Mini Book Review: The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett

Title: The Light Fantastic
Author: Terry Pratchett
Publisher: Corgi
Date: 1986
Genre: Fantasy
Summary: As it moves towards a seemingly inevitable collision with a malevolent red star, the Discworld could do with a hero. What it doesn’t need is a singularly inept and cowardly wizard, still recovering from the trauma of falling off the edge of the world, or a well-meaning tourist and his luggage which has a mind (and legs) of its own. Which is a shame, because that’s all there is…

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The Light Fantastic is a continuation of The Colour of Magic and, while it does continue the world-building of the first novel, it seems to have much more plot and character development than the first book. I realise that I’ve never reviewed The Colour of Magic – which is the first book in the Discworld series – but that’s because I’ve read it at least 12 times and I still don’t understand what’s going on in half of the book. Okay, now that that’s out of the way I get back to talking about The Light Fantastic.

The novel was an absolute joy to read. It was silly, heartwarming, and adventurous. It is full of Terry Pratchett’s signature snarky humour and sly social commentary, with parodies of popular culture littered throughout. I found it much easier to get into The Light Fantastic, perhaps due to the presence of a sustained plotline or perhaps due to Pratchett’s writing, and that allowed me to enjoy the adventure.

I don’t know what else to say about this book, to be honest. I’d happily read it again and I’m looking forward to reading both the next Discworld novel (which is Equal Rites) and the next book in the Rincewind subseries (which is Sourcery).

I’ve linked to a newer edition of The Light Fantastic because my copy is from 1986 but it is still printed by the same publisher as the edition that I read.

(Book Depository | Goodreads)

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