The Colour of Magic

Discworld, Book 1

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Colin Morgan, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy

Brought to you by Penguin.

Over 1 million Discworld audiobooks sold – discover the extraordinary universe of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld like never before

The audiobook of The Colour of Magic is read by Colin Morgan (Merlin; Testament of Youth; Belfast). BAFTA and Golden Globe award-winning actor Bill Nighy (Love Actually; Pirates of the Caribbean; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) reads the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace; Shaun of the Dead) stars as the voice of Death. Featuring a new theme tune composed by James Hannigan.

'It was octarine, the colour of magic. It was alive and glowing and vibrant and it was the undisputed pigment of the imagination . . .'

Somewhere between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a magical world not totally unlike our own. Except for the fact that it travels through space on the shoulders of four giant elephants who in turn stand on the shell of an astronomically huge star turtle, of course.

Rincewind is the world's worst wizard who has just been handed a very important job: to look after the world's first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land. Unfortunately, their journey across the Disc includes facing robbers, monsters, mercenaries, and Death himself.

And the whole thing's just a game of the gods that might send them over the edge . . .

You can listen to the Discworld novels in any order, but The Colour of Magic is the first book in the Wizards series.

The Colour of Magic is the first book in the Discworld series and was published in 1983. Some elements of the Discworld universe may reflect this.

'If you've never read a Discworld novel, what's the matter with you?' Guardian

'Pratchett uses his other world to hold up a distorting mirror to our own' The Times

© Terry Pratchett 1983 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Critic reviews

One of the best and funniest English authors alive

Like Jonathan Swift, Pratchett uses his other world to hold up a distorting mirror to our own, and like Swift he is a satirist of enormous talent...incredibly funny...compulsively readable.

He would be amusing in any form and his spectacular inventiveness makes the Discworld series one of the perennial joys of modern fiction.

Discworld!

Good audio book. If you don't like readers with an accent then pass on this. I personally got used to it quickly and enjoyed the experience. great pronunciation and clarity.

Discworld is back again!

This new wave of audio books for Discworld is a joy to experience.
Once more old friends come to life to show us a realm of magic, snark, and silliness.
The production values of he book are wonderful, the voice acting top notch (Though Rincewind is more nasally than I expected) and relistening to these books again will be a fresh joy.
I can't wait for the Death Series and The Watch series.

This is not the Nigel Planer version.

Wonderful book. Wonderful start to series. This new recording is not as satisfying as the Nigel Planer versions. Foot notes are not made clear. The silly 80s/90s production quality is gone. The soothing ironic delivery is replaced by weird voices and an unpleasant earnestness.

I hope Audible can bring the Nigel Planer versions back.

Intriguing but somewhat dated (BrettD review)

I have stumbled across Discworld a few times and decided to give it a chance. Hard to avoid the potential of 41 entertaining books!

I found this to be an interesting crossover of fantasy and science fiction. Hitchhikers Guide is the closest comparison I can draw. I felt the story was a little dated but still good. I suspect the books will only get better as the author improved his craft over time (and they will literally become more modern haha).

I will likely try one of the other "starter novels" in the Discworld before returning to the Rincewind series. Online reader guides are very helpful to parse the 41 books.

Love the narration!

I was worried when I saw the less than positive reviews about the narration, but I am loving all of the voices Colin M uses to bring the characters to life!

And of course I will always give any Discworld story 5 stars, even if it isn’t the strongest of the series it is still fantastic.