Elemental Home: Discworld - The Beginning

Monday, April 13, 2015

Discworld - The Beginning - UPDATED

So before the weekend started, I finished Terry Pratchett's The Light Fantastic. This is essentially part two of the first Discworld story continuing from The Colour of Magic.

In the first book, Pratchett's storytelling skills evolve in the four sub-parts of the book. Puns are pretty in your face at the beginning, and some are even pointed out directly, but as the book progresses they begin to fade into the fabric of the story.

The world itself develops and becomes more real. There is specific geography in both the cities of Ankh-Morpork and the Disc itself. By the second book, Pratchett is moving into his signature style. And at the same time, the seeds for future books are scattered throughout.

I know there are many out there who won't begin the series because of Pratchett's writing style int he beginning, but there are so few Rothfusses out there. George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire is pretty consistent in skill, but he'd been writing other things for years. Jim Butcher's Codex Alera is also consistently excellent, but he'd also already written several Harry Dresden books which a rereading will show a lot of writer's growth.

If you haven't read them, and enjoy a good fantasy story, I strongly recommend the Discworld. Allow the writer to create his world. By the second book he has found his pace. And by the third book, he'll show he's in it for more than a marathon.

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Recurring characters and themes appearing in these books:

A curry restaurant

A statue of Malich the Wise

Ankh-Morpork

Bes Pelargic

Blind Hugh
Blind Io

Cohen the Barbarian

Death (and Binky)

Death's daughter (Isabell)

Dragons

Dungeon Dimensions

Eldritch means Oblong

Elves