P. E. T. Conroy rated The Colour of Magic: 4 stars

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
The Colour of Magic is a 1983 fantasy comedy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the …
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The Colour of Magic is a 1983 fantasy comedy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the …
They say there is no water in the City of Lies. They say there are no heroes in the City …
I recently read Children of Húrin. A challenging read. Last year I read @Olde_Heuvelt's HEX, that was a difficult read. This, is a painful read, a page-turning fight with every word. You feel every rock & slip on that mountain. WOW. TOH is Stephen King for this generation. ❤️&💔
The writing here is primarily first person throughout - the narrator changes; but this is a well written first person novel. Initially I picked this up as a standalone - seems it's a prequel set about a thousand years before it's predecessor. The main character is an old man looking back on his life; with a rather special love affair relating to the second main character; who in turn keeps requiring the assistance of the third main character who has the most 'supernatural' ability in the book - seeing Ghosts, but not entirely as we think of ghosts, more impressions of the dead around people they're connected to. The other fantastical element used is the first person thoughts of the recently deceased for just a few moments after their physical death, as the ascend to the spiritual. For those who are fans of historical fiction, this would be a good …
The writing here is primarily first person throughout - the narrator changes; but this is a well written first person novel. Initially I picked this up as a standalone - seems it's a prequel set about a thousand years before it's predecessor. The main character is an old man looking back on his life; with a rather special love affair relating to the second main character; who in turn keeps requiring the assistance of the third main character who has the most 'supernatural' ability in the book - seeing Ghosts, but not entirely as we think of ghosts, more impressions of the dead around people they're connected to. The other fantastical element used is the first person thoughts of the recently deceased for just a few moments after their physical death, as the ascend to the spiritual. For those who are fans of historical fiction, this would be a good introduction to fantasy - it is largely an alternative fictional version of Italy during a particularly bloody time in its history, set against the background event of the fall of what is quite clearly Constantinople. The main religion appears to be Christianity, whilst those attacking this city and frequently mentioned though barely seen appear to Muslim - one assumes the other religion mentioned is probably Judaism. The book isn't about real historical people, but two of the primary supporting cast are based on actual historical figures. The strength of this book is it's reflective nature - primarily an old man looking back on his life, reminiscing - aware of his mistakes, his roads not taken - but also not hopeless, despite everything. It is a sensitive book with well drawn characters, though it's plot is good, the jumping from character to character in first person is at times confusing, especially when it switches midway through a scene, or retells part of a scene from another characters perspective. The writing is good, but it could do with more focus; though this might affect the plot. Another place this book shines is in its world-building, it's not over bearing, but you really feel the needs of the common man running in the background up against the whims of the powerful. This book sits at around 126,000 words, which is surprising, it didn't feel that long.
The ending felt like it tapered off rather than finished, perhaps because the lives of the living and history itself can not be neatly tied up in a bow like most books.
The writing isn't it's strongest part. The story is strong, the characters quirky, but the ending is weak if mostly satisfying. Resurrection seems to be the main fantastical tool used with few archaic Arabic sounding words that just feel thrown in. The size of the library becomes a little too Warehouse 13 or those TV movies and series 'The Librarian' or 'The Librarians' - where this story diverges is not in missing artifacts or books, but rather in the focus on 'The Librarians' being criminally insane and it's an adopted-family feud. I did enjoy this book, but it lacked something in the story, the writing was the weakest part, dialogue was fine, but the actual writing was the weakest part.