Metaphorosis Reviews
Written on Oct 24, 2024
Summary
Discworld is, perforce, headed for a dangerous red star, because that's where A'Tuin wants to go, and where he goes, the world goes. The only way to escape depends on the seven spells in the Octavo and the one in failed magician Rincewind's mind. But Rincewind is missing, and the world's greatest wizard are having a tough time finding him.
Review
Unlike the episodic The Colour of Magic, this is a full-fledged novel, and Pratchett is settling firmly into his Discworld theme. Unfortunately, being more cohesive doesn’t necessarily mean a better story.
Pratchett has settled into his Discworld approach here – similar to the first book. However, the action still often seems on the random side – more like tightly linked episodes enmeshed in a single narrative than a true single arc. There is an overall arc, but frankly I often lost track of it, and it was only really important at the end – an ending that frankly doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
It’s still quite funny, but I wasn’t as taken with this volume as much as on my first read, decades back.