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I finished The Light Fantastic yesterday, about the same time as I began not being able to look at chocolate without feeling sick. I needed to forget about Christmas, to restore some semblance of normality into a house strewn with strange glittery purple things, a large tree and a huge ... Read review
What shall we do?' said Twoflower. 'Panic?' said Rincewind hopefully. He always held that ... more
panic was the best means of survival. When the very fabric of time and space are about to be put through the wringer - in this instance by the imminent arrival of...
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When the very fabric of time and space are about to be put through the wringer, ... more
circumstances require a very particular type of hero. Sadly what the situation does not need is a singularly inept wizard, still recovering from the trauma of falling off the edge of the world. Equally it does not need one well-meaning tourist and his luggage...
Another "Discworld" novel. In this episode, the Discword is moving inexorably towards a ... more
collision with a malevolent redstar. There is only one man who can save the planet, the strange and hapless wizard Rincewind, last seen falling off the edge of the world.
Advantages: Great story, wonderful characters, clever and witty Disadvantages: Only a cameo from Death in this one
...through another Pratchett phase at the moment. I have read three of his novels over the past month or so and the enthusiasm is still there. In fact, I have Equal Rites out already to read next.
I finished The Light Fantastic yesterday, about the same time as I began not being able to look at chocolate without feeling sick. I needed to forget about Christmas, to restore some semblance of normality into a house strewn with strange glittery ... ...that takes over the whole dining room.
Unfortunately, normality for Pratchett involves wizards, ageing heroes, talking trees, walking trolls and a big treasure chest with lots of legs. Perhaps it’s best to read this with a large Baileys for good measure. Well, that was my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
The Light Fantastic is Pratchett’s second Discworld novel and follows on from The Colour of Magic, ... more
I am going through another Pratchett phase at the moment. I have read three of his novels over the past month or so and the enthusiasm is still there. In fact, I have Equal Rites out already to read next.
I finished The Light Fantastic yesterday, about the same time as I began not being able to look at chocolate without feeling sick. I needed to forget about Christmas, to restore some semblance of normality into a house strewn with strange glittery purple things, a large tree and a huge Tweenies tent that takes over the whole dining room.
Unfortunately, normality for Pratchett involves wizards, ageing heroes, talking trees, walking trolls and a big treasure chest with lots of legs. Perhaps it’s best to read this with a large Baileys for good measure. Well, that was my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
The Light Fantastic is Pratchett’s second Discworld novel and follows on from The Colour of Magic, so I suggest you read these two in the right order. I enjoyed them both as much as each other and although Carpe Jugulum was my favourite of the three I’ve recently read, that isn’t to dismiss the earlier novels, which are well worth a couple of days of your time.
The Light Fantastic reunites defunct wizard Rincewind with the naïve tourist Twoflower and his sapient pearwood Luggage with countless legs and a nasty bite. This time they are rather important to the future of the whole Discworld, which means quite a few species are trying their hardest to keep Rincewind alive. This is an unusual experience for him, but he makes sure he has several near-death (and near-Death!) experiences and some (often literal) cliffhangers throughout.
The Discworld’s future is being threatened by a big red star, which is heading towards them. The Gods are too busy feuding with their neighbours to deal with it, so it’s down to the wizards to save the day. The problem they have is that the Octavo – the vitally important book containing the eight major spells – only harbours seven. The eighth one jumped into Rincewind’s head previously and has squatted there ever since. It is believed that he needs to return it to save the world.
This is the reason behind the rather picturesque and dramatic chase that continues through most of the book, as Rincewind is pursued, hunted and urged gently along towards Ankh-Morpork, home of the Unseen University and the smelliest city in the Discworld.
We meet all the wonderful creations and characters typical of a Pratchett novel (though sadly no dragons), including the first encounter with Cohen the Barbarian, who’s rather a legend. The enigmatic trolls make an appearance too, with some of the best and funniest moments in the book.
As always, Pratchett cleverly weaves our own culture into the Discworld one. With some brilliant wordplay such as this on page 226 -
“Mind you, there is a saving on the rates.” “Rates?” “Yes, they’re-“ the shopkeeper paused, and wrinkled his forehead. “I can’t quite remember, it was such a long time ago. Rates, rates –“ “Very large mice?”
- and unique takes on ideas we often wonder about. For example, you know those shops that are there on the High Street one day, then you go back the following week and they’ve disappeared? Yes, well, that’s magic. It’s all explained in this novel. Fantastic stuff. Makes everything so much clearer.
This is very much an adventure story. We have the mission or quest, the (often unenthusiastic) hero and his sidekick (and *his* sidekick) and their troubled paths from one place to another, conquering a multitude of enemies on the way and finding a few new friends. In fact, it’s a bit like Doctor Who in this respect, but with the impending doom of Armageddon – thankfully without Bruce Willis.
