REVIEW: The Light Fantastic
With The Colour of Magic ending more or less on a cliffhanger (or, to be more precise, a cliffdropper), a sequel was probably inevitable, if only to finish the story of Rincewind and Twoflower satisfactorily. While a decent book in its own right, The Light Fantastic lacks some of the momentum of the original...
Thanks to the deus ex machina properties of the Octavo, anxious to prevent one of its spells from dropping off the edge of the Discworld, Rincewind and Twoflower find themselves back on the Disc. While they try to make their own way, the wizards of the world are beginning to become worried when a new star appears in the sky, and threatens collision with the Discworld. While ambitious wizard Trymon is making plans involving the Octavo, Rincewind and Twoflower make the acquaintance of the oldest hero on the Disc, Cohen the Barbarian, and a virgin sacrifice called Bethan. Between irritable druids, the daughter of Death, a determined swordswoman, and one VERY bog troll, Rincewind and his fellow travellers have their work cut out for them, if they are to save the world...
This is probably the first Discworld story to have a more coherent storyline, and for some reason, that doesn't quite suit The Light Fantastic. The Colour of Magic worked in the style Pratchett had before maturing as a writer because it was more anarchic. Here, the smidgen of plot seems to work against the humour.
Still, we see Rincewind and Twoflower given added depth, along with a number of interesting characters. While Bethan doesn't quite appeal to me, Cohen the Barbarian emerges almost fully-formed, and we get, at last, a proper look into Unseen University. Ymper Trymon is the first true Discworld villain, and while his threat level is not quite high until later in the book, he does prefigure many a later villain in the books, reminding me of the similarly bureaucratic and 'grey' Auditors, as well as Mr Clete from Soul Music.
While the Pratchett imagination is clear in many parts of the book, there are parts that are too dry, and I feel that the druidic 'computer' was something of a misfire. In fact, I'll be blunt. This book, compared to the previous one, and the ones to come as well, is something of a desert. Perhaps the best sequence was the Death's house sequence, an interesting interlude in the story that, while it does little to actually advance the plot, is probably one of the best things in it. The climactic fight is also well done, even if the concept of Rincewind fighting is a little hard to swallow, though to be honest, he does it while half-crazed with fear.
The Light Fantastic does bring this brief arc to a satisfactory conclusion, but I do feel disappointed. This seems to be one of the lesser Discworld books, despite the fact that it introduces so many good things to come...
Special New Utterance Rating Trial: Ehh.
First words: The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn't sure it was worth all the effort.
Last words: Which soon became a glint among the stars, and disappeared.
Now, the Special New Utterance Rating Trial (or SNURT) is a special onomatopoeic system of ratings based on their quality relative to other Discworld novels. They are, in order from lowest rating to highest:
Ugh.
Ehh.
Hmm.
Ooh.
Yay!
With The Colour of Magic ending more or less on a cliffhanger (or, to be more precise, a cliffdropper), a sequel was probably inevitable, if only to finish the story of Rincewind and Twoflower satisfactorily. While a decent book in its own right, The Light Fantastic lacks some of the momentum of the original...
Thanks to the deus ex machina properties of the Octavo, anxious to prevent one of its spells from dropping off the edge of the Discworld, Rincewind and Twoflower find themselves back on the Disc. While they try to make their own way, the wizards of the world are beginning to become worried when a new star appears in the sky, and threatens collision with the Discworld. While ambitious wizard Trymon is making plans involving the Octavo, Rincewind and Twoflower make the acquaintance of the oldest hero on the Disc, Cohen the Barbarian, and a virgin sacrifice called Bethan. Between irritable druids, the daughter of Death, a determined swordswoman, and one VERY bog troll, Rincewind and his fellow travellers have their work cut out for them, if they are to save the world...
This is probably the first Discworld story to have a more coherent storyline, and for some reason, that doesn't quite suit The Light Fantastic. The Colour of Magic worked in the style Pratchett had before maturing as a writer because it was more anarchic. Here, the smidgen of plot seems to work against the humour.
Still, we see Rincewind and Twoflower given added depth, along with a number of interesting characters. While Bethan doesn't quite appeal to me, Cohen the Barbarian emerges almost fully-formed, and we get, at last, a proper look into Unseen University. Ymper Trymon is the first true Discworld villain, and while his threat level is not quite high until later in the book, he does prefigure many a later villain in the books, reminding me of the similarly bureaucratic and 'grey' Auditors, as well as Mr Clete from Soul Music.
While the Pratchett imagination is clear in many parts of the book, there are parts that are too dry, and I feel that the druidic 'computer' was something of a misfire. In fact, I'll be blunt. This book, compared to the previous one, and the ones to come as well, is something of a desert. Perhaps the best sequence was the Death's house sequence, an interesting interlude in the story that, while it does little to actually advance the plot, is probably one of the best things in it. The climactic fight is also well done, even if the concept of Rincewind fighting is a little hard to swallow, though to be honest, he does it while half-crazed with fear.
The Light Fantastic does bring this brief arc to a satisfactory conclusion, but I do feel disappointed. This seems to be one of the lesser Discworld books, despite the fact that it introduces so many good things to come...
Special New Utterance Rating Trial: Ehh.
First words: The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn't sure it was worth all the effort.
Last words: Which soon became a glint among the stars, and disappeared.
Now, the Special New Utterance Rating Trial (or SNURT) is a special onomatopoeic system of ratings based on their quality relative to other Discworld novels. They are, in order from lowest rating to highest:
Ugh.
Ehh.
Hmm.
Ooh.
Yay!
) and read people's editorials that I don't agree with and can't comment on. 
