7/10
An enjoyable Discworld story
4 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers
This Discworld story follows Rincewind, a student wizard who is expelled from the Unseen University for failing to reach the first level of wizardry after forty years of study, and Twoflower, the Discworld's first tourist. The pair meet the Broken Drum tavern where Twoflower's large trunk full of gold coins has attracted more than a little attention. Rincewind agrees to show Twoflower the sites but does a runner after being paid… however a few words from the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork explaining that he is to ensure Twoflower has a good time and returns to his homeland with a good impression of the city he returns. It isn't long before the two of them get involved in a series of adventures that will lead them to have encounters with dragons, a troll and even discover what is over the edge of the disc amongst other things. While all this is going on we see the politics of the Unseen University at work as the devious wizard Ymper Trymon murders his way to the top then seeks the ultimate power of learning the eight powerful spells in the 'Octavo'… there is just one problem; one of the spells is in the head of Rincewind.

I have read a few Discworld novels but not 'The Colour of Magic' or 'The Light Fantastic' on which this is based. I thought this adaption nicely captured Terry Pratchett's Discworld even if the relatively low budget does show at times. Since it is based on the first two books one doesn't need to be familiar with the Discworld as things are nicely explained. The story is an enjoyable adventure that can be enjoyed by all ages as the scary bits are more comic than frightening and there is no crudeness to the humour. The cast do a solid job; David Jason is likable as Rincewind, Sean Astin nicely captures the stereotype of a slightly annoying but harmless foreign tourist who wants to see all the sights and Tim Curry delightfully hams it up as the villainous Trymon. Overall I found this to be enjoyable; I hope we'll get more adaptions of Disc World novels… hopefully based on the activities of the Night Watch.
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