We even have a little romance as Cohen the Barbarian (87) finds his soulmate in Bethan the nearly-sacrificed virgin (several decades younger). Their relationship is sure to succeed. I’ve never yet seen Neil Morrissey on the Discworld.
We get to meet Herrena the Henna-Haired Harridan who is described with an obvious enthusiasm and great humour. She is accompanied by a gang of men who “will certainly be killed before too long anyway, so a description is probably not essential.” (p. 117)
Unfortunately, the best character ever created by Pratchett – Death – doesn’t feature in this novel as much as in others, but there is an excellent scene where Twoflower is teaching Death, War, Famine and Pestilence a card game. Twoflower’s grasp of languages is fairly basic (Think Brit in Spain!), but he manages to describe this particular card game as “a thing you put across a river”! (p. 128)
Overall, it’s a very good story and seems much more ‘professional’ than The Colour of Magic. Pratchett seems to have settled down into his familiar style by this point and has ironed out most of the flaws present in the first Discworld novel. Well worth a read. And a guffaw or seven.
Advantages: Quirky, detailed, and very funny Disadvantages: Might be a bit too deep for some people
...little more free time in the evenings, that I'm finally getting chance to get reading again. I've already covered two books in the last month or so (believe me, that's a lot for me!), but before then, I was having trouble squeezing out one in a couple of months! But squash one into my hectic schedule I did, and what other could it be than a Discworld novel? Besides, it was before and after my exams – I needed a little merriment!
- Drop off, ... ...is the second in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of books. There's a more extensive introduction to the Discworld in the 'The Colour Of Magic' opinion, if that's what your after, but I'm not about to repeat myself every time I write an opinion on the subject! Which, given my current experience of Discworld, and the amount of books left on my shelf, will be worryingly often.
'The Light Fantastic' is something of a sequel to the original Discworld ...
Excelle 11.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett
Advantages: It won't change your life but at least you'll have a damn good laugh, Better plotted than book one Disadvantages: Need to read book one to get the most from it, Not the best in the series (and I've only read five so far)
Having set myself the challenge of reading and reviewing every one of the thirty or so discworld novels, I am now proud to announce that, after much time, effort and several really deep paper cuts, I have finally reached ... (drum roll please) ... book two. Er ... sorry about that but it's just that I've been a bit busy on the playstation 2 of an evening recently although, thanks to the delights of public transport, I have been able to keep up with ... ...currently reading book five in the series but as far as reviewing is concerned I seem to be lagging behind somewhat. But you don't care about that do you? You'll be wanting to know why you should be reading the book I'm reviewing. Well, I'm about to tell you. 'The Light Fantastic' is Terry Pratchetts' second book in the rather successful and extremely humorous discworld series. Whereas most of the books in this series appear to be stand alone stories, ...
Nomad1970 23.10.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett
Advantages: Funny | Multi-layered | Ultimate in Re-readability Disadvantages: Not As Good As I Expected
...honest what drew me to the very first Discworld book I ever read was the cover, and this is probably what would catch any new-comer to the series' eye. Bold and exciting with plenty of cartoon characterisations of, well the characters and story held within. I could hardly wait to read the story and must admit I sat in the library for a good couple of hours as I found myself hooked after the first couple of pages. The funny thing is that this book ... ...I hadn't even bothered about the first two books. But just recently I decided to "bite the bullet" and buy my very own copies of all the Discworld books (not all at once I'm not that rich), and began with the foresaid first two.
The first in the series (The Colour of magic) was quite good, although nowhere nearly as good as the later books, and The Light Fantastic is the second, and very unusually is actually a sequel to the first. As such it doesn't ...
sandemp 28.06.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett
Advantages: Such an addictive read Disadvantages: You can't put it down
...fabulous author this guy is. The Light Fantastic is the second book in the discworld series,second to The Colour Of Magic. Terry Pratchett's writing style is like no other, he is purely and simply a literary genius and if I was given one last book to read before I died I would choose a Discworld novel. He plays with words like Beckham plays with his balls, style, grace, and superior acuracy (pardon the pun!) Although sometimes you feel like you have ... ...it always makes sense in the end so don't worry. You have to just persivere sometimes and the story will become crystal clear, and you get used to his way quickly. Then he has you in the palm of his hand and you become a prisoner to a book that you just can't seem to put down. Anyway onwards with the review at hand.
The Story
*****************************************************
As all of the Discworld novels this one starts out in the same way, ...
