Collection
Description
Imagine a flat world, sitting on the backs of four elephants, who hurtle through space balanced on a giant turtle. The Discworld is a place (and a time) parallel to our own - but also very different. That is the setting for Terry Pratchett's phenomenally successful Discworld series, which now celebrates its 25th anniversary.The Discworld Graphic Novels presents the very first two volumes of this much-loved series in graphic novel form. First published fifteen years ago, these fully illustrated versions are now issued for the first time in hardback. Introduced here are the bizarre misadventures of Twoflower, the Discworld's first ever tourist, and possibly - portentously - its last, and his guide Rincewind, the spectacularly inept wizard.Not to mention the Luggage, which has a mind of its own.… (more)
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Original language
English
User reviews
LibraryThing member bbudke
Oh dear, did I ever want this to be better. I love Discworld. I love graphic novels. But the experience was less "you got your chocolate in my peanut butter" than it was "who ordered the chocolate cake pizza?"
The Colour of Magic especially suffered from clunky, static art and had an amateur
Don't let the glossy cover fool you. Unless you are a Pratchett completionist, this set adds little to your collection, and adds nothing to the characterizations of Rincewind, Twoflower, and Discworld.
The Colour of Magic especially suffered from clunky, static art and had an amateur
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fan-fiction feel to it. The art in The Light Fantastic was somewhat improved. Both halves, however, suffered from the assumption that anyone reading this graphic novel had already read the original, and would be able to fill in the large gaps in story and characterization in their heads.Don't let the glossy cover fool you. Unless you are a Pratchett completionist, this set adds little to your collection, and adds nothing to the characterizations of Rincewind, Twoflower, and Discworld.
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LibraryThing member ironicqueery
The graphic novel version of Terry Pratchett's first two novels is an interesting addition to the Discworld collection, however, it doesn't fully do justice to the books. Too many of Pratchett's great quips are left out - in the comic, character dialogue moves the story - but in the books,
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character thoughts and narrator commentary tend to be the best parts. Granted, the two books this graphic novel covers are his earliest works, so I don't think his form was in top shape anyway, but they are better than the graphic novel version. However, it's enjoyable to see the new perspective the illustrations bring to Discworld. I do prefer my mind's version of Discworld, and the art isn't quite my style, but it's fun nonetheless. Show Less
LibraryThing member grizzly.anderson
This volume brings together the graphic novel adaptations of the first two discworld books into a single hardback. It's not a bad adaptation, but after having had my own vision of Death, Rincewind, Twoflower, The Luggage and all the other characters, no doubt influenced by Paul Kidby's cover
A graphic novel does do an interesting job of visualizing the discworld, but at the same time it does the two novels a disservice. So much of Pratchett's strength is in the style of his writing - the wit, the puns, the detailed dialog. None of which translates well to the graphic novel. Too much has to be cut to make room for all the illustrations and fit in the little dialog bubbles.
If you want a beautifully illustrated discworld novel, check out The Last Hero instead. None of Pratchett's story is sacrificed for Kidby's illustrations, and vice versa. Otherwise this edition is probably only for the completist.
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illustrations, it was jarring to see Steven Ross's interpretations of those same folks.A graphic novel does do an interesting job of visualizing the discworld, but at the same time it does the two novels a disservice. So much of Pratchett's strength is in the style of his writing - the wit, the puns, the detailed dialog. None of which translates well to the graphic novel. Too much has to be cut to make room for all the illustrations and fit in the little dialog bubbles.
If you want a beautifully illustrated discworld novel, check out The Last Hero instead. None of Pratchett's story is sacrificed for Kidby's illustrations, and vice versa. Otherwise this edition is probably only for the completist.
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LibraryThing member sheherazahde
These were nicely done. That artists caught the "four-eyes" effect of Twoflower's glasses and drew The Patrician as the Lord Vetinari we have come to know and love, instead of the stranger in the original text. I have not read the books in years but the stories fit with my memories of them.
