Rating: Summary: A great follow-up to a great book Review: "The Colour of Magic" was an incredible burst of imagination that made for a rollicking, fun read. "The Light Fantastic" is a worthy successor. Pratchett hones the entertainment from the interplay between cynical Rincewind and naive but advanced Twoflower, his travelling partner.We follow the heroes getting into and out of all sorts of messes and enjoy the sheer briliance of Pratchett's wit and wordplay (better if not as good as Oscar Wilde) along the way. If you haven't read "Colour of Magic", get it, and then get this book too. You'll likely go the whole series -- hours of enjoyment.
Rating: Summary: Now this is more like it! Review: After reading many, many series of books, I should know to temper my expectations until at least the second book. This would have served me well for discworld. While book one was enjoyable, it aimed primarily to set up the world and its characters. With this second volume, we see the next layer of storytelling and humor shine through. For one, a story can actually materialize now instead of just Rincewind and Twoflower wandering around. Also, new races of characters are added in the traditional way, but in a decidedly non-Tolkein attitude. The trolls in this book in particular are very funny and very witty in their descriptions. Pratchett is starting to take the accepted boundaries of fantasy and twist them to meet his satirical needs, and it is brilliant. The only reason for a four star review and not five is that I simply must leave room for improvement. There are something like two dozen books now, so I assume there is a smattering of fives in there somewhere.
Rating: Summary: Take philosophy out of science and put it back in reverse. Review: And, yes, this is a fantasy novel, this is about dragons and wizards. Also, yes, this is lighthearted comedy. Witty puns in every line and everybody chasing everyone. But it's much more than that. Since most in this novel is our own Earth's opposite, it tells us much about Pratchett's view of what we are all about (or where we are not). Something to ponder in every line. As for the reader, Nigel Planer.... Just imagine having to listen to Neil from "The Young Ones" read you a whole book from front to back.....
Rating: Summary: A Fantastic Book Review: The Light Fantastic is the sequel to Pratchett's first Discworld book (The Color of Magic), and I definitely think it's better. The plot is (unlike in The Color of Magic) concentrated on one thing, and the thing is a bright red star that's approaching the disc. The two main characters are Rincewind and Twoflower, the two fellas that fell off the Disc in the previous book, and Twoflower's luggage, a box with weird temper. They experience many things that can only happen on the Disc, and some regular things, like meeting the Disc's greatest hero, the 70 year-old, Cohen the Barbarian, but the main idea of the book is them saving the Discworld from the red star. Rincewind, an UU (Unseen University) dropout, has one of the 8 great spells the Creator left. The only problem with the spell is, it seems to have a mind of its own, and it tries to talk to him. And whenever Rincewind is in trouble, or a near-death situation (believe me, there's lots of them) the spell tries to say itself. He spends most of his time to save Twoflower from himself and the other part of the time running from people who want to get their hands on the eighth spell. Twoflower is the Disc's first, and probably last tourist. He used to be an insurance (in-sewer-ants) agent back in his continent. He has quite a lot of money with him, and he keeps them in a box called the luggage. The one thing Rincewind hates about him the most is the fact that Twoflower believes that he can buy anything from anybody, even Death's living room clock. Another thing pretty much everybody asks is "Should I read The Color of Magic first?" Well, I myself read The Light Fantastic first and still understood everything and got all the jokes. Pratchett does a great job explaining what happened in CoM. But no matter whether you read it first or even last, you're gonna have a great time reading THE LIGHT FANTASTIC, by Terry Pratchett.
Rating: Summary: Improves Upon The Original Review: "The Light Fantastic"---actually a continuation of the saga begun in "The Color of Magic"---improves upon the original, abandoning the wandering storylines of the first book and hitting the stride that is to become familiar to fans of Pratchett's later work. And while this book, in terms of its focus and writing, in many ways stands apart from its predecessor, as another reviewer has stated, it is impossible to read the one without the other, the setup for "The Light Fantastic" being established in the first book, and picking up where that work left off. Mike Stone has done an admirable job of encapsulating the action below, so I will not trod where others have gone before, except to add that we here discover the natural history of trolls, how new solar systems are born, and observe while Twoflowers instructs Death, Pestilence, Famine and War in the finer points of "a thing you put across a river," where time allows for the play of "Another Fondle," also known as a "Rubber." In addition, a perverse---and dangerously intriguing---variation of a pogrom is carried out, and we learn all about neck romance. As with Pratchett's best work, the author once again here shows why he remains one of the most original voices in fantasy fiction. If you don't enjoy this book you'd best look over your shoulder: a black-robed figure is likely waiting to lighten you of your misery.
