Douglas Adam's potency as a satirical/humor writer of science fiction novels (read: Hitchhiker's series) could be attributed to the mainstream understanding of science fiction as a genre. Because of films like Star Wars and others which permeated the consciousness of the American popular arts, Douglas Adams' works of humor captivated a higher level of social experience than had he written a mystery novel. But since the fantastic success of Lord of the Rings and the proliferation of so many knock-offs, I have to ask if the world is now ready for Terry Pratchett?
Terry Pratchett's first novel in the Discworld series has its own unique approach to the non-sequitur-esque genre so well defined by Douglas Adams. In The Color of Magic I was introduced to the confusing experience of living in Discworld and had several laughs along the way. Genuine laughs, not cheap forced chuckles. I am definitely looking forward to the rest of this series, especially to see if Pratchett is able to pull off some sense of coherency in a book series which does not follow any specific character, but only involves some of the similar characters in the world. I know that for Bujold's Chalion series, it was too jarring to pick up one book right after another because they didn't tell a coherent story.
But I've heard other books in the Discworld series are better than Color. So I'm excited.
Update: Sourcery is just as good as Color, as is The Light Fantastic. I told rebecca that you possibly could read any of these books without reading the first, but I'm not sure now that I think about it. Unfortunately, although these stories aren't intrinsically connected, only Light introduces the world to someone outside of the Discworld experience. But all good books. I have a hard time deciding which one I liked the best, but it's probably a close tie between Sourcery and Light - both had me rolling in laughter and unable to put the book down.
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