LibraryThing member knielsen83
A little confusing at first, I found myself getting wrapped up in the world of Terry Pratchett's - two books combined and made into graphic novels. I really want to read the novels now that I've enjoyed the colorful graphic novel. The plot was great, the characters hilarious, and the images great.
LibraryThing member craso
These two graphic novels were created from the first two novels in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. In the first story, "The Colour of Magic", we are introduced to Discworld, a disc on the back of four elephants who are on the back of a giant turtle floating through space. Twoflowers, the first
Just when you think they will never get out of the mess they are in, the next story "The Light Fantastic" begins. In this tale, the better of the two, Discworld is heading towards a red star. The wizards at Unseen University believe that if the eight spells in the "octavo", a glowing octavo size book, are read the world will be saved. They can't read the spells until they find Rincewind, because one of the spells is stuck in his head. So back the travelers go to Ankh-Morpork as they meet more high fantasy types, with humorous consequences.
I enjoyed these graphic novels. The artwork was good and the tales were fun. These stories satirize "Conan the barbarian" type fantasy novels with a stupid loin cloth clad hunk in the first story and a toothless elderly hero in the second. Having a bespeckled asian tourist in a Hawaiian shirt guide the reader through this high fantasy landscape, with a wizard that can't cast spells and luggage with feet, is hilarious.
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tourist on this world, and the cowardly wizard Rincewind travel around Discworld meeting heroes, villains, dragons and beautiful scantily clad women. They bounce around from one misadventure to the next. Just when you think they will never get out of the mess they are in, the next story "The Light Fantastic" begins. In this tale, the better of the two, Discworld is heading towards a red star. The wizards at Unseen University believe that if the eight spells in the "octavo", a glowing octavo size book, are read the world will be saved. They can't read the spells until they find Rincewind, because one of the spells is stuck in his head. So back the travelers go to Ankh-Morpork as they meet more high fantasy types, with humorous consequences.
I enjoyed these graphic novels. The artwork was good and the tales were fun. These stories satirize "Conan the barbarian" type fantasy novels with a stupid loin cloth clad hunk in the first story and a toothless elderly hero in the second. Having a bespeckled asian tourist in a Hawaiian shirt guide the reader through this high fantasy landscape, with a wizard that can't cast spells and luggage with feet, is hilarious.
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LibraryThing member samfsmith
Don’t waste your time on these. Something is definitely lost when converting the Discworld novels to graphic novels, and the artwork is just your standard stuff. Pretty disappointing.
LibraryThing member hjjugovic
Good representation of two classic books. It was interesting seeing what choices were made for this adaptation and the movie adaptation, after experiencing them both in the same day. Docked a star for not having "Wizzard" on the hat, cuz it's a big deal for a little detail.
LibraryThing member akswede
I love Discworld, and I love graphic novels, but this just didn't do it for me.
LibraryThing member hindins
These are great stories but read the text versions. I found the artwork disappointing but I don't really read a lot of graphic novels so maybe my expectations were too high.
LibraryThing member pussreboots
The Discworld Graphic Novels by Terry Pratchett contain the comic book adaptations of the first two Discworld novels: The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic.
Here should be a no-brainer of a win for me. I love these two Discworld books. I love the miniseries that was made from them. I love
And yet...
It just didn't gel for me.
Part of the problem, I suppose, is that these first two books are the foundation of the Discworld world-building and the establishment of Ankh-Morpork, though the city state changes radically with the introduction of the Night Watch series. It's also the introduction of Unseen University.
And together, they are the story of a very bad, but unfortunately powerful wizard (thanks to a spell that has infected him), given the arduous task of playing tour guide to an enthusiastic, wealthy but horribly naive (by Ankh-Morporkian standards) tourist.
As this is Twoflower's tour of Ankh-Morpork and the surrounding lands, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic are presented much as the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is — as a tour guide. There's a lot of tell and very little show.
