The Light Fantastic

Review ebook The Light Fantastic

Some timid, rare Sci-Fi buds spring in the, unofficially second half, of the tour de force introduction into the settings of the Discworld, including multi dimensions, human sacrifice, possession, lynch mobs, and the apocalypse.

I do tend to ask myself how it would have been if Pratchett would have dealt with more sci-fi concepts instead of focusing on fantasy and society, and the whole multi dimension idea gives a tiny glimpse at what could have been. I´ll keep waiting for an author who might co Some timid, rare Sci-Fi buds spring in the, unofficially second half, of the tour de force introduction into the settings of the Discworld, including multi dimensions, human sacrifice, possession, lynch mobs, and the apocalypse.

I do tend to ask myself how it would have been if Pratchett would have dealt with more sci-fi concepts instead of focusing on fantasy and society, and the whole multi dimension idea gives a tiny glimpse at what could have been. I´ll keep waiting for an author who might combine the stellar writing with cosmic ideas to form galactic novels of universal dimensions, but, realist that I am, I fear it might not be in my lifetime, if ever. Pratchett was an ingenious, exceptional phenomenon and possibly groups of writers could collaboratively create something close to it with the help of the audience and proofreaders participating in the process, but one woman/man alone? Forget it.

There have been many variations of the unwilling, tentative, comedic hero, but someone like Rincewind has to be topped, as Pratchett is able to awake sympathy for a disagreeable, incompetent, and manipulative wanna be fringe pop wizard. One can´t get enough of seeing which terrible, earthshaking problem he might cause next without even recognizing.

Magic can go so many ways and Pratchett doesn´t just make fun of the stereotypes, he gives some new, fresh ideas to the mix I can´t mention without spoilering and I am too lazy to copy and paste the (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] formatting template.

And here comes the DEATH. I don´t know how many personifications of evanescence might have been inspired by this skinny buddy, but hardly someone came closer to demonstrate the importance of carpe diem than this human studying manifestation of the not so grim reaper with time management issues.

World domination, ultimate power, and invincibility are as ridiculous as popular, but Pratchett gives the setting a new special taste by satirizing it with the allegedly mundane hurdles towards entity status that hide the key to the destruction of the maniac.

Rincewind gets a bit insane in the membrane, although it´s difficult to see the difference, very alternative physics change some parts of the fictional reality, and after finishing, the reader is ready to enter the Discworld with more or less profound knowledge about why what is happening when. Just joking, reading Pratchett is never done in one sitting, next to the mandatory rereading passages to relaugh, the ideas keep rotating in ones´ mind, characters and scenes coming to life without even asking, as hardly seen or felt before after finishing other reads.

It´s impressing how Pratchett managed to establish many of the settings and characters in the hero´s journey of his first two novels and the style of just showing some places, presenting the inhabitants, harvesting some laughs, planting McGuffins´and Chekhovs´for the further parts, and continuing the introduction trip without looking back is something modern fantasy is not used to anymore. Today there are more fast cuts between perspectives, always cliffhangery, well plotted, suspenseful, retrospectives,… in modern writing that is far less exhausting to read and difficult to follow than this classic series, one of the reasons some might find Pratchett hard to read.

I don´t know if there are many people who may be able to find all the innuendos, connotations, and subtilities hidden in the Discworld, as one would have to have immense knowledge about so many different fields to fully enjoy each treasure hidden by this literary prodigy.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph…

This one is added to all Pratchettian reviews:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheibe…
The idea of the dissected motifs rocks, highlighting the main real world inspirational elements of fiction and satire is something usually done with so called higher literature, but a much more interesting field in readable literature, as it offers the joy of reading, subtle criticism, and feeling smart all together. …more