Rating: 
Summary: Extremely funny parody
Review: After reading some heavier material, I picked up the first Discworld book and was very pleased. I feel like lots of fantasy writers fail to write compelling stories because they spend most of their energy trying to convince the reader their world is real and gritty and serious. Not Terry Pratchett. There's not a serious bone in this book's body. It's funny from start to finish and slaps nearly every fantasy convention in the face, repeatedly, and without regret. The characters are memorable, from the inept Rincewind the wizard (who doesn't really do anything very wizardly) to the tourist Twoflower (whose delightful naivete carries the book forward when it seems cornered) to the Hrun the Barbarian (testosterone anyone?) and finally to the Luggage (a dedicated chest made of sapient pearwood that has quite the appetite when it comes to munching bad guys). I recommend this book to people who love fantasy and possess even just a single ounce of humor. Pratchett caters to the absurd lunatic in us all, and delivers a very silly, very satisfying story on a pretty platter called Discworld.
Rating: 
Summary: Good... but not one of his best
Review: "The Color of Magic" starts off the wonderful series that is Discworld, a giant disc flying through space on the back of four elephants that are standing on a rare breed of giant turtles. Though this is a great book to explain some of the physics and background of the Disc, I would not recommend it as the first book to read. I would recommend "Lords and Ladies" first. "The Color of Magic" is not one of Terry Pratchett's better Discworld books. It drags on and lacks the humor found later on in the series. It's the story of Rincewind the incompetent goof-ball of a wizard and Twoflower, the wandering tourist. Together, they travel the Disc, fighting dragons and gods and escaping the clutches of Death himself. The book is inconsistent. Twoflower begins speaking in such a language that only Rincewind can figure out what he is saying. Then, later in the book, everyone can understand, including Hrun, the Disc's oaf of a barbarian hero. A must-read for any true Discworld fan, but not one of Discworld's best. It gives a bad impression of what Discworld is truly about.
Rating:
Summary: His best book?
Review: Maybe not. After all practice makes perfect. But for someone's first book this is truly amazing! The plot was excellent, the characters witty and amusing, and the settings couldn't be better! This book is lacking in some areas, it would help if somethings were explained a little better, but is still excellent. I can enjoy it all the more because this book has Discworlds best chararcter, Rincewind. If you haven't read any of his ohter stuff this book will still be okay, but if you have read other stuff it makes the book more enjoyable. Buy this book today! ~Rincewind
Rating:
Summary: The book that started it all
Review: This is the Big Bang of Terry Pratchett's massive Discworld series. The book that gave birth to the craze. Those who have read the other Discworld books first before reading 'Colour of Magic' may find this book not as funny and the writing not as smooth. That is to be understood. It is the first book after all. Well known characters may also seem different. Death is potrayed as Death should be; dark and sinister. It is a contrast from his later appearances, especially in his own books 'Mort' and 'Reaper Man', where he (it?) is more...well, funnier. Other Discworld regulars also make their first appearances here such as the Patrician and the City Watch officers. Oh, the famous Mended Drum (Ankh Morpork's hippest hangout) is featured as well in the early part of the book...but something happens to it. In fact, something happens to at least half the city. It catches fire. Then it floods. The inept wizard Rincewind swears its not his fault. Nor is it Twoflower's. It just so happens that trouble is attracted to them like pubescent boys are to Britney Spears. Rincewind is a failed wizard with only one spell in his head. A spell so powerful other spells run away. Twoflower is a tourist from a faraway land who wants to see the fabled city of Ankh Morpork. Rincewind has to look after him and make sure he's not hurt by order of the Patrician...or else. Of course this being Rincewind and the world being the Disc, a nice leisurely stroll through the sights and sounds of Ankh Morpock are well nigh impossible. Its more like a gallop. 'Colour of Magic' reads like a typical fantasy novel like 'The Hobbit' albeit with more jokes. The reader is roller-coastered from one mishap to the next with a permanent grin on his/her face. And that's all your face will probably make. A grin. Not a chuckle. Nor a guffaw. Read the other Discworld books if you want to laugh out loud. Especially the ones that feature Death or the City Watch. Saying that though, 'Colour of Magic' is still a good book from the fertile mind of Terry Pratchett. After all, if it wasnt good enough there wouldn't be a Discworld series. 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant and Brisk Book Full of Satire and Wit
Review: Pratchett's writing is in many ways similar to Adams' sly "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series in that it is full of philosophical wit and vivid imagination. Terry Pratchett writes books which have fly-by action and are so engrossing that at times I read for hours on end. Ever since I picked up this book (the first in the Discworld series) several months ago, I haven't been reading any of the books by my other favorite authors and have been concentrating on the Discworld series exclusively ever since. Color of Magic tells the story of the cowardly Rincewind and his attempts to keep the foreign tourist Twoflower alive and out of trouble (to no avail). This book is great in that it truly showcases Pratchett's talent. If you're looking for a new comedy-fantasy series, then look no further. The Color of Magic is a terrific way to introduce yourself to the wonder that is Discworld.
