The Colour of Magic
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| Author | Terry Pratchett |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series |
Discworld 1st novel – 1st Rincewind story |
| Subject |
Fantasy clichés, Role-playing games
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| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Colin Smythe |
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Publication date
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November 24, 1983 |
| Awards | 93rd in the Big Read |
| ISBN | |
Fantasy clichés, Role-playing games
The Colour of Magic is a 1983 comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the Discworld series. The first printing of the British edition consisted of 506 copies. Pratchett has described it as "an attempt to do for the classical fantasy universe what Blazing Saddles did for Westerns."
The story takes place on the Discworld, a planet-sized flat disc carried through space on the backs of four huge elephants - Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen - who themselves stand on the shell of Great A'Tuin, a gigantic sea turtle. The surface of the disc contains oceans and continents, and with them, civilizations, cities, forests and mountains.
The story begins in Ankh-Morpork, the biggest city on the Discworld. The main character is an incompetent and cynical wizard named Rincewind, who is hired as a guide to the rich but naive Twoflower, an insurance clerk from the Agatean Empire who has come to visit Ankh-Morpork. Initially attempting to flee with his advance payment, Rincewind is captured by the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, who forces him to protect Twoflower, lest the tourist's death provoke the Agatean Emperor into invading Ankh-Morpork. After Twoflower is kidnapped by a gang of thieves and taken to the Broken Drum Pub, Rincewind stages a rescue alongside the Luggage, an indestructible, enchanted and sentient chest belonging to Twoflower. Before this, Twoflower convinces the Drum's barman to take out a fire insurance policy; the barman subsequently attempts to burn down the Drum in order to claim the money, but ends up causing a fire that destroys the whole of Ankh-Morpork. Rincewind and Twoflower escape in the chaos.
Rincewind and Twoflower travel towards the city of Quirm, unaware that their adventures on this journey are actually the subject of a boardgame played by the Gods of the Discworld. The pair are separated when they are attacked by a mountain troll summoned by Offler the Crocodile God. The ignorant Twoflower ends up being led to the Temple of Bel-Shamharoth, a being said to be the opposite of both good and evil, while Rincewind ends up imprisoned in a dryad-inhabited tree in the woods, where he watches the events in Bel Shamharoth's temple through a magical portal. The pair are reunited when Rincewind escapes into the temple through the portal, and they encounter Hrun the Barbarian, a parody of heroes in the Swords and Sorcery genre. The trio are attacked and nearly killed by Bel-Shamharoth, but escape when Rincewind accidentally blinds the creature with Twoflower's magical picture box. Hrun agrees to travel with and protect Twoflower and Rincewind in exchange for heroic pictures of him from the picture box.
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