Terry Pratchett created the beloved world of Discworld nearly 40 years ago! I have read multiple Discworld novels and decided that I want to make the long long trek through all the Discworld novels. That means, I’m going all the way back to the beginning! I’m excited to dive in with The Color of Magic!

The driving plot of the novel is anything but usual. An inept wizard, named Rincewind, meets someone that his town of Ankh-Morpork has never had before: a tourist! The tourists name is Twoflower and with Rincewind, he travels across the literal disc-world they live on. That’s really the setup for the story. But there is so much more. Twoflower wants to see everything and experience everything he can on the disc. Including, but not limited to: meeting a hero, seeing a dragon, taking part in a bar brawl, and selling insurance. Twoflower’s excitement for new experiences leads to all sorts of trouble for him and Rincewind. Rincewind, on the other hand, might have oversold his abilities to Twoflower and simply tries to survive the frequent hijinks they find themselves in. In fact, Rincewind never learned a single spell during his 40 years in school. He only has one spell lodged in his brain. A spell that he does not even know how to conjure. The two find themselves in death defying situation after death defying situation throughout the novel and it’s a wonderful adventure.

With that said, The Color of Magic is a really weird start to the Discworld novels. It seems like Terry Pratchett had the idea for all of these wonderful stories and just wanted to jam as many as he could into one novel. The Color of Magic flies from one location to the next and introduces new character after new character. It hardly takes a chance to breathe as it goes from one set piece to the next. It is really difficult to follow at times. The overarching plot rapidly changes until it reaches its finale. However, each set piece and plot points leave a wonderful sense of adventure. It really makes you want to read the rest of the Discworld novels. The Color of Magic truly feels like a gateway drug to the rest of the novels. It is fun, but it simply makes you want more. The novel, however, is absolutely hilarious (no surprise to those that love Terry Pratchett). The hijinks that happen and the response of Twoflower and the rest of the cast are all incredible.

So, to wrap it up. The Color of Magic gets a 3 out of 4. It is not perfect and it is rather confusing at times, but it’s worth it. The novel has genuine laughs and only fails in not giving more. I think this is a perfect start to the Discworld because it feels like a sampler plate for the rest of the novels. It is a really quick read, only being 270 pages (small pages at that). So honestly, if a world that’s shaped like a disc, resting on the back of four elephants, that stand on the back of a turtle, sounds interesting to you. AND you like really humorous stories, give The Color of Magic a chance! Because even though it is a gateway drug, it’s still a fun drug on its own.