The Light Fantastic is the second Discworld novel and sees the return of Rincewind and Twoflower, Discworld’s first tourist. The story starts where The Colour of Magic left off. Rincewind has fallen off the edge of Discworld, wearing a spacesuit without a helmet. Twoflower has fallen off the edge of Discworld in a spaceship designed by people with no knowledge of space. The Luggage has fallen off the edge of Discworld in an attempt to rejoin Twoflower. Suddenly Rincewind finds himself in an enchanted forest, complete with talking trees. There he is joined by Twoflower and the Luggage. Rincewind’s life was saved courtesy of the Octavo in the Unseen University. We never know why Twoflower joined him. The Luggage was there because it goes where Twoflower goes.
It’s hard to describe what’s going on without revealing the story. So I’ll just say that a lot of people try to catch Rincewind, a red star is approaching Discworld and Rincewind is eventually freed of the spell that’s been stuck in his brain for years.
Towards the end The Light Fantastic gets a bit more serious than The Colour of Magic. It’s still not a serious book, though. Terry Pratchett’s wit and humour are very much in evidence. The structure of the book is a bit odd, though. The Colour of Magic was in four sections, either very long chapters or a series of short stories or novellas that were linked. The Light Fantastic has no chapters. There’s a blank line between sections, showing that the location and/or people have changed. Other than that, there are no breaks in the book, which makes it hard to find a suitable place to stop. Or maybe Terry Pratchett was giving you a reason to read the whole book without stopping. I didn’t need a reason, the book is that good.
