tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242881104481199413.post3668395063852869066..comments2012-09-05T18:04:29.554-07:00Comments on The S&W Bookclub: The Colour of Magic, by Terry PratchetttheEclecticHobbyisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381367099819317686noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242881104481199413.post-59300049027532861282012-09-05T18:04:29.554-07:002012-09-05T18:04:29.554-07:00Terry Pratchett's Discworld books did for the ...Terry Pratchett's Discworld books did for the fantasy genre what Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy did for science fiction -- skewered it mercilessly, yet ended up creating one of the more interesting alternative worlds in literature.<br /><br />His premise was to think of the most ridiculous improbable world imaginable: a flat world (a disc) that rotates on the backs of four giant elephants standing on the back of an even more gigantic turtle flying through space. Even more improbably (?), a sun rotates around it.<br /><br />But once he created such a world, the pragmatist got the better of him. Such a world would not have north, south, east, or west, but instead hubward, rimward, turnwise and widdershins (anti-turnwise). With the rotation of the disc and the sun rotating around, each of the four seasons would happen twice. And just to be all the more peculiar, a year has 13 months and a week has 8 days (Octeday happening between Saturday and Sunday).<br /><br />Reading as the author creates, analyzes, then populates this world is a fascinating exercise in anthropology and geography, all while telling the story of the Discworld's very first tourist...<br /><br />...and it is damn funny as well.<br /><br />You can likely blame Barry for this selection, as he is the one who introduced me to these books. You can give him what-for when we visit in October for Kay's 70th.JDSwannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03394531344143678237noreply@blogger.com