The Light Fantastic (1986)
The Light Fantastic is a 1986 fiction book written by Terry Pratchett.
A malevolent red star swells in the Discworld sky, and the one spell that might save everything is lodged in the head of Rincewind, the least competent wizard alive. Still saddled with the tourist Twoflower and the murderously loyal Luggage, he stumbles through a country of trolls, druids who run standing stones like computers, and the ancient barbarian hero Cohen, who is eighty-seven and still swinging a sword. The wizards of Unseen University want their spell back before the world ends without it. Pratchett's second Discworld novel steadies the wobble of the first, sharpening the jokes and warming the parody.
Quick answers
What is The Light Fantastic about?
A malevolent red star swells in the Discworld sky, and the one spell that might save everything is lodged in the head of Rincewind, the least competent wizard alive. Still saddled with the tourist Twoflower and the murderously loyal Luggage, he stumbles through a country of trolls, druids who run standing stones like computers, and the ancient barbarian hero Cohen, who is eighty-seven and still swinging a sword. The wizards of Unseen University want their spell back before the world ends without it. Pratchett's second Discworld novel steadies the wobble of the first, sharpening the jokes and warming the parody.
When was The Light Fantastic published?
The Light Fantastic was published in 1986.
Who made The Light Fantastic?
The Light Fantastic was written by Terry Pratchett.
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Explore The Light Fantastic guides
The Light Fantastic in our writing
- Companion guide: Discworld: The Complete Guide to Terry Pratchett's Flat Planet
- Companion guide: Wizards & Magic Schools
A few thoughts on The Light Fantastic
Rincewind's ongoing bad luck plays beautifully in the 1995 adventure game Discworld, where you get to steer the coward yourself. Monty Python and the Holy Grail shares the reckless medieval slapstick, and the 1981 BBC Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy offers a kindred hero fleeing a universe out to get him.
Fantasy comedy where a huge threat looms and nobody quite panics enough
The Light Fantastic has a red star bearing down on the Disc, and Pratchett treats the end of the world as an excuse for a joke instead of dread. These share that same nerve, a beloved home or an entire planet under real threat, handled with more wit than doom, whether a hitchhiker watching Earth get demolished or a wizard failing spectacularly at his one job.
The heroic fantasy quest tropes Discworld can't stop teasing
Rincewind spends The Light Fantastic dragged toward a wizards' tower to save the world, tripping over every convention of the genre along the way. These play the same quest structure, chosen heroes, ancient prophecies, sprawling kingdoms in peril, completely straight, which is exactly the furniture Pratchett is rearranging for laughs.