The Colour of Magic

Discworld, Book 1

De: Terry Pratchett

Narrado por: 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

©1983 Terry Pratchett (P)2022 Penguin Audio

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.

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.

To strike a balance while making it your own.

So I'm a fan of Discworld and as someone with a vision problem I've preferred listening to the audio versions of the series for years. After listening to this version of the first book alongside the sequel it's hard for me to try and explain my thoughts but they are still trying to find their own way for the books.

It's more that it feels like the narrators have a respect for the original audio recordings but can't quite figure out how best to find that balance yet. This isn't a bad thing as the first few books in the series feel that way. At present it's actually going to be harder to tell on things but I do think it's got potential. Honestly I think trying to strike a proper balance between all the narrators that have helped bring this series to life in audio form is hard and anyone thet has tried will always feel that weight on their shoulders.

For example I think the later audiobook versions of the last few books of the series towards the end of Terry pratchett's life do a great job at showing how an updated version could be. Personally I think it's actually worth having some of each of the audiobook styles since each has its own charm and character to the characters. I'd say give this a listen and enjoy it for what it is with the understanding that there's been several ways the series has been portrayed in audio.

Loving the new series

We’ll worth the repurchasing of the series! The updated production values alone are worth the credits. Nothing wrong with the old version with Nigel planer, but I haven’t listened / read them in quite awhile and hearing the new take on these classics is bringing the stories back like almost like new.

Real enjoyment!

I really really enjoyed this audiobook and would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for something funny. The performance really helped me get into this series too!

The world

Great first book. I’ve read many other fantasy series. I think I will like the creative world Pratchett has created.

A favorite!

This took me back to being a kid reading it for the first time. Amazing journey!

Great as always

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels never disappoints. Every moment within this whimsical chaos is an octorine tinted fever dream of wonder we all should enjoy. I can’t wait to continue on reading and listening to tumultuous Terry tales for tens of trillions of years to come. Mostly I hope I can collect all the discworld books physically in my home library as easily as I’ve been able to find them for listening to.