The Light Fantastic

 

Image credit: 45 Worlds

And so we are well under way with my endeavour to absorb all of the Terry Pratchett into my literary reservoir. Following on with adventures of the Discworld’s worst wizard and first tourist, this week saw me become enveloped in greater escapades and desperate dramas of Rincewind and Twoflower in The Light Fantastic.

Great A’Tuin the World Turtle, upon which sits the Discworld and all its inhabitants, is lazily sailing through space on a collision course with a malevolent red star. Apparently, there is only one person who can save the world: Rincewind, the Discworld’s most cowardly and inept wizard who, unfortunately, was last seen falling off the edge of the world. 

The weirdness and wildness of the Discworld, as well as its uniqueness and hilarity gets bigger and further established in The Light Fantastic. In this book we get to see the hierarchy and the ascension of wizards, the way of druids, the grandeur of trolls, and Death’s living room. Twoflower’s dreams of adventure continue to come true, as he gets to travel with Cohen the Barbarian, one of the Disc’s most celebrated heroes, who’s still packs a punch even though he’s close to being an octogenarian, and Rincewind is pushed so far beyond his limits of cowardliness that he even finds the gall to go back to The Unseen University and try to rid his head of the dangerous spell that has been squatting in it your years. 

As well as the delightful nods to popular films and fantasy, The Light Fantastic also has a little bit of a dig at the rise of pop-cults and minority religions, not-so-subtly depicting their absurdities, brittleness, and malleability. 

Image credit: Penguin Books Australia

The development of the characters and the continuation of their own journeys is highly enjoyable, with satisfactory conclusions and emotional pay-offs at the end. The Light Fantastic is a great continuation of the tale of the reluctant hero that was begun in The Colour of Magic!

Author: Terry Pratchett, 1986

Published: Originally published in Great Britain by Colin Smythe Limited, 1986. This edition published by Corgi, 1986.