The Discworld Graphic Novels: The Colour of Magic and the Light Fantastic [Paperback]

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Pratchett's Discworld series, HarperCollins has published this hard bound compendium of the first two Discworld novels, "The Color of Magic" and "The Light Fantastic," in their 1991 renditions as graphic novels. Pratchett's writing skills have grown far beyond these early pastiches and satires, but there are real pleasures and genuine belly laughs in these two early books.

The Discworld rides on the backs of four giant elephants, who in turn stand on the back of planet-sized Great a'Tuin, the Star Turtle. "Hertzsprung-Russell Diagrams" are used to classify stars by colors, size and age. The Great a'Tuin is the only turtle to ever appear in a Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram. Trust me, if you are an astronomy student, it's a real groaner. But the great part about these stories is that there are puns, jokes and gags enough for everyone and every taste. The home of the quarrelsome, meddlesome gods of the Discworld, for example, is called Dunmanifestin... Ouch.

The drawings add interest. While the characters don't much resemble the pictures in my head, let alone the actors in Sky One's recent movie based on these novels, they aren't bad. Only the beardless Cohen the Barbarian seriously disappoints. Some cherished scenes have been clipped out; it's probably unavoidable, but I did miss Bravrd and Weasel, pastiches of Leiber's Fafhrd and Mouser, the bureaucratic evil of Ymper Trymon, and the very brief flight on TWA. But there's plenty of Pratchett humor left.

The drawings have a distinct charm and consistency. They add to the story, without distorting it. Those old paperback graphic novels, long out of print, are very hard to find; if you want a complete set of Pratchett, this volume is essential.

The madcap punning - persons robbing music shops must be "luters" - and throwaway lines - "We've got a wizard and we're not afraid to use him" - are there, and the drawings make them more fun still. These first two novels didn't have much of a plot but they definitely had their moments. This graphic novel gives you a chance to enjoy those moments again. And those new to Pratchett may find the graphic novels more accessible. Strongly recommended.

I've long been a fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, and this graphic novel was a lot of fun: a great way to revisit some of the early stories. The artwork is quite nice, and by and large they did an excellent adaptation that is both true to the original work and true to the adopted medium. All in all, very enjoyable.

That said, whoever did the lettering managed to insert a number of errors into the text - basic stuff like its/it's mistakes, the sort of thing any editor off the street would catch and fix. Mr. Pratchett's books have always been conscientiously edited in this regard, and this sort of thing is an insult, just poor craftsmanship. I hope future editions can manage to avoid this sort of thing.

The two classic stories that brought the Discworld to our world are beautifully rendered. The art is done in a style that fits Pratchett's sense of humor and the stories are left with all the highlights intact. Something is going to be lost whenever you move a novel to another format, and they are some of the classic scenes. The biggest loss is Rincewind and Two-Flower's brief trip into our world that is the pay off for the wizzard's desire to understand the natural scientific order of the universe.

Even without some classic scenes, the stories are still hilarious and the art charming.