01 Colour of Magic

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This article is about the book. For the TV film, see Terry Pratchett's The Colour
of Magic.
The Colour of Magic is a 1983 fantasy comedy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the
first book of the Discworld series. The first printing of the British edition
consisted of only 506 copies.[1] Pratchett has described it as "an attempt to do
for the classical fantasy universe what Blazing Saddles did for Westerns."[2]
The Colour of Magic
The Colour of Magic (cover art).jpg
First edition
Author
Terry Pratchett
Cover artist
Alan Smith
Language
English
Series
Discworld
1st novel – 1st Rincewind story
Subject
Fantasy
Role-playing games
Characters:
Rincewind
Twoflower
The Luggage
Locations:
Ankh-Morpork, Krull
Genre
Fantasy
Publisher
Colin Smythe
Publication date
24 November 1983
Awards
93rd in the Big Read
ISBN
0-86140-324-X
Followed by
The Light Fantastic
Plot summaryEdit
SettingEdit
The story takes place on the Discworld, a planet-sized flat disc carried through
space on the backs of four gargantuan elephants – Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon and
Jerakeen – who themselves stand on the shell of Great A'Tuin, a gigantic star
turtle. The surface of the disc contains oceans and continents, and with them,
civilizations, cities, forests and mountains.
SummaryEdit
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 naive Twoflower, an insurance clerk from the Agatean Empire who has come
to visit Ankh-Morpork. Thanks to the commonality of gold in his homeland,
Twoflower, though only a clerk, is rich compared to inhabitants of Ankh-Morpork.
Initially attempting to flee with his advance payment for agreeing to be
Twoflower's guide, 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 tavern, Rincewind stages a rescue alongside
the Luggage, an indestructible, enchanted and sentient chest belonging to
Twoflower. Before this, Twoflower convinces the Broken Drum's landlord to take out
a fire insurance policy; the landlord subsequently attempts to burn down the tavern
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.
The trio visit the Wyrmberg, an upside-down mountain which is home to dragon-riders
who summon their dragons by imagining them, and are separated when the riders
attack them. Rincewind escapes capture but is forced by Kring, Hrun's sentient
magical sword, to attempt to rescue his friends. Twoflower is imprisoned within the
Wyrmberg, and because of his fascination with dragons, is able to summon one
greater than those of the Wyrmberg riders, who he names Ninereeds, allowing him to
escape captivity and save Rincewind from being killed in a duel with one of the
three heirs of the Wyrmburg. Twoflower, Rincewind and Ninereeds snatch Hrun, but as
they attempt to escape into the skies, Twoflower passes out from the lack of
oxygen, causing Ninereeds to disappear. Hrun is saved by Liessa, but Rincewind and
Twoflower find themselves falling to their deaths. In desperation, Rincewind
manages to use the Wyrmberg's power to temporarily summon a passenger jet from the
real world, before he and Twoflower fall into the ocean.
The two of them are taken to the edge of the Discworld by the ocean currents and
nearly carried over, but they are caught by the Circumfence, a huge net built by
the nation of Krull to catch sea life and flotsam washed in from the rest of the
Discworld. They are rescued by Tethis the sea troll, a being composed of water who
had fallen off the edge of his own world and onto the Discworld, where he was
subsequently enslaved by the Krullians. Rincewind and Twoflower are then taken by
the Krullians to their capital, where they learn that the Krullians intend to
discover the sex of Great A'Tuin by launching a space capsule over the edge of the
Disc, and plan to sacrifice Rincewind and Twoflower to get the god Fate to smile on
the voyage, Fate insisting on their sacrifice after they caused him to lose the
earlier game. Rincewind and Twoflower attempt to escape, but end up stealing the
capsule, which is launched with Twoflower inside, the tourist wishing to see the
other worlds of the universe. Rincewind is unable to get into the capsule in time,
and falls off the Disc alongside it, the Luggage following them soon after.
The story segues into the beginning of The Light Fantastic.

CharactersEdit
Bel-Shamharoth aka "The Soul Eater", "The Sender of Eight"

Hrun, the Barbarian, aka Hrun of Chimeria
Liessa Wyrmbidder aka Lianna
the Luggage
Rincewind, and his Roundworld alias, Dr Rjinswand
Twoflower, and his Roundworld alias, Jack Zweiblumen
StructureEdit
The Colour of Magic is one of the few Discworld novels to be divided into sections
or chapters, the others being; Pyramids, Going Postal, Making Money, along with the
Discworld novels for younger readers which consist of; the five Tiffany Aching
books, The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, I Shall Wear Midnight The
Shepherd's Crown and The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents.
The sections are:
The Colour of Magic – Prologue

The Colour of Magic
The Sending of Eight – Prologue
The Sending of Eight
The Lure of the Wyrm
Close to the Edge
The four main parts are lengthy, and have been likened to short stories[3] or
novellas rather than chapters.
In the section "The Colour of Magic", the characters Bravd and The Weasel relate to
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser from Fritz Leiber's Sword series. "The Sending of Eight"
has Lovecraftian references, and "The Lure of the Wyrm" parodies Anne McCaffrey's
Dragonflight.[3][4]
Adaptations
Reception
Reviews
References
External links
Last edited 2 months ago by Phil81194
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What is the setting of the story?

What are the main events that occur in Ankh-Morpork?

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The story segues into the beginning of The Light Fantastic.

Bel-Shamharoth aka "The Soul Eater", "The Sender of Eight"

The sections are:

The Colour of Magic – Prologue

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