This review is from: The First Discworld Novels: "Colour of Magic", "Light Fantastic" (Hardcover)
I think I have all of the books in the Discworld series. What it is about Pratchett's writing that catches me so completely is almost impossible to answer. These two books are no exceptions.
Rincewind the Wizzard and Cohen the Barbarian are adorable, hopeless and hilarious people to get to know. Twoflower is the stereotypical tourist, and yet completely lovable. He, however, is not a character we meet in later books. As an introduction to the Discworld, these two books might be a bit intense. "Mort" is probably a gentler entrance into the bizarre world of Pratchett. While there are two-dimensional characters in Pratchett's books, he manages to make the main ones completely three-dimensional. He is probably one of the very best fantasy/sci fi writers around today and on my top-ten list. A must have for people who enjoy irony and do not take life too seriously. To date I have not been able to put down one of his books, even if I have read it previously. He is one of the few authors that I wish I could meet.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's good, but....,
By Jane Williams (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The First Discworld Novels: "Colour of Magic", "Light Fantastic" (Hardcover)
.... if you're using this, the first of the Discworld series, as a test of whether you'll like them, I should point out that the later ones get better. Yes, it's hilarious, it does some brilliant spoofs of classic fantasy books and cliches, it introduces all the characters we come to know in later books, and it starts the concept of seeing what happens if you take a fairy-tale cliche, apply it to real people with human weaknesses and then extend it to the logical extreme. But it doesn't yet have that extra depth of the later books, the one that has you wincing as you laugh. Buy it, read it, and if when you stop giggling you think it was too shallow, read the rest. Well, read them anyway, of course.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
