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The Colour of Magic

Discworld, Book 1

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The Colour of Magic

Written by: Terry Pratchett
Narrated by: Colin Morgan, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy
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About this listen

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
Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Humorous Magic Fiction Comedy Magic Users Funny Wizardry

What listeners say about The Colour of Magic

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Sir Terry would be proud

Great performance by Colin Morgan. Different voices for each character which made it wavy to tell who was speaking. Got Rincewind’s petulant defiance down!

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Absolutely amazing!

I absolutely adored listening to this! The voices that the narration uses for each character are phenomenal! A wonderful ride!!

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great book!

Loved the book but the ending left me a bit confused!
What happened to Twoflower? And did not understand what happened to Rincewood? It kind of left you hanging. I suppose the next book will explain it

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1 person found this helpful

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A fun start to an excellent series

I'm aware of the general opinion of the first few books being subpar to the rest, but I genuinely like them. They definitely rate in the top half of my personal Discworld ranking. Yes, it feels like several short stories linked together, and yes, most of my favourite recurring characters haven't arrived yet (apart from Rincewind who I love); but this ends up being a really great primer for all of the different directions the series takes you. The trademark humor and insight that sometimes sneaks up on you is already there. It's a great book on its own, and you know (from experience or reputation) that it keeps getting better.
Even if you're not into "fantasy" novels I recommend giving it a shot. It's not your traditional fantasy. The fantasy setting allows for more interesting ways to tell some very grounded stories with very real-world applications.
It's less of a window into another world as it is a stained glass reflection of our own.
I only take 1 star away from performance for the voice of Rincewind. So many depictions put on a goofy weasely voice or make him sound like an old man, when he's really only in his early 30's at the beginning of the series. He's described as bringing to mind the words rat-like when you look at him, but that doesn't mean he sounds like one. He's sarcastic and apathetic (at first), if anything he should have the voice of any random Gen Xer you might run into. If anyone on the disc has a "normal", unexagerated/uncartoonish voice - it's Rincewind.

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Great book.

It’s a great book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Terry Pratchet. The magic was colourful.

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Awful Performance—Give Me Back Nigel Planer!

I could not get past the narrator's performance. Yes, it's got a bunch of big names and it's all fantastic sounding, but at the end of the day, I want an audiobook not a play or dramatization of the book. I found it jarring and distracting, especially when the cadence of the narration would change suddenly from one performer or when the main narrator would speed up and slow down every other sentent. I also hated that they added a sound effect before asides were read by a different person. Also, I hated the voices they gave to certain characters. I still have no idea what the story is about because I find myself unable to focus on anything. Unbearable at 1x speed. 2x is almost tolerable but doesn't fix everything.

Suffice it to say, I will not be buy anymore of this version of the Discworld. I miss the Nigel Planer editions so much. I can't believe Audible got rid of them because I would buy the entire collection in a heartbeat, especially after enduring this butchery. Honestly, the Planer editions are available elsewhere online, just go get those. They're brilliant. Hopefully they come back to Audible one day.

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Clever book

I find this narrator to be hard to understand, but I love this series

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