Rating: 
Summary: "!" said the stranger
Review: This is the first book in the Discworld series and Terry Pratchett does an outstanding job of introducing the "logic" that reins in this world and some of the main characters that inhabit it. It has been a while since I found a book that made me laugh so much, the author has a great sense of humor, and he uses different means and techniques to make the reader roll on the floor with laughter. Discworld rests on four giant elephants, Beriha, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen, which stand on top of the giant turtle A'Tuin. The people in this world have asked themselves the same questions over and over through time: What is A'Tuin's sex? Where is the world going? The answer to the second question is evident...to where A'Tuin decides! I cannot help but feel that the fantastic world that Pratchett has created is based on our own "old world" with elements of the new one mixed in. For example, glasses, or cameras are considered elements of magic. Of course, the author does not stop there and adds other fantastical elements to the mix. One of the "regular" concepts we are used to handling in our world that made me laugh like crazy is inn-sewer-ants; sorry but you will have to read the book to figure out what this is, I do not want to give that much away! The story starts when the oldest city in the world, Ankh-Morpork, is burning. Rincewind, the most useless wizard ever, is escaping from the city with Twoflower, a mysterious tourist that comes from the distant and mythical Counterweight Continent. When they are safely away from danger, we start learning about how they met and what were the events that lead to the fire. In this tale and in the one that continues after the characters leave Ankh, we will meet various characters, all of them picturesque and with a great ability to amuse. The only negative aspect I can point out is that the world, characters and rules are a little complicated. Add to this the fact that there are no maps, since as Pratchett says "You cannot map the sense of humor". Anyway, I think that once I start reading the following installments in the series I will be able to get a more thorough understanding. The series well deserves the effort in doing this.
Rating:
Summary: OMIGOD
Review: What do I think of this book? Look at the review title. What words are there for exactly how much I get into books like this? None. However, letters of contempt to the author concerning the ending. I read the guidelines and am not giving out any details, and I warn you, if you are afraid of things being given away about the plot, don't read any more about this review; move on, but still: drawn to the character or two in many books who is markedly an innocent for some reason or another, I was, well, prepared to rant on and on about it like mad for days upon learning that, in the very last five or so pages of the whole thing, that little Twoflower (omg I luv that little guy!)...er...has ferociously little chances of turning up in any of the other books (mutters this rather quickly). As a writer myself, I can tell that we can only imagine what writing that had to have been like for the author. Believe me, if you've been working with a set of characters for a couple hundred pages, you kinda get attatched to them after a while. But hey: he did it, and at least a couple people in the world totally freaked.
However, there is something to be said for it all--it takes one freakishly good author to do something like that to us all. A terrible author would write a book that's so mind-numbingly dull, that the readers aren't interested in anyone in the story, and if someone leaves the plot, let's put it that way, no one really feels much of anything. But there are good authors out there, fortunately. For example, in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Two Towers", one might curiously thumb through the back pages of what we'll call THE SPIDER INCIDENT, and really, really, really get scared by the way it is all described. Think of all the arachnophobics in the world. But he thing is, one gets really into a story by an incredibly good author, and the true test of the author's worth is how the readers react when someone the've seen throughout the whole thing is unexpectedly "let go". The same goes for Douglas Adams's "So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish". I'm not saying a word about what happens there, but throughout the third and fourth book, it is impossible not to wonder what in the world is going to happen to Marvin, my second favorite!! (Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged RULES THE HOUSE!)
So, the only point I'm trying to get to here is that: one-if Twoflower shows up again by whatever means in the other 24 books, I plan to jump for joy despite Lemony Snicket's warnings and do the happy dance or something, and two-Pratchett is an obvious literary genius, and this is indisputably one of the best books I've ever read in my life. Kapeesh.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip Ahead to Later Discworld
Review: The first Discworld book; I borrowed it from the library and read it for curiosity's sake. It makes me really appreciate how far Pratchett's writing has come. Although a lot of the typical Discworld elements are here, most of them fall flat. It is broken into chapters, more like distinct short stories, and they vary wildly also. (Perhaps this is why Pratchett now does not use chapter breaks?) The first story introduces Rincewind, Twoflower, and life in Ankh-Morpork, and starts off the book fairly well. By the third we are stuck in a very muddled, uninteresting story involving dragons, and the language veers wildly back and forth between the Pratchett we've come to know and love, and badly cliched serious fantasy. Pratchett doesn't seem to know which way to turn to get through this one. The fourth segment redeems itself slightly but ends in a cliffhanger. If you can get through this without grinding your teeth, you're a tougher reader than I am (or you've just got a tin ear for bad dialog). My recommendation is to skip the first two, and perhaps all the Rincewind books entirely, and start with Equal Rites or the standalone The Truth.
Rating:
Summary: The entryway into a fantastic series.
Review: Dispite the three star rating I absolutely recommend this book as the first in a series of wonderfully hilarius satire by Terry Pratchett. This introduction to the Disc World is a bit rough around the edges, but it's also the first book in the series. Pratchett's style and the development of the characters matures throughout the series only becomming better with time.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good...
Review: ...as the later books in the series, but still a must read for any fantasy lover. The starting of the saga begins here, with the love or hate character Rincewind, to continue in the later books. It's also one of the only books by Terry Pratchett to use chapters, so don't get accustomed to them.
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