KRISPY13 31.05.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett
The Light Fantastic is the second novel in Terry Pratchett's enormously successful Discworld series. It is also the only 'sequel' in the entire series pretty much continuing on from where the last left off although I can't really say why without ruining the ending of the previous novel 'The Colour Of Magic'(see my previous review on that novel).
Do I need to explain about the Discworld? Probably so here goes again...
The Discworld is a large flat ... ...themseles standin gon top of the giant turtle A'tuin who is flying through space on an age old quest to...well probably to self destruct. The world itself was apparently inspired by a table of all things which the author saw in India and is probably the most bizarre you are ever liely to come across. The Discworld is a world populated by wizard's, elves, vampires...you name it, it lives here and is a world in which all of the natural laws of this ...
wampyrii 22.11.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett
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Advantages: easy to read Disadvantages: too easy to read
I resisted the media for as long as I could and fiercely ignored the potter phenomena. I knew it would be a poor copy of The Worst witch and a happy amalgum of trendy perennial child witchy cliches recycled from school libraries and filtered through primary school teacher conciousness. Yet the mantra grew in volume and intensity and the success it was enjoying had to reach even my quiet sequestered reading place. At Christmas the book was given to me and I had every excuse. Even then I chose the other one I was given, and read The LightFantastic by TerryPratchett instead because comparatively it was a bit adult and vaguely funny. A visit to the cinema ensured my initiation was through celluloid effects, further background about the life and times of JK Rowling appearing on T.V. led me fully awake into the original other world of Harry ...
Advantages: Plenty of amusing scenes; Rincewind is a great character, as is the Luggage Disadvantages: Less coherent than later books, and not as sharp in the satire
The Colour of Magic - which is really half of a complete story, along with its sequel, The LightFantastic - is where Discworld, and the real celebrity of TerryPratchett, all began. He'd written a few books before this, but the Discworld series is the true cause of his enduring fame. Why "Discworld"? Because the stories set on a world shaped like a disc, of course! (Mind you, one of the footnotes for which Pratchett is famed implies that it may have been supposed to have been a pizza...)
As a long-time fan of the series who has only recently returned to read this book again, one thing that stands out is just how long the story takes to get into gear. Much of the opening section is more concerned with poking fun at the stereotypes of fantasy fiction than in actually moving things along. The parody is well done and humorously accurate ...
Advantages: A good book and it gives you background to the rest of the series Disadvantages: Not as strong as the later ones and things are left hanging at the end
This is the first of the Discworld books and if you compare it to the later ones this is much weaker, but don't let that put you off. In this book you are introduced to three of the more popular characters in the series. There is Rincewind, a wizard (failed), The Luggage, a walking wooden trunk with a malevolent streak, and of course Death, who you will always recognise in a Pratchett book as he always TALKS LIKE THIS. The story is about the first tourist, Twoflower, who hires Rincewind to show him around & that is where the trouble starts. They end up going around leaving trouble and often death in their wake, but of course Twoflower is oblivious to this. The end of the book is a literally a real cliffhanger and this leads nicely into the next book The LightFantastic. This is the only time that you will find one of Terry ...
Product Information for "The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett" »
Product details
Type
Fiction
Genre
Fantasy
Series
Discworld Series
Title
The Light Fantastic
Author
Terry Pratchett
ISBN
552152595
EAN
9780552152594
Manufacturer's product description
As it moves towards a seemingly inevitable collision with a malevolent red star, the Discworld has only one possible saviour. Unfortunately, this happens to be an inept and cowardly wizard called Rincewind, who was last seen falling off the edge of the world. This story is read by Tony Robinson. From the Back CoverTHE LIGHT FANTASTIC Six months ago, Rincewind was a perfectly ordinary failed wizard. Them he met Twoflower, the Discworld's first tourist, was employed at an outrageous salary as his guide, and has since spent most of his time being shot at, terrorized, chased and hanging from high places with no hope of salvation or, as is now the case, plunging from high places. A lot more could be said about why these two are dropping out of the world, and why Twoflower's Luggage, last seen desperately trying to follow him on hundreds of little legs, is no ordinary suitcase, but such questions take time and could be more trouble than they're worth. For example, it is said that someone once asked the famous philosopher Ly Tin Weedle "Why are you here?" and the reply took three years. What is far more important is an event happening way overhead, far above A'Tuin, the elephants and the rapidly-expiring wizard. The very fabric of time and space is about to be put through the wringer. Now read on... Terry Pratchett is the world's bestselling writer of comic fantasy. THE LIGHT FANTASTIC is the second fully-illustrated version of an original DISCWORLD novel. The first, THE COLOUR OF MAGIC, is also available in Corgi paperback. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. See all Product Description
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