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the colour of magic litopia skip to content litopia join log in save posts to my readingq 0 my readingq 0 home creations my drafts events the colony ️ my settings ️ invite someone log out help my updates my blog posts my shop my newsletter audio podcast blog drafts bibliography drafts my bookings my seminars events list invite someone to litopia know someone who d love litopia share the link below copy invite link share via email share via facebook share via whatsapp share via messenger share via telegram share via reddit share via x more sharing options clive wright the colour of magic read and wright june 6 2026 2 3 min read add to my readingq sans serif serif a a a supported on the back of a giant turtle the discworld has everything you d expect in a fantasy setting the hero s journey is represented by a greedy impecunious and inept wizard acting as guide for a naive tourist whose lethal luggage waddles occasionally at alarming speed on hundreds of little legs a sympathetic parody of d d style fantasy novels the colour of magic is where it all starts the first of terry pratchett s discworld novels is often regarded by kevins hard core fans to you and i as mildly embarrassing a bit of a dry run practice session or fumbling in the dark for the light switch this is part of why i love the novel the book appeals to me in part because the colour of magic introduces many of the ideas and characters to a recognisable but yet to be fully formed world you see the discworld develop and solidify in the first few of the series i read widely and enjoy most genres i am neither a kevin nor a fantasy obsessive so i feel it s more accurate to think of pratchett as my generation s swift rather than a successor to tolkien as the series progresses he leans more heavily into social and political commentary how did this novel influence how i write let me count the ways pratchett s obsession with quotes directly and in sentiment definitely rubbed off on me as did the need to chase the puns i have leaned into the former more than the latter but only because most of what i write isn t intended to be comical like wodehouse who i will come to later in the series pratchett is not above introducing a character object or situation purely for the sake of a one line pune pun or payoff a few chapters later this is an urge i occasionally succumb to pratchett s world is solidly real this is not generated by the macro though important but the micro the small petty details of how characters interact and live how buildings food and daily inconveniences intrude into the grand sweep of plot and character arcs we know many of the minor characters from real life they live amongst us as colleagues friends and acquaintances even relatives their pettiness obsessions narrow mindedness and generosity form our daily interactions pratchett s love of the small unregarded and overlooked leaps out of the pages there is more much more but you get the picture even if it is rotting away in the loft if anything the colour of magic and by extension the discworld series is even more relevant today than when pratchett wrote it none of the societal issues he wrote about have gone away if anything many of them impact our lives even more directly pratchett wrote satire wrapped in humour disguised as fantasy don t mistake the packaging for the content encore this post share 9 comments newest oldest jonny dee 7 jun 2026 i ll have a look at it clive cheers 1 jonny dee 7 jun 2026 this is a fine piece clive well presented and a really enjoyable read but what i m now going to say now will likely horrify you and many others in these here parts i was aware of tp s novels both through his media profile and also many people recommended his work to me and i eventually caved in i so wanted to love his books i looked at the discworld canon and thought this is great here s a year s worth or more reading or in my case audiobooking to accompany me on my daily walks but in the event and after five i bailed i think my second was com after my first mort which i really did like but com in particular made me yearn for it to end and end soon but it just meandered on and on then i tackled the co written one with neil gaiman good omens eight or more hours i ll never get back i tried another death one can t remember its name and it was better than the com and go but not as good as mort and i began to find for me his style was becoming really irritating a bit convoluted and silly and i was losing faith two more attempts and that was me done it s like a marriage breakup regarding me and his fans and admirers it s clearly not them but me i accept this and wish it i could get him but i just can t where am i going wrong should i grasp the nettle again and if yes which nettle 1 jake joy 7 jun 2026 the sam vimes books are considered the best guards guards men at arms feet of clay jingo least favourite night watch thud favourite and snuff personally if you don t like them it s save to say pratchett isn t for you 1 clive wright author 7 jun 2026 thank you prtatchett s not for everyone despite what evangelistic kevins may claim i think the people who actually dislike rather than just can live without the discworld series mainly do so for one of two reasons 1 they love fantasy and either can t stand it being parodied no matter how sympathetically or just don t think it s much good as fantasy 2 they can t stand fantasy in any form i think in both cases they rather miss the point pratchett wasn t really writing fantasy as such he was writing satire and like swift found fantasy the best vehicle he did really like fantasy like most satirists he was addicted to convoluted wordplay and extended one liners think shaggy dog stories which is a bit marmite you love it or you hate it i grew up on wodehouse and love it but it s not for everyone 1 jonny dee 7 jun 2026 interesting comparison with wodehouse i grew up on wodehouse too beginning as a mere stripling at the time and for me there has never been a greater writer of satire and comic prose he did it all effortlessly he could deliver a barbed insult so beautifully as to almost make it seem like a sweet smelling compliment until the recipient actually unpicked the language i will never grow tired of reading and rereading his work over one hundred years on and it s still as sharp and as relevant as ever i m not a big reader of fantasy other than the obligatory lotr and one or two others so my not getting sir tel isn t that i think fantasy is there to be lampooned to me and if i might borrow some of plum s ethos fantasy s just there like a sitting duck asking to be satirised and only has itself to blame it should really know better i have written quite a bit of parody political satire and many radio sketches over the years and of course i did see satire in tp s work the fantasy element merely being his delivery system i ve now remembered one of the other books i read probably my favourite of the five unseen academicals but i think the difference again for me is that wodehouse seemingly did satire and wordplay with such a light and deft touch whereas i could see tp s cogs and wheels turning as he worked at it 1 clive wright author 7 jun 2026 if you are going to give it another go it would have to be soul music a parody of the beginnings of rock and roll 1 jake joy 6 jun 2026 sir terry is also a hero of mine i knew a couple once who knew him well they used to go to conventions dressed as hrun the barbarian and nanny ogg they invited me once and i declined worst decision i ever made he is a massive influence on my writing i ve read the entire series except making money got about a third of the way through and decided it wasn t for me and each time i m floored by how good he is at it all and yes his early work is probably his weakest but it s still so much better than anything i can scribble definitly a a target worth aiming for 1 clive wright author 7 jun 2026 i read the discworld series more or less as they were published having enjoyed his earlier scifi novels more like novellas in length although the first couple in the series don t have the depth and maturity of later novels you can see the progression which is encouraging 1 jake joy 7 jun 2026 it is it gives me some hope that if i keep at it i might one day be half as good as sir terry 1 log in to join the conversation clive wright clive is originally from the uk he moved to singapore from hong kong in 1997 with his singaporean wife they have three children who recently finished studying in local institutions his career has included marketing market research and business strategy clive s interest in reading started when he was bored in hospital aged six he discovered the hobbit a year later followed by the lord of the rings clive developed a serious pg wodehouse habit leading to literature during lockdown he wrote a novel which he is still editing share this post the colour of magic copy link share via email share 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