The Colour of Magic
| Publisher | Colin Smythe |
|---|---|
| 93rd in the Big Read | |
The Colour of Magic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett. It is the first of the Discworld series and was published in 1983. It is also one of only six Discworld novels to be divided into sections or chapters, the others being Pyramids, Going Postal, and the four books for young readers. Each chapter is in fact a separate short story featuring the same characters. The idea of The Colour of Magic - that all that happens is due to the gods' gambling - is somewhat similar to traditional role-playing games, in that the roll of the dice determines what happens to the characters.
Plot summary
The main character is the incompetent and cynical wizard Rincewind, who involuntarily finds himself as a guide to the naive tourist, Twoflower. After they are forced to flee from the city of Ankh-Morpork, they meet two barbarians, Bravd and Weasel, parodies of Fritz Leiber's fantasy heroes Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
Both characters also have a narrow escape from Bel-Shamharoth — a monster inspired by H. P. Lovecraft, who wrote many stories in a universe where unspeakable Evil lives, and where Ancient Gods (with unpronounceable names) play games with the lives of mortals. It is interesting to note that Lovecraft also wrote a story called The Colour out of Space, about an indescribable, unnatural colour.
The number eight is important on the Discworld, being closely associated with magic. Wizards avoid saying the number out loud, and Octarine is the Disc's eighth colour, the colour of magic as described in the title. This is reflected in the title of the French translation of the book La Huitième Couleur — (lit: The Eighth Colour).
After a visit to the Wyrmberg, an upside-down mountain which is home to dragons that only exist in the imagination, apparently inspired by the Dragonriders of Pern novels of Anne McCaffrey, and nearly falling off the edge of the Disc, their journey leads them to the country of Krull, perched on the very edge of the Discworld.
Their story is continued in the succeeding Discworld novel, The Light Fantastic.
Characters who appear only in this Discworld Book
There are many characters who appear in The Colour of Magic but do not reappear in later novels. Most of these individuals are parody versions of stereotypical fantasy characters, and appeared, according to Pratchett, only to make a joke (sometimes an extended gag) work. The characters Hrun and Liessa are some of the few main characters to appear only once in a Discworld book.
Druellae: A dryad whose tree becomes damaged by Rincewind. Since when trees are harmed, so are their nymphs, she captures the inept wizard with the intention of later having him executed. But before that, Rincewind has to witness the unwitting Twoflower be devoured by Bel-Shamharoth. Druellae realises that Rincewind is not a real wizard and mocks him for it. Unsurprisingly, he becomes angry and demands she look into his eyes to see if he is true wizard or not. Confidently, she looks- and sees the notorious Eight Spell that has occupied Rincewind's brain since his apprenticeship, causing her to scream in horror and demand that he be taken as far away from the tree as possible and killed. Hrun the Barbarian: This character is mentioned early in the book but not featured until the middle of the book. He is the first parody of a barbarian hero Pratchett wrote, and indeed is a stereotypical strong but slow-witted warrior. He is described as having large muscles, short, cropped hair and only a small leopard-skin to wear. He saves Rincewind and Twoflower from Bel-Shamaroth, and agrees to travel with them on the condition he gets regularly photographed. When they arrive at the Wyrmberg, he gets kidnapped by the followers of Princess Liessa, who hopes him to marry her so that he can become her puppet lord of the Wyrmberg (which only men are allowed to rule). For that, he has to follow the usual three tests. Hrun passes the first two, which are defeating Liessa's two brothers, who also wish to rule the upside-down mountain, in single combat. The third test involves Liessa showing her naked body to the barbarian so as to see if he will desire her enough to obey her blindly. And Hrun is attracted by the thought of being a lord and having a particularly sexy wife. But despite him feeling attracted, she seems to decide that he does not pass the test and offers him a glass of presumably drugged wine, which he foolishly accepts. Before Hrun can drink, however, he gets "rescued" by Twoflower riding a dragon. After a wild chase, Hrun lands on the dragon occupied by Liessa, who has genuinely fallen in love with him and kisses him. Although he does not appear in later books, it is mentioned in Interesting Times that he is now Sergeant of the Guard in an unnamed city, which implies that he and Liessa eventually split up.
Liessa Dragonlady: The scheming, unruly princess of the wyrmberg and a parody of a character from The Dragon Riders of Pern. She is described as being tall and having red hair as well as wearing only a leather harness and boots. It is implied by the text that she is quite big-bosomed. Liessa killed her father through poison (the traditional way of succession in her family) but was unable to take the throne due to rivalry from her two brothers and the fact that only males are allowed to rule the mountain. Infuriated by this fact, she decides to take a husband who would be her puppet ruler of the Wyrmberg. Hrun and his companions are close to the mountain when she takes that decision, so she has her dragon-riders capture the barbarian and takento her high country. Liessa offers Hrun her hand in marriage if he passes three tests, two of which involve proving himself a great warrior and being able to defeat her brothers in single combat, which he passes easily. Pleased by this, she presents him the third test, warning him that it is dangerous and that he may leave before if he wishes: she strips herself naked and shows her body to Hrun so as to see whether his desire will be enough for him to obey her blindly. Hrun likes what he sees, but she decides that he does not pass and offers him druggd wine, which he accepts. Before he can drink, however, he gets snatched away by a dragon riden by Twoflower. Throughout the part of the story featuring her, Liessa has been shown as a person who passes as a ruthless and determined woman, but who is in fact a quite scared little girl and who possibly does not feel very confident of being able to rule, a possibilty enforced by the fact she wants to rely on a big, strong husband to help her rule. Liessa realises she has in fact fallen in love with Hrun when he gets snatched away, because she loses no time in pursuing him on board her own dragon, still naked, as she hasn't even taken the time to get dressed. When Hrun slips from his dragon's claws and land on her mount, she kisses him very passionately. But as Hrun is a Sergeant of the Guard in a later book, it seems that their relationship did not last forever. Liessa's fate after The Colour of Magic is unknown. Presumably she still is ruler of the Wyrmberg, even without Hrun as her puppet lord.
Tethis: A sea troll who fell off the edge of his own disc-shaped world, he patrols the Circumference of the Disc as a slave for the kingdom of Krull. He is the one who captures Rincewind and Twoflower when they arrive near Krull.
The demon Scrofula: A minor demon who is sent in Death's place when Rincewind falls off the edge, which is a disgrace since when a wizard dies, Death is supposed to come in person to claim him.
Translations
See also
External linksReferencesSources: Colin Smythe Ltd, Babelfish translation. Notes
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