So that leaves the adaptors to fill in the blanks with action and dialogue. Interesting, both the miniseries and this graphic novel were done in 2008. So they were working with the same amount of Discworld material (36 books, or roughly 75 of the series as it stands now).
That gave plenty of leeway for the adaptors: either go with the series as it stood within the context of those first two books (rather primitive with enough holes in the map to fly several space turtles through), or fill in the blanks with stuff from the later books. The graphic novel chose the former and the miniseries chose the latter.
And I think that's why the graphic novel fell flat for me. Although my first experience with both books was within the context of just those two books (and my own experience as a tourist / exchange student to far off lands), my later recollections of them is within a greater understanding of Ankh-Morpork as a cultural and political influence on the Disc.
Here should be a no-brainer of a win for me. I love these two Discworld books. I love the miniseries that was made from them. I love
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graphic novels.And yet...
It just didn't gel for me.
Part of the problem, I suppose, is that these first two books are the foundation of the Discworld world-building and the establishment of Ankh-Morpork, though the city state changes radically with the introduction of the Night Watch series. It's also the introduction of Unseen University.
And together, they are the story of a very bad, but unfortunately powerful wizard (thanks to a spell that has infected him), given the arduous task of playing tour guide to an enthusiastic, wealthy but horribly naive (by Ankh-Morporkian standards) tourist.
As this is Twoflower's tour of Ankh-Morpork and the surrounding lands, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic are presented much as the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is — as a tour guide. There's a lot of tell and very little show.
So that leaves the adaptors to fill in the blanks with action and dialogue. Interesting, both the miniseries and this graphic novel were done in 2008. So they were working with the same amount of Discworld material (36 books, or roughly 75 of the series as it stands now).
That gave plenty of leeway for the adaptors: either go with the series as it stood within the context of those first two books (rather primitive with enough holes in the map to fly several space turtles through), or fill in the blanks with stuff from the later books. The graphic novel chose the former and the miniseries chose the latter.
And I think that's why the graphic novel fell flat for me. Although my first experience with both books was within the context of just those two books (and my own experience as a tourist / exchange student to far off lands), my later recollections of them is within a greater understanding of Ankh-Morpork as a cultural and political influence on the Disc.
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LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: This is a graphic adaptation of the first two Discworld novels.
Twoflower is an insurance salesman and tourist, freshly arrived to the city of Ankh-Morpork from the distant and exotic Agatean empire. Rincewind is a not-very-good wizard (he only knows one spell, but he doesn't dare to use
Review: I was pretty underwhelmed with this book. I still consider myself a relative newbie to Discworld (I've read… 3? 4? of Pratchett's non-YA novels), but I have read the two novels that this book was based on, and the adaptation just didn't stack up for me. A large part of this is that I think a lot of the humor gets lost in the adaptation. Most of the jokes (or at least most of the jokes that landed) were in the narration in the novel, not in the dialogue, so when the graphic novel format strips away everything BUT the dialogue, it strips away most of Pratchett's dry pithy asides as well. The graphic novels are also very episodic - something from which the novels also suffered, but the problem is exacerbated in the graphic version, with very little transition on how characters get from one set-piece to the next. The art was fine - the style was not my favorite, I suspect because I'm more used to modern comics (these were originally published in pieces in the early 1990s, and they look oddly washed out in places - likely due to the hand coloring?) - but there were some nice panels and use of space as well. But I don't really feel that they added much to what I already had in my imagination after reading the novels. In general, this was relatively inoffensive as far as adaptations go, and pretty faithful to the original, at least story-wise. But I don't feel like it really added a new perspective, and the novels are definitely funnier. 3 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Only read it after having read the novels - the adaptation leaves a lot of the "connective tissue" of the story up to the reader. And then, really, only read it if you're a Discworld completist - it's not bad, but it's not essential, either.
