Book Review: The Light Fantastic

Book Review: The Light Fantastic

Author: Terry Pratchett

Date: 1986

Publisher: Harper Collins

ISBN: 0-06-102070-2

Length: 241 pages, plus appendix, crossword puzzle, and ads for otherr books

Quote: “The very fabric of time and space is about to be put through the wringer.”

There are lines in The Light Fantastic, like the quote above, or like the opening—“The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn’t sure it was worth all the effort. Another Disc day dawned, but very gradually, and this is why...”—that could be mistaken for Douglas Adams’. Don’t be deceived. Discworld is a different, more optimistic place than Douglas Adams’ ultimately tragic universe.

Then there are lines like, “‘Rincewind, all the shops have been smashed open, there was a whole bunch of people across the street helping themselves to musical instru­ments, can you believe that?’ ‘Yeah,’ said Rincewind, picking up a knife and test­ing its blade thoughtfully. ‘Luters, I expect’,” that could be mistaken for Piers Anthony’s...but although Anthony was the one who steered me to Discworld back in the 1980s, Discworld is a different, ultimately less optimistic place than Xanth.

Anyway, this is one of the long, rambling Discworld comedy/fantasy series. All of Discworld is threartened, although you have to read ar good way into the book to find out by what it’s threatened this time, and it must be saved by Rincewind the incompetent magician, and Twoflower the planet’s first tourist, and Twoflower’s Luggage, a rather appealing creature in its own right...and since the suspense in this kind of book consists of finding out how they all reach the improbable happy ending, that’s probably as much as a review should disclose.

This book is recommended to (a) readers who don’t know Discworld yet, but enjoy logical nonsense, and (b) readers who came to Discworld late and need the early volumes (this is volume two) to complete their collections.