Summary
The Light Fantastic is a funny and at times delightful book.
The Light Fantastic is the second Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett and picks up the story that was begun in The Colour of Magic.
A red star has appeared in the sky and the Discworld is heading right towards it. There is only one person who can save the world; but unfortunately this is the rather inept and cowardly wizard called Rincewind who was last seen falling of the edge of the world.
As The Light Fantastic starts we are once again re-united with Rincewind the wizard, Twoflower the tourist and of course, his luggage.
The writing style is the same as The Colour of Magic with the emphasis heavily on humour. This works most of the time but it did seem at certain points that Pratchett was trying to be too funny, too often. I felt that the storyline sometimes suffered in the search for yet more laughs. This is a small gripe though as there are very few fantasy books that are as well written and enjoyable as this, I really fell in behind Rincewind and sincerely hoped that a happy end and a certain degree of respect was in store for the much happened-upon wizard.
"There was no real need for the torches. The Octavo filled the room with a dull, sullen light, which wasn’t strictly light at all but the opposite of light; darkness isn’t the opposite of light, it is simply its absence, and what was radiating from the book was the light that lies on the far side of darkness, the light fantastic."
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
The first half of the book further develops the characters of Rincewind and Twoflower as they stumble from many frying pans into even more fires. After a while the book really needed an injection of new life and this came in the form of the greatest hero of all time – Cohen the Barbarian. Cohen is far and away the best thing about this book, not often do you get hero that is eight-seven years old, suffering from bunions and piles and with a back that gives in half way through a fight to the death. Add to this the fact that he has no teeth and we are given a truly original and entertaining character that really steals the spotlight.
‘I never get any royaltiesh,’ he said. He looked moodily at the snow. ‘That’sh the shaga of my life. Eighty yearsh in the bushiness and what have I got to show for it? Backache, pilesh, bad digeshtion and a hundred different recipesh for shoop. Shoop! I hate shoop!’
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
DEATH also makes an appearance and this is always a treat, Pratchett obviously has great fun writing this character and this enthusiasm is passed over to the reader and the cameo performances always light up and Discworld story.
The Light Fantastic is a funny and at times delightful book. The story of Rincewind and Twoflower is brought to a strangely moving conclusion and Pratchett’s work gets better and better.
You may also like...
Jeremy from Somerset
The Light Fantastic further fleshes out the Discworld and introduces some great new characters - Cohen the Barbarian is by far the best of these. I love the fact that the main character Rincewind is a complete coward, this is refreshing after reading fantasy novels where the lead is super-human and indestructable. A fun, fast and enjoyable read, the Discworld series gets better and better.
Submit your own mini-review
Let people know what you think about The Light Fantastic. You can write your own mini-review and give the book the rating that you think it deserves. Your reviews will go towards giving The Light Fantastic its overall rating that will decide where The Light Fantastic finishes in the top 100 fantasy books of all time.
Polls
News
Fantasy author Terry Pratchett has been named the 'evergreen' king in The Bookseller's first-ever register of titles that have never fallen out of the top 5,000 chart. Only 12 books, out of the more t
Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule (unabridged) has stormed to the top of the fantasy charts at Audible.co.uk Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Cla
The Edinburgh International Book Festival runs from August 9th to 25th and features 800 authors from 45 countries around the world. Terry Pratchett, Tony Parsons and Young Bond author Charlie Higson w
The next release from prolific writer Terry Pratchett comes to us on 11th September this year and is the eagerly awaited young adults, non-Discworld book Nation. Set on a remote tropical island recen
First published in 1983 The Colour of Magic began the odyssey that is Terry Pratchett's much loved Discworld and 2008 sees its 25th birthday. Marking this momentous occasion will be the Discworld Con
It has been known for some while now that the fantasy author Terry Pratchett is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He has recently suggested he may have found God after years of atheism. The creator
The UK's biggest audio-book web site has a fantastic array of fantasy books from all the top authors. The top 10 for May 2008 shows that Philip Pullman and Terry Pratchett transfer extremely well to
Terry Pratchett has become a patron of the Alzheimer's Research Trust. The world-famous fantasy writer announced he had Alzheimer's in December 2007 and has since donated $1 million £513,000 to h
Fantasy author Terry Pratchett is heading to Taiwan with the BBC Sky at Night team to view the total eclipse of the sun next year. He will board the cruise ship Superstar Libra, organised by travel c
On the 1st of May 2008, Alzheimer's Trust Research will be hosting a dinner with Terry Pratchett attending as a special guest. Terry Pratchett and Dr Raj Persaud will spend time talking to the gues
George RR Martin has joined a growing band of science fiction and fantasy writers who are coming together in support of Terry Pratchett and Alzheimer's Research. Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with the
Some fantasy books transfer well onto audio book, some lose their magic. FantasyBookReview.co.uk will shortly be reviewing and rating the best (and worst) fantasy audio books available in the UK today
On the 6th March 2008 a man called Gary Cygax died. It is a name that probably does not mean a great deal to many but he was one of the creators of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
The
Fantasy author Terry Pratchett announced at the annual conference of the Alzheimer's Research Trust that he will be donating £494,000 to their trust.
Pratchett, famous for the Discworld series, dis
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett is the second book in the extremely successful Discworld series. The story continues with Rincewind and Twoflower falling of the edge of the world.
This is a
Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic is coming to the small screen this Easter with Sky One featuring an all-star adaption. The cast is excellent with Sir David Jason playing Rincewind the Wizard and
In the following article we will attempt to provide a condensed guide to fantasy literature. This is by no means complete as many sub genres have not been included as we focus on the most popular and
I have always enjoyed listening to audiobooks. My first purchases were Ray Dotrice’s magical reading of Watership Down and Douglas Adam’s fantastic Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Since then I have
The Carnagie Medal is awarded by librarians to an author who has written a truly exceptional book for either children or young adults. Last year (2007) saw the 50th anniversary of the Carnegie Medal,
Joe Abercrombie will be releasing The Last Argument of Kings in March 2008 and a new novel called Best Served Cold in 2009.
Trudi Canavan, author of the Black Magician Trilogy will be writing both
Online Store
Online Store
