91.
Title: [The Colour of Magic]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Kindle
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: November 7, 2016
Rating: ***

The Colour of Magic, first in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, introduces readers to A'tuin, AnkhMorpork, and a genre for which Pratchett will come to be known, mixing fantastic elements with wit, charm, and cultural awareness to create a space that is both humorously foreign and delightfully familiar. In this the first, AnkhMorpork is introduced to something entirely new - a tourist, who has purposefully left his prosperous continent in order to experience "everything" the twin cities have to offer, and beyond. Having the fortunate misfortune of giving this poor sap a linguistic hand at a tavern, Rincewind is consequently charged with protecting the tourist by the Patrician himself, and what follows is a series of struggles from cultural and personality clashes. The joyful absurdity that is the Luggage makes its first appearance, and Twoflower and Rincewind are engaging protagonists different enough to inspire the narrative, but not so dissimilar that it's unclear how they could come to be companions. Ultimately, though, this is not the Discworld I know and love - having read The Truth first, many many years ago, and enjoying all of the later novels, returning to the first (for the first time) was a bit jarring, as the book lacks the polish and charm of the later productions. Little is seen of AnkMorpork proper, there's too much going on in the plot with too great reliance on magic to move from space to space and, most tragically, Death is not the character he comes to be.

If this had been the first Pratchett I had read I don't know that I would have continued; it's very much a first-novel, and as a reader who doesn't actually favor fantasy I don't know that it holds much for me. However, as an actual fan it's interesting to go back to a beginning of which I was unaware. And so begins my project of reading the entire run, in order.