Twoflower is an insurance salesman and tourist, freshly arrived to the city of Ankh-Morpork from the distant and exotic Agatean empire. Rincewind is a not-very-good wizard (he only knows one spell, but he doesn't dare to use
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it) who has been tasked with protecting Twoflower by politicians eager to avoid angering the Agateans. Unbeknownst to them, however, they are being used as pawns in a game played by the Gods, and so Rincewind and Twoflower find themselves fleeing the city just ahead of an enormous fire, taking up with a barbarian, destroying a rather nasty temple, running into some invisible dragons, and falling over the edge of the Disc, all while being trailed by Twoflower's sentient, loyal, and slightly murderous luggage. And all the time, the red star is looming ever closer to the disc, foretelling a terrible doom…Review: I was pretty underwhelmed with this book. I still consider myself a relative newbie to Discworld (I've read… 3? 4? of Pratchett's non-YA novels), but I have read the two novels that this book was based on, and the adaptation just didn't stack up for me. A large part of this is that I think a lot of the humor gets lost in the adaptation. Most of the jokes (or at least most of the jokes that landed) were in the narration in the novel, not in the dialogue, so when the graphic novel format strips away everything BUT the dialogue, it strips away most of Pratchett's dry pithy asides as well. The graphic novels are also very episodic - something from which the novels also suffered, but the problem is exacerbated in the graphic version, with very little transition on how characters get from one set-piece to the next. The art was fine - the style was not my favorite, I suspect because I'm more used to modern comics (these were originally published in pieces in the early 1990s, and they look oddly washed out in places - likely due to the hand coloring?) - but there were some nice panels and use of space as well. But I don't really feel that they added much to what I already had in my imagination after reading the novels. In general, this was relatively inoffensive as far as adaptations go, and pretty faithful to the original, at least story-wise. But I don't feel like it really added a new perspective, and the novels are definitely funnier. 3 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: Only read it after having read the novels - the adaptation leaves a lot of the "connective tissue" of the story up to the reader. And then, really, only read it if you're a Discworld completist - it's not bad, but it's not essential, either.
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LibraryThing member sushicat
Maybe this suffered from the fact that I just read Terry Pratchett's novel and it seemed to me that some of the humorous elements are just missing in this version.
LibraryThing member 4everfanatical
This book was just a story of pure insanity. Many people love Terry Prachetts stories but I just do not like them much. The whole story was just nonsense after nonsense, none of it made sense. Its kind of like fantasy meets science fiction.
In one way I am glad I read the graphic novel and not the
It only doesn't get 1 star because I actually finished it and didn't abandon it halfway through.
In one way I am glad I read the graphic novel and not the
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actual novel because my imagination could not conjure up the bizarre images he describes. I mean a trunk with 1000 feet? What the hell? A lot of reviewers say this graphic novel version is lacklustre compared to the novel but I am now certain that I never want to go near any of Terry's stories. I just cant deal with the crazy.It only doesn't get 1 star because I actually finished it and didn't abandon it halfway through.
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LibraryThing member Lindoula
I love Discworld, and I love graphic novels, but this just didn't do it for me.
LibraryThing member Othemts
This graphic novel introduces Terry Pratchett's Discworld through an adaptation of the first two novels in the series. The central character is the hapless wizard Rincewind who is charged with being the guide for Twoflower, the first tourist ever on Discworld. The pair, along with Twoflower's
The adventures are ludicrous and fun and wonderfully illustrated. If there's a flaw is that the story seems to skip around a bit making me wonder how much of the original novel's story was abridged for space. Nevertheless, it's serves as a delightful introduction to Discworld.
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Luggage (a sentient chest that moves on tiny legs), have a series of adventures that play on the tropes of high fantasy and sword and sorcery stories. Meanwhile the gods themselves and a powerful book of magic called Octavo have plans for them.The adventures are ludicrous and fun and wonderfully illustrated. If there's a flaw is that the story seems to skip around a bit making me wonder how much of the original novel's story was abridged for space. Nevertheless, it's serves as a delightful introduction to Discworld.
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