The Light Fantastic (by Terry Pratchett)

(Amazon UK link)

Although we have most of the Discworld series, I've only read most of them once. They're not my usual kind of genre, since I prefer character-led family books, but I've thoroughly enjoyed reading Terry Pratchett's books aloud to my sons in recent years, and decided I'd gradually re-read the books, in order.

So I began with The Colour of Magic, a couple of months ago, and in the last few days have read The Light Fantastic, which is the second book in the series. It's actually a direct sequel of 'The Colour of Magic, which ended with Rincewind the incompetent wizard, and Twoflower the enthusiastic and literal-minded tourist, about the drop off the edge of the Discworld.

The basic plot is that (a) the Disc is travelling rather fast towards a huge red star (2) Rincewind has, lodged in his mind, one of the great spells that needs to be said in times of danger. So the wizards in Ankh-Morpork want to find Rincewind, and he wants to return home anyway. Cohen the barbarian, who appears in later Discworld stories, is introduced in this book and takes a significant part in Rincewind's survival.

The story takes many twists and turns, with some excitement and plenty of light humour, including some unexpected one-liners that actually made me laugh (or at least chuckle) out loud. It's not as brilliant as some of Pratchett's later books, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

Recommended, but best read after The Colour of Magic.