Thoughts: The Light Fantastic

In The Light Fantastic only one individual can save the world from a disastrous collision. Unfortunately, the hero happens to be the singularly inept wizard Rincewind, who was last seen falling off the edge of the world...

Terry Pratchett is well known for his comedy/parody/satire series Discworld, and The Light Fantastic is the second in the series. I fell in love with the fist book immediately, and in this one I fell for the characters even more. I couldn't help but wonder how Pratchett creates all the ridiculous situations presented, and the characters reactions are so spot on to their personalities. Each character is like an exaggeration to one/a few human characteristics, and it makes them outrageous and laughable. I love the parody, and hope I didn't miss anything- I would not have caught the Orpheus quip had I not seen Eurydice a weekend or two ago. It is such a talent that he can weave quick details of fantasy, mythology, and science fiction pop culture into his stories.

Anybody looking for a light hearted read needs to look no farther- the books in this series will take a few sittings to finish and you'll be ready to pick up the next one.

Quotes
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Quotes: The Light Fantastic

The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett

(Light)

When light encounters a strong magical field it loses all sense of urgency. It slows right down. And on the Discworld the magic was embarrassingly strong, which meant that the soft yellow light of dawn flowed over the sleeping landscape like the caress of a gentle lover or, as some would have it, golden syrup. It paused to fill up valleys. It piled up against mountain ranges. When it reached Cori Celesti... it built up in heaps until it finally crashed in great lazy tsunami as silent as velvet, across the dark landscape beyond.

(Staring)

Galder broke off first- looking at Trymon always bothered him. It had the same disconcerting effect as gazing into a mirror and seeing no one there.

(Oh, Emotions)

"Dead?" said Rincewind. In the debating chamber of his mind a dozen emotions got to their feet and started shouting. Relief was in full spate when Shock cut in on a point of order and then Bewilderment, Terror and Loss started a fight which was ended only when Shame slunk in from next door to see what all the row was about.

(Sane to Insane)

"No one goes mad quicker than a totally sane person."

Quotes: The Color of Magic

The Color of Magic, by Terry Pratchett:

(Divine Plan)

"Precisely why all the above should be so is not clear, but goes some way to explain why, on the disc, the Gods are not so much worshipped as blamed."

(Captain Death)

"If words had weight, a single sentence from Death would have anchored a ship."

(How did Death Watch?)

"Death watched impassively."

(The Drunk Artist)

And whoever had done those carvings on the wall, Twoflower thought charitably, had probably been drinking too much. For years.

Quotes: Neverwhere

Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman:

(Uncomfortably Female)

Jessica didn't like Richard's apartment: it made her feel uncomfortably female.

(Angels and Candles)

Then it stood up, and walked away, back through the Hall, the way it had come; and the candles went out as it passed, as they had done for tens of thousands of years.

(Lack of Redeeming Features)

"When you don't have any redeeming features, you don't take particularly kindly to disappointment, do you, Mister Vandemar?"

(Sunny and Delightful Disposition)

Mr. Vandemar showed them his teeth, demonstrating his sunny and delightful disposition. It was unquestionably the most horrible thing that Richard had ever seen.

(Do Not Trust Reasonable Voices)

Somewhere inside Richard a small, reasonable voice pointed out that there never was an Atlantis, and, thus emboldened, went on to state that there were no such things as angels, and that, furthermore, most of his experiences of the last few days had been impossible. Richard ignored it. He was learning, awkwardly, to trust his instincts, and to realize that the simplest and most likely explanations for what he had seen and experienced recently were the ones that had been offered up to him- no matter how unlikely they might seem.

(Darkness is Happening)

"What's happening?" whispered Richard.
"Darkness is happening," said the leather woman very quietly. "Night is happening. All the nightmares that have come out when the sun goes down, since the cave times, when we huddled together in fear for safety and for warmth, are happening. Now," she told them, "now is the time to be afraid of the dark."

(A Place of Things that Are)

Metaphors failed him, then. He had gone beyond that world of metaphor and simile into the place of things that are, and it was changing him.