| Terry Pratchett The Discworld series 1st novel – 1st Rincewind story  |
|
|---|---|
| Outline | |
| Characters | Rincewind Twoflower The Luggage |
| Locations | Ankh-Morpork Krull |
| Motifs | Fantasy clichés, Role-playing games |
| Publication details | |
| Year of release | 1983 |
| Original publisher | Colin Smythe |
| Hardback ISBN | ISBN 0-86140-324-X |
| Paperback ISBN | ISBN 0-552-12475-3 |
| Other details | |
| Notes | 93rd in the Big Read |
The Colour of Magic is a 1983 comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the Discworld series.
Contents |
Plot summary
The main character is an incompetent and cynical wizard named Rincewind. He involuntarily becomes a guide to the naive tourist, Twoflower. Forced to flee the city of Ankh-Morpork to escape a terrible fire, they begin on a journey across the Disc. Unbeknownst to them, their journey is controlled by the Gods playing a board game.
They visit Wyrmberg, an upside-down mountain which is home to dragons that only exist in the imagination. The names of the dragons' riders feature punctuation in the middle, making reference and parody of the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffery. They nearly go over the waterfall on the edge of the Disc, only to be rescued and taken to the country of Krull, a city perched on the very edge of the Discworld by a hydrophobic wizard. The Krullians wish to discover the gender of Great A'Tuin, the giant turtle which carries the Discworld through space, so they have built a space capsule to launch over the edge. They intend on sacrificing Rincewind and Twoflower to get Fate to smile on the voyage. Instead, Rincewind and Twoflower hijack the capsule in an attempt to escape and are launched off the Disc themselves.
The story is continued in the succeeding Discworld novel, The Light Fantastic.
Structure
The Colour of Magic is one of only eight Discworld novels to be divided into sections or chapters, the others being Pyramids, Going Postal, Making Money, and the four books for younger readers, specifically The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents and the three Tiffany Aching books, The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, and Wintersmith.
Adaptations
Graphic novel
A graphic novel, illustrated by Steven Ross and adapted by Scott Rockwell, was published by Corgi in 1992. The graphic novel is split up into several chapters like the book, and is faithful to the source material in that it is built up like classic barbarian stories (in this case comics a la Red Sonja). Crucial differences between the book and comic include the cutting-out of some of the adventures in Ankh-Morpork and Krull. Also, in the book, the female Dragonriders are described as being topless, as barbarian women in fiction tend to be. However, to keep the graphic novel child-friendly, the women wear chain-mail bras as well as the clothing described in the book. It has been published in hardcover along with the graphic novel of The Light Fantastic, as The Discworld Graphic Novels. (ISBN 9780061685965)
TV adaptation
The Mob Film Company and Sky One have produced a two-part adaptation, combining both The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic broadcast over Easter 2008. Sir David Jason starred in the role of Rincewind[1]. Sean Astin took the role of Twoflower. Christopher Lee took over the role of Death from Ian Richardson[2] (a role Lee previously portrayed in the animated series Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters).
Computer game
The plot was adapted for a text adventure computer game in 1986.
References
- ^ "Del's spells as David lands role". The Sun Online. 24 April 2007. http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001320029-2007180838,00.html. Retrieved June 8, 2007.
- ^ "Colour of Magic Cast". Paul Kidby official website. July 31, 2007. http://www.paulkidby.com/news/jul2007.html.
External links
- Terry Pratchett discusses The Colour of Magic on the BBC World Book Club
- Annotations for The Colour of Magic
- Quotes from The Colour of Magic
- Synopsis of The Colour of Magic
- Sky One's The Colour of Magic
- Colin Smythe Ltd
| Reading order guide | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by None |
1st Discworld Novel | Succeeded by The Light Fantastic |
| Preceded by None |
1st Rincewind Story Published in 1983 |
Succeeded by The Light Fantastic |
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