This book was my first introduction to Discworld, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The only Terry Pratchett I'd read previously was Nation, and I didn't much care for it. As I opened the graphic novel, and saw the turtle flying through space with a flat mirror on its back, I thought Discworld suddenly looked much more promising. (What? I like Asian mythology.)

The Discworld graphic novel covers the stories The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, the first two Discworld books written. I have to admit, they're pretty funny. I just love the idea of a sci-fi tourist. Twoflower is awesome. I just love the idea of this little Japanese tourist guy (regardless of how he comes across in the novels, the artists who did the graphic novel depict him as a camera-bearing, bermuda-shorts-wearing Japanese tourist) wandering around the most dangerous areas of a magical world, and looking at it from the POV of "How quaint! Wow, genuing XXX architecture!" It's just so...cute. And oh-so-funny. Luggage was just awesome, too.

The art's pretty good. I mean, it's pretty obvious the art's not from the past ten-fifteen years - we've evolved too deeply into digital-coloring for that - but it's nice. Reminds me a bit of P. Craig Russell.

This was a nice, painless way to dip my toe into the Discworld cauldron. Thanks to these comics and a list of books from one of my readers over at Fashionista Piranha I feel ready to take the plunge into more Discworld. ( )

I'm honestly a little surprised how well some of the original jokes transferred into a visual medium. ( )

A little confusing at first, I found myself getting wrapped up in the world of Terry Pratchett's - two books combined and made into graphic novels. I really want to read the novels now that I've enjoyed the colorful graphic novel. The plot was great, the characters hilarious, and the images great. ( )

These were nicely done. That artists caught the "four-eyes" effect of Twoflower's glasses and drew The Patrician as the Lord Vetinari we have come to know and love, instead of the stranger in the original text. I have not read the books in years but the stories fit with my memories of them. ( )

This volume brings together the graphic novel adaptations of the first two discworld books into a single hardback. It's not a bad adaptation, but after having had my own vision of Death, Rincewind, Twoflower, The Luggage and all the other characters, no doubt influenced by Paul Kidby's cover illustrations, it was jarring to see Steven Ross's interpretations of those same folks.

A graphic novel does do an interesting job of visualizing the discworld, but at the same time it does the two novels a disservice. So much of Pratchett's strength is in the style of his writing - the wit, the puns, the detailed dialog. None of which translates well to the graphic novel. Too much has to be cut to make room for all the illustrations and fit in the little dialog bubbles.

If you want a beautifully illustrated discworld novel, check out The Last Hero instead. None of Pratchett's story is sacrificed for Kidby's illustrations, and vice versa. Otherwise this edition is probably only for the completist. ( )

http://www.piruett.se/2008/06/29/varn... ( )

The graphic novel version of Terry Pratchett's first two novels is an interesting addition to the Discworld collection, however, it doesn't fully do justice to the books. Too many of Pratchett's great quips are left out - in the comic, character dialogue moves the story - but in the books, character thoughts and narrator commentary tend to be the best parts. Granted, the two books this graphic novel covers are his earliest works, so I don't think his form was in top shape anyway, but they are better than the graphic novel version. However, it's enjoyable to see the new perspective the illustrations bring to Discworld. I do prefer my mind's version of Discworld, and the art isn't quite my style, but it's fun nonetheless. ( )

Oh dear, did I ever want this to be better. I love Discworld. I love graphic novels. But the experience was less "you got your chocolate in my peanut butter" than it was "who ordered the chocolate cake pizza?"

The Colour of Magic especially suffered from clunky, static art and had an amateur fan-fiction feel to it. The art in The Light Fantastic was somewhat improved. Both halves, however, suffered from the assumption that anyone reading this graphic novel had already read the original, and would be able to fill in the large gaps in story and characterization in their heads.

Don't let the glossy cover fool you. Unless you are a Pratchett completionist, this set adds little to your collection, and adds nothing to the characterizations of Rincewind, Twoflower, and Discworld. ( )