The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

The Color of Magic (Discworld #1) by Terry Pratchett

My rating: ★★★★☆

After hearing people gush about Discworld for so long, I finally got around to reading it earlier this year. Until actively seeking out negative reviews here on Goodreads, I'm not sure I'd ever heard or read anyone speak ill of the series; I'd been told it was hysterical, clever, and something I just had to read.

So I was a bit disappointed by The Color of Magic. Just a bit.

See, when I read a bunch of different people saying a bunch of great things about a book, movie, or show, I tend to swing to one of two extremes; either I'm convinced that I'm going to adore whatever it is, or else I'm positive that I wouldn't be able to stomach it. In the case of Discworld, my expectations were on the positive side of the scale.

As usual when this happens, there's almost zero chance of the book, show, or film in question living up to my expectations. I'd expected The Dresden Files to sheer Crazy Awesome (as the TVTropes page implied), but I ended up quitting the series after the first book because of the misogynistic protagonist; I'd expected House of Leaves to blow my mind and terrify me with its mind-screwy nature plot (as the TVTropes page implied), but I realized by the end of the book that Danielewski and I were on totally different pages (pun intended); I'd expected The Color of Magic to have me in stitches and/or constantly smirking at the clever wordplay and trope manipulation (as the TVTro--well, you get the picture), but...

I guess I just set my standards too high.

The Color of Magic was a humorous book, don't get me wrong, and it definitely picked up towards the middle and into the end. And I'll certainly be reading more of the series; I've been told that Discworld doesn't really come into its own until later in the series, so I'll be sticking around for a few more books, at least.

At the end of the day, I would definitely recommend the book to those looking for some wit and trope deconstruction. Just don't do what I did and preemptively set The Color of Magic up as an example of Comedy Gold.

It's more like Comedy Octarine anyway.