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The Colour of Magic  By  cover art

The Colour of Magic

By: Terry Pratchett
Narrated by: Colin Morgan,Peter Serafinowicz,Bill Nighy
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Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin. 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.

©1983 Terry Pratchett (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"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)

Featured Article: The top 100 fantasy listens of all time


When compiling our list of the best fantasy listening out there, we immediately came up against the age-old question: Is this fantasy or science fiction? The distinction is not as clear as you may think. Dragons, elves, and wizards are definitely fantasy, but what about wizards that also fly space ships? (Looking at you, Star Wars.) For the sake of fantasy purity, the top 100 fantasy listens include the best audio works in all manner of fantasy subgenres.

What listeners say about The Colour of Magic

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  • Overall
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TERRIBLE Narration!

Look, I’m a true Kevin here. I’ve read all of Pratchett but I CANNOT do this narration! He is SO slow! It honestly rips away all of the wit and humor. I will also say I have to seriously strain to understand his accent, being an American. All of the delivery falls flat. He doesn’t seem to “get it” like Planer and Briggs did! I’ve had this preordered for the longest time and was SO excited about all the redos, but I guess I’ll have to keep on listening to the tin-can versions instead!

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42 people found this helpful

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Narration is weird, not sure I can finish

One of my favorite stories, tainted by poor narration. I'm 2 hours in and thinking about just returning the book. Almost feel like the older, echo laden version is better than this. Such a shame. Pre-ordered and had high expectations!

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29 people found this helpful

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A Great Classic Undermined by Narration

I was excited to see the audiobooks for the series were being rereleased as it's become difficult to track down the older recordings. Unfortunately, the choices made by the narrator here detract pretty heavily from the story. Part of the joy of discworld is how hilariously funny the series can be, but the narration here is overly serious and dramatic. Morgan is an excellent actor, but he delivers this story as though it were a more typical fantasy novel. The result is a performance that, to me, completely missed the point.
I'd recommend this series to anyone, but would STRONGLY steer them towards the older recordings (Nigel Planer especially does a remarkable job with the text.) Stay away from these newer recordings as they by and large "miss the point", and do the story a disservice. I suppose this recording could be interesting to those who've ever had a morbid curiosity to hear Douglas Adams read with the seriousness of Asimov and, for a lark, wanted to try dipping their toes into fantasy.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
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Didn’t like the new narrator

This isn’t the strongest discworld book, perhaps not so surprising given that it is the first. The narrator brings it down, as many of the new narrators do. I preferred the old one, as they maintain the humour of the book, perhaps simply by being quite matter of fact about it. The new narrators are just too dramatic, and slow.

Thinking I might buy the old ones I don’t already have before audible makes them unavailable for purchase. I was holding of on it because I had high hopes for the re-recording

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13 people found this helpful

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Superb work!

Since originally hearing they were redoing the audiobooks I was hyped! They did an amazing job with the performance overall. For anyone already a fan of Terry's work this is a must!

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11 people found this helpful

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Outstanding

Colin Morgan was a brilliant choice as narrator. Love the way he differentiates between so many characters without missing a beat. And of course the story is still wonderful.

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10 people found this helpful

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So Much Fun!

Colin Morgan is simply a superbly gifted storyteller. Much care is taken with every syllable. The character voices are unique and engaging. The cadence, inflection, and nuance of his performance contribute to a thoroughly enjoyable and immersive listening experience. Oh, and he has excellent comedic delivery as well. I laughed a lot. Good, good fun. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

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10 people found this helpful

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Love this -

They've brought life and magic to this story. Very enjoyable performance that's really drawn me in bit by bit. Well paced, engaging, and overflowing with inflection and emotion. I can tell they cared quite a lot about this work.

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8 people found this helpful

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Absolutely Love It!

This is some of the best fantasy I've ever read! it is so well written and a delight to listen to. I love how absurd it is at times and how seriously it's still treated by the author. Terry Pratchett was a genius!

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6 people found this helpful

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Masterpiece

First, wow. Wonderful performance amd reading by the team. The story is like being a spectator to one of the most fantastic DnD campaigns ever put on. There's an air of comedy to everything in this story but I couldn't help but to be captivated by the whole story. It is wonderful. From start to finish. I will certainly be reading/listening to more Terry Pratchett.

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