Let’s start at the beginning, just in case there’s anyone who has never read the books. But it’s important because it gives us an introduction to Pratchett’s tongue-in-cheek fantasy universe, and to two characters in particular who cast a long shadow across the rest of the series, even if they don’t appear that often: the hapless wizard Rincewind and the Luggage. Part of that is because it feels very different to the books which would succeed it. The Colour of Magic is the book I’ve reread least in the intervening years. So I decided to embark on a structured reread, book by book, of this much-loved series. And, in the aftermath of the existential gloom of The Evenings, that’s exactly what I needed. I still dip into the books now and then, when I need something light and cuddly. Then there was the series of Discworld maps the quizbook the art book the companion guide and the three computer games ( Discworld Noir was brilliant: I’m still sad that it won’t work on current editions of Windows). This was The Colour of Magic, the first in a long line of Discworld novels that would appear for birthdays and Christmases, and which would soon become a defining feature of my teenage years. About twenty years ago, I found a secondhand book in a charity shop or at a jumble sale (it was 35p, according to the scrawled pencil inscription in the front).
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