Paperback, 270 pages
French language
Published Nov. 2, 1993 by L’Atalante.
« Vous auriez de très jolis pieds si vous en preniez soin, dit la vierge Bethan. — Ch’est bien aimable à toi, répondit Cohen le Barbare. Mais des pédicures j’en rencontre pas chouvent dans ma profechion. » Octogénaire, borgne, chauve, édenté, Cohen, le plus grand héros de tous les temps réussira-t-il à tirer Deuxfleurs et Rincevent des griffes de leurs poursuivants ? Car une étoile rouge menace de percuter le Disque-monde, dont la survie repose sur le sorcier calamiteux : dans son esprit brumeux se tapit le Huitième Sortilège... Avec une distribution prestigieuse dans les seconds rôles : le Bagage, l’In-Octavo, Herrena la Harpie, Kwartz le troll, Trymon l’enchanteur maléfique et, naturellement LA Mort. Une aventure fantastique sans précédent. Ou peut-être une gigantesque fumisterie, plus encore que La Huitième Couleur.
You can tell that Pratchett was still figuring out his worries but some parts like Death were taking shape already. Death, in the first book, was quite adversarial to Rincewind. In this one, his personality was developing into the Death we know now.
I think the Disc world books don't fully get going until they move away from the Wizards focused boos. This one is a fun read and a good conclusion to the first book.
This is a very good ending to The Colour of Magic, injecting some plot and a lot of energy. I feel focusing the parody of other fantasy novels on the character of Cohen the Barbarian gives this second part a lot more focus and I'm tempted to rate it a little higher. It's a solid book and good fun but you do have to trek through some of the less exciting bits of The Colour of Magic and this book to get there.
I love this opening quote:
The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn’t sure it was worth all the effort.
This was a brilliant read. Really enjoyed it.
Where I felt the first one to be perhaps a little disjointed - lots of fun little scenes but maybe a bit less in the way of compelling overall narrative - this one is so much better.
I'm aware that Sir Terry recommended people ignore the first two books in the reading order, and whilst I can see why he may have said that about the first one, this one is very much worth reading.
It's funny, heartwarming, interesting; the main story is compelling and well-paced; there's plenty of sharp observations on humanity. His talent only develops upwards from here, of course, but the improvement between the first and second books is remarkable.
It's also got some incredible punes in it.
I love this opening quote:
The sun rose slowly, as if it wasn’t sure it was worth all the effort.
This was a brilliant read. Really enjoyed it.
Where I felt the first one to be perhaps a little disjointed - lots of fun little scenes but maybe a bit less in the way of compelling overall narrative - this one is so much better.
I'm aware that Sir Terry recommended people ignore the first two books in the reading order, and whilst I can see why he may have said that about the first one, this one is very much worth reading.
It's funny, heartwarming, interesting; the main story is compelling and well-paced; there's plenty of sharp observations on humanity. His talent only develops upwards from here, of course, but the improvement between the first and second books is remarkable.
It's also got some incredible punes in it.
I’ve decided to read Discworld in release order, and I am sticking to that decision, but it’s interesting to see statements from fans in the vein of “oh yeah, the early books aren’t that good” when I’m already having a great time reading these. It kind of feels like when I was recommended Bojack Horseman but with the caveat that “the first season isn’t as good as the rest.” The first season was still great! But that statement was accurate. The rest blew the first season out of the water. Which, to get back to Discworld, raises my expectations. If this is one of the “not that good” books, then what do I have waiting for me?
All of that said, I can already see what those fans mean - this volume and the previous feel more like parodies of the adventure fantasy genre than anything else. It’s good-natured ribbing …
This feels coherent and raises the serious topics such as that one of fascism and fanaticism which are so often treated by Pratchett. Lovely parting with Twoflower and amazing outro. Hooked me hard on the wizards stories.
Hunting around for something for the kid to read and found the Pratchett's that I own. Time to revisit for a thoroughly enjoyable lighthearted romp
An improvement on "The Colour of Magic", but still not what I would come to expect from the series. The climax falls a little flat to me. A fun adventure nonetheless.
Druhý díl je skutečně lepší jak ten první. Příběh už není rozkouskovaný a konečně začíná získávat směr. Ačkoliv mám pocit, že to nejlepší není až tak příběh samotný jako vykreslení jednotlivých postav. A to až do takové šířky, že člověk miluje i tu nejposlednější nejvedlejší postavu, o kterou hrdina jen zavadil okem.
This follows the continuing adventures of Rincewind and Twoflower. Unfortunately I still can’t stand either one of them and the tone of the quips feels off. The pacing was better than THE COLOR OF MAGIC, but this one was a miss for me.
This was an absolute blast to read after The Colour of Magic. It's still nuts and kind of all over the place. But I was prepared for that and damn was it fun.
Wonderful written
The early Discworld stuff I enjoy less than the later, but it's still darn good.
Quite a lot of fun, and this one I hadn't read before!
More focused than the previous book, but still pretty slapdash. Some of the jokes were overly on-the-nose, but the overall experience was fun.
