Once upon a time, I tried to read the Discworld books, starting (against several people’s advise) with the first and working through all of them. I made it a few books in and put them down, saying that some day I would give them another chance. Well, this is that chance.

This time around, I’m listening to them all on audiobook. This actually seems to help quite a lot, since it allows me to keep listening while at the same time doing something with my hands and, unless I stop it myself, will keep going without me. It turns out that, given those circumstances, I quite enjoyed the Color of Magic this time around.

It’s still not the best book I’ve ever read. The plot seems to meander a bit and jump from place to place–which, to be fair, is more or less intentional. The characters, other than Rincewind and Twoflower, are a bit lackluster, although the two of them are at least amusingly put together and distinct. The setting is actually quite amusing, although it goes more for humor than a more ‘serious’ take on worldbuilding–again, intentional.

Finally, the Color of Magic either feels just a bit too long or a bit too short. There are perhaps three major sections to the book, where jumps in time and space separate out what is going on in each from one another. However, the last one feels incomplete. There’s something that could be very interesting just about to happen… and then the book ends. I have hopes that the sequel will go a bit more into that.

Overall, better to listen to than to read (at least for me). Worth giving the series a second try. I think I’ll actually read each subseries rather than going straight through. Onward with the adventures of Rincewind it is!