Rating: Summary: Come and trip it as ye go, on the light fantastic toe. Review: Like "Godfather II" before it, "The Light Fantastic" is that rare sequel that improves upon the original. Not a difficult task here, as "The Colour of Magic" was, while being intensely imaginative, sprawling and largely unfocused. Here, Pratchett concocts a story with as much linear thrust as the strange red star that threatens to ram into the Discworld. Needless to say, the only person who can save the world is Rincewind, that scaredy-cat wizard who doesn't know any spells (well, he knows one spell... or at least he knows where to find that spell). He is cynical as ever, and funny too. Once again he is joined by the world's first tourist, Twoflower, who is an even more hyped-up innocent here than in "The Colour of Magic". I still love the relationship between these two great characters. Rincewind is in constant sarcasm mode, while Twoflower takes everything he hears at face value. There are some wonderfully comic misunderstandings between these two. Throw in Twoflower's ever-loyal Luggage, and we've got a threesome for the ages. Once again Pratchett populates his world with ridiculous characters (Cohen the Barbarian, an 80-year old hero whose legend is in his own lifetime) and marvelous groan-worthy puns (What do you call an angry mob robbing a music store? Luters...) that make this an entertaining fantasy parody from page one. And on top of that, he throws in some neat meta-fiction too. When introducing Herrena the Henna-Haired Harridan, a warrior heroine, he implores whomever is to draw the cover of the book to resist the urge to dress her up in "something off the cover of the more advanced kind of lingerie catalogue for the specialized buyer". It just wouldn't be practical in her line of work. And the swarthy men she rides with? Well, they're going to die sooner or later, so let's not bother getting to know them. It's a wonderful moment of self-awareness. Is it necessary to read "The Colour of Magic" before "The Light Fantastic"? I think so. If only to get a better idea of the characters, and their predispositions. And that's really what these stories are about: character. How can a pack of seemingly ordinary innocents save the world? Read on and find out...
Rating: Summary: The Light Fantastic Review Review: The Light Fantastic is a great book to read and definitely VERY funny. It will help you get to know one of the main characters, Rincewind, of the Discworld series much better. Also, if you love Twoflower and his lighthearted and optimistic lifestyle, you will definitely love this book. Oh, and not to mention the ever-loyal Luggage makes some witty appearances too! If you've never read any Terry Pratchett books, this might be a start, it's the second book in the Discworld series. If you're a Terry Pratchett fan, you will definitely enjoy this book.
Rating: Summary: Funniest Book I Ever Read! Review: This is buy far the funniest thing I have ever read. I break out in hilarious laughter on practically ever page. Pratchett is comedic genius. Buy it! Read it! You'lll love it!
Rating: Summary: Another Great Discworld Novel Review: "The Light Fantastic" is the second book in Terry Pratchett's popular Discworld Series. In this book we continue on Rincewind and Twoflower's journey around the Disc. Rincewind is the only person who can save the Disc from total destruction, which wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that he's the world's worst wizard ever since he can only keep one spell in his head. Every wizard from the Unseen University is trying to capture Rincewind, or at least Rincewind's spell, but Rincewind just doesn't know it. Accompanied by Cohen the Barbarian and an ex-Druid virgin sacrifice, and of course, the Luggage, Rincewind and Twoflower make their way back to Ankh-Morpork.
Rating: Summary: The Lite Franchise Schtick Review: Please accept my title in the Pickwickian sense: I love Pratchett and consider him to be the replacement in my life for the loss of Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, and Douglas Adams. Why aren't Americans ever that funny? Please forgive me, however, for being just a little heretical. I liked the characters of Rincewind and Twoflowers, was intrigued by The Luggage (I want one!), and loved Cohen the Barbarian. I DID miss the richness of the characters in the later Ankh-Morpork Pratchetts: characters such as Corporal Carrot, DEATH (I'm really not shouting), Angua, Susan Sto Helit, Commander Vimes, and The Patrician. Rincewind and Twoflower were both -- dare I say it? -- schmoes at the beginning of the book and and at the end. I think that Pratchett has a real affinity for Ankh-Morpork, and the farther he strays from it, the less vital his stories appear. (I except SMALL GODS, which is a real tour de force.) So, bring on the Pratchetts, and let's have more of the Night Watch and Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, more trolls and golems, and lots more of that beauty spot on (or, actually, near) the Circle Sea -- Ankh-Morpork.
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