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Discworld Graphic Novels #2
Terry Pratchett's The Light Fantastic: The Graphic Novel
As it moves towards a seemingly inevitable collision with a malevolent red star, the Discworld has only one possible saviour. Unfortunately, this happens to be the singularly inept and cowardly wizard called Rincewind, who was last seen falling off the edge of the world...
THE FUNNIEST AND MOST UNORTHODOX FANTASY IN THIS OR ANY OTHER GALAXY
THE FUNNIEST AND MOST UNORTHODOX FANTASY IN THIS OR ANY OTHER GALAXY
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 10, 2021
I just can't take Cohen seriously without his beard. At least he looks better than in the original book cover.
December 4, 2025
This was a delight.
May 19, 2020
Many years ago.....early 1990s....I tried to read the first Discworld novel, (The Colour of Magic), I didnt manage it.....a year or 2 later, I happily read the graphic novel versions, followed by Mort (in normal book form).....I didnt properly manage to read the classic versions of the first 2 novels until I'd read 2 or 3 other Discworld novels.
Reading this in graphic novel form does lose some of Pratchett's wit and puns, and all the other little nuances to be found on every reread.
Reading this in graphic novel form does lose some of Pratchett's wit and puns, and all the other little nuances to be found on every reread.
January 7, 2022
This was the first Discworld Trade Paperback I ever bought, as such I am very very fond of it and I read it as a companion to the full novel The Light Fantastic which I had already read when I got it, I am perfectly capable of enjoying both, in their own ways, thank you very much.
Since it was copyrighted to Terry and Lyn Pratchett I assume it was put together under their direction I am guessing it is the way they wanted it. The artist, Steven Ross, I know nothing about and I have never seen anything else of his work; he seems to be an American who does Christian stuff, usually, which seems a weird fit for PTerry.
Now I love this trade, it captures so many of the highlights of this novel SO VERY well: It is my enduring mental image for Herrena the henna-haired harridan, for Bethan who objected to being rescued from sacrifice by Cohen, Rincewind and Twoflower and I can't imagine anyone doing one of THOSE shops better. The debate between wizards and heroes? Brilliant! Actually, I think I like it even better than the novel version. And the trolls - how good are those trolls?
In other ways it causes a bit of a double image in my mind. Twoflower's drawn image in these trades has pretty much formed my internal mental image of him. BUT. At times, the novel describes him a fair bit differently and I get mental strain trying to picture both images at once. Cohen the Barbarian even more so, because, good as the trade paperback image is, it does not have a beard and the beard makes sense, so it is hard to ignore.
Other elements seem to me to still be forming. Death himself for example in The Light Fantastic (as in The Colour of Magic) has clearly not really developed into his won full character, like we will soon see him in Mort and the rest of his series. Ysabell is completely and utterly wrong. In Mort she is chubby, childish and whiny but Ross has drawn her here with a supermodel figure and a fantastic posterior that is identical to Bethan-the-failed-virgin-sacrifice.
Anyway, I love and cherish my copy and it is the perfect companion volume to the full novel.
Since it was copyrighted to Terry and Lyn Pratchett I assume it was put together under their direction I am guessing it is the way they wanted it. The artist, Steven Ross, I know nothing about and I have never seen anything else of his work; he seems to be an American who does Christian stuff, usually, which seems a weird fit for PTerry.
Now I love this trade, it captures so many of the highlights of this novel SO VERY well: It is my enduring mental image for Herrena the henna-haired harridan, for Bethan who objected to being rescued from sacrifice by Cohen, Rincewind and Twoflower and I can't imagine anyone doing one of THOSE shops better. The debate between wizards and heroes? Brilliant! Actually, I think I like it even better than the novel version. And the trolls - how good are those trolls?
In other ways it causes a bit of a double image in my mind. Twoflower's drawn image in these trades has pretty much formed my internal mental image of him. BUT. At times, the novel describes him a fair bit differently and I get mental strain trying to picture both images at once. Cohen the Barbarian even more so, because, good as the trade paperback image is, it does not have a beard and the beard makes sense, so it is hard to ignore.
Other elements seem to me to still be forming. Death himself for example in The Light Fantastic (as in The Colour of Magic) has clearly not really developed into his won full character, like we will soon see him in Mort and the rest of his series. Ysabell is completely and utterly wrong. In Mort she is chubby, childish and whiny but Ross has drawn her here with a supermodel figure and a fantastic posterior that is identical to Bethan-the-failed-virgin-sacrifice.
Anyway, I love and cherish my copy and it is the perfect companion volume to the full novel.
December 14, 2019
Though I love the story, and find the illustrations fitting, I can't get over the fact that this graphic novel is bound so badly.
I bought this years ago, mind, but by day two, the pages already have gotten loose and so I very seldomly get to just flip through the thing without having to take great care.
Maybe it's gotten different since the decades, back when I bought it. Most likely so.
But it still irks me.
I bought this years ago, mind, but by day two, the pages already have gotten loose and so I very seldomly get to just flip through the thing without having to take great care.
Maybe it's gotten different since the decades, back when I bought it. Most likely so.
But it still irks me.
February 26, 2024
Read as a bind up of Colour Of Magic/Light Fantastic.
This was great fun, but I do wish that it had spent more time fleshing things out/not missing scenes, because it felt like things were missing. Still, a good time, but not as good as the original.
TW for violence, blood, threats of murder, nudity, religious themes.
This was great fun, but I do wish that it had spent more time fleshing things out/not missing scenes, because it felt like things were missing. Still, a good time, but not as good as the original.
TW for violence, blood, threats of murder, nudity, religious themes.
