The first Discworld novel is a brisk, good-natured send-up of classic fantasy, and at 240 pages it goes down easily. Some readers miss a single thread, finding a string of episodes rather than one story, and even among the series’ admirers there are those who do not think it the best place to begin. Read it for the wit and invention rather than the plot.

Worth knowing The first Discworld novel, published in 1983, is a looser parody of sword-and-sorcery and Lovecraft than the books that followed, built around the inept wizard Rincewind and Twoflower, the Disc’s first tourist. Many readers suggest starting the series with Guards! Guards! or Mort instead and coming back to this one later. Sky adapted it together with The Light Fantastic as a two-part TV film in 2008.

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About the book

The Colour of Magic is a 1983 fantasy comedy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the Discworld series. The first printing of the British edition consisted of only 506 copies. Pratchett has described it as "an attempt to do for the classical fantasy universe what Blazing Saddles did for Westerns."

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Reading order · Discworld

Full order & progress →

On screen

This book has been adapted for the screen once.

TV filmTerry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic2008dir. Vadim JeanIMDb

Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →

Where the score comes from

The sources average 7.7 across 2,352 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 94% of the weight and the score stays at 7.7 — the Humour average of 7.8 barely moves it.