The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett (The Discworld Series: Book 2)

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.

9/10 The Light Fantastic is a funny and at times delightful book.