June 8, 2018
Comic adaptation of book
June 10, 2021
titular line:
p111: "This is the light that lies on the far side of darkness--the light fantastic!"
Cohen the Barbarian's got it all: allusion, gore, and old-age difficulties.
p111: "This is the light that lies on the far side of darkness--the light fantastic!"
Cohen the Barbarian's got it all: allusion, gore, and old-age difficulties.
September 29, 2022
As with the first of this series of graphic adaptation of the Discworld books, this is fun and pleasant. Like the reading equivalent of a comforting sitcom.
April 7, 2023
I like the illustrations and nostalgia factor is big for me, but I find the story telling to be lacking continuity and wits of the book. It is a great addition to discworld collection.
July 1, 2024
Preserves the spirit and the best jokes. Aces Cohen. The colours are great. Speeds through the narrative a bit quick, but that's the format, I guess.
December 20, 2024
2⭐️
The actual novel is great, don’t read this unless you’ve read the book and are just curious. Bad character designs, bad paneling and an overall bad adaptation.
The actual novel is great, don’t read this unless you’ve read the book and are just curious. Bad character designs, bad paneling and an overall bad adaptation.
May 11, 2026
significantly better than the color of magic graphic novel and kind of makes me want to reread the light fantastic
June 12, 2012
I want to try and review both this and The Colour of Magic: Graphic Novel independently from the actual novels, but I think being such a big fan of Terry Pratchett's books it is a bit of an impossibility to entirely split them away from each other.
Well talk about throwing Galder Weatherwax underneath the bus! I cannot believe that Granny will be happy with the substitution of Trymon. I understand that in graphic novel adaptations there is a need to not have too many extraneous characters, but I always felt that a lot of what I liked about the Discworld and The Light Fantastic is based around the politics within the Unseen University and that is lost by just subbing out the ambitious Trymon for Weatherwax. But oh well... I suppose they retained most of the heart of the story anyway.
This book suffers from the same issues as The Colour of Magic: Graphic Novel, mainly beautiful artwork suffering from the lack of Pratchett's witty asides and wider vision. The loss of the capitalisation of Death's vocals (well they are capitalised, but so is everyone else) loses a lot of what really makes Pratchett's Death who he is.
It's still not the Rincewind of my mind (that hasn't changed since the first book) but then as I said in that review, you can't really complain if people visualise characters differently to you.
An enjoyable diversion of a book, but please do NOT judge Terry Pratchett's entire Discworld series on these graphic novels, because they really are not a patch on the actual novels.
Well talk about throwing Galder Weatherwax underneath the bus! I cannot believe that Granny will be happy with the substitution of Trymon. I understand that in graphic novel adaptations there is a need to not have too many extraneous characters, but I always felt that a lot of what I liked about the Discworld and The Light Fantastic is based around the politics within the Unseen University and that is lost by just subbing out the ambitious Trymon for Weatherwax. But oh well... I suppose they retained most of the heart of the story anyway.
This book suffers from the same issues as The Colour of Magic: Graphic Novel, mainly beautiful artwork suffering from the lack of Pratchett's witty asides and wider vision. The loss of the capitalisation of Death's vocals (well they are capitalised, but so is everyone else) loses a lot of what really makes Pratchett's Death who he is.
It's still not the Rincewind of my mind (that hasn't changed since the first book) but then as I said in that review, you can't really complain if people visualise characters differently to you.
An enjoyable diversion of a book, but please do NOT judge Terry Pratchett's entire Discworld series on these graphic novels, because they really are not a patch on the actual novels.
Read
April 11, 2016The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic are perhaps my least favourite books in the Discworld universe. I just think Pratchett got better as he got going. But revisiting The Light Fantastic as a graphic novel was neat. It works well like that. Nice way of getting a repetition of the story. I think I might recommend reading both The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic as graphic novels for those not yet familiar with Discworld. After that introduction you can then jump into reading the rest of the many, many wonderful books.
August 7, 2014
You don't need me to tell you that Terry Pratchett is a master storyteller.
It brings beautiful visuals to an already successful novel with wonderful beloved characters who come to life more vibrantly through the graphic novel.
It's very much worth picking up and dedicating an afternoon of your time.
It brings beautiful visuals to an already successful novel with wonderful beloved characters who come to life more vibrantly through the graphic novel.
It's very much worth picking up and dedicating an afternoon of your time.
June 25, 2019
The Light Fantastic in this Graphic Novel edition by Terry Pratchett was a fun read!
I really like how Terry Pratchett created and introduced the Disc-world Universe and with all the fun characters like Death, the "First Tourist", Rincewind and the Rock Giants.
I will definitely read more of his Discworld Novels. It sounds very intriguing and like a lot of fun!
I really like how Terry Pratchett created and introduced the Disc-world Universe and with all the fun characters like Death, the "First Tourist", Rincewind and the Rock Giants.
I will definitely read more of his Discworld Novels. It sounds very intriguing and like a lot of fun!
Want to Read
June 14, 2011We also own the novel version: The Light Fantastic
July 24, 2012
Enjoyed the graphic twist on the conventional Terry P novel but prefer to imagine the characters in my head than have them all drawn out :)
May 27, 2013
Just not one of my favorites, even though it includes Death.
June 3, 2015
Good continuation of the previous book
August 15, 2015
Fun as Terry Pratchett always is. But I prefer a little more books over comics in this matter. The drawing style wasn´t maybe for me. But still very enjoyable.
May 18, 2015
Silly fun in the heroic, fantasy genre style.
June 14, 2015
I love these books.
March 26, 2017
40 of so books, different collections, some audio, it's pratchett, read and heard some as well, all. Dates wrong.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews