This comedic fantasy novel is set in a fictional world called Discworld, which is described as a flat surface world on top of a giant turtle which is supported by four giant elephants roaming through the universe. The sex of the turtle is unknown, which will prove quite an important factor in the protagonists’ adventures later.
The main protagonist is an unsuccessful wizard called Rincewind, who stumbles upon a tourist called Twoflower in a tavern in a town called Ankh-Morpork. Twoflower is an extremely naive and unaware character, coming from a place where gold is not a rarity, not realizing that he could easily become a target in Ankh-Morpork. Twoflower is followed by luggage with hundreds of legs and is an aware entity of its own. At first, Rincewind doesn’t want to be entangled with Twoflower, but then gets ordered by the town’s authority to protect him. That is how their adventure begins, with Death trailing closely behind Rincewind.
As expected, Twoflower gets kidnapped, which ends with a huge fire that burnt down Ankh-Morkpork, with the two heroes barely escaping. Speaking of heroes, the two convince an actual hero to accompany and protect them called Hrun, which in turn makes them a target of a dragon lady called Liessa, who wants Hrun as an ignorant husband to help her rule as her father’s successor.
The novel is broken up with parts showing that the adventures of Rincewind and Twoflower are actually are a betting game between the gods of the Discworld. Barely escaping the dragon lady, the two protagonists end up at the edge of the Discworld called Circumfence. They end up being rescued by a sea troll called Tethis, but the people of Krull, who are guarding the Circumfence, capture them despite it.
At the island of Krull they are told that they will be sacrificed. Rincewind suddenly hears a voice, which turns out to be a female god, whose name shall not be named because it will make her disappear. They simply refer to her as Lady. She gives them a push towards escape.
They discover that the people of Krull want to find out the sex of the Great A’Tuin, the giant turtle, so that they can be prepared for collisions with other worlds. Rincewind and Twoflower are intended for that purpose, and the story reveals that the god of Fate ordered it. They manage to steal and get aboard a ship to get over the edge, but in the final moment Rincewind falls off.
Rincewind wakes up on a tree branch, with a cloaked figure above him pretending to be Death, but it’s actually a demon sent by Death to kill him. At the moment he is about to be killed, the branch breaks and Rincewind prepares to fall off the edge.
