Terry Pratchett's The Colour Of Magic

Summary

Rincewind the Wizzard lives in the city of fair Ankh-Morpork, a metropolis placed atop the Discworld, a flat earth being carried through space on the backs of four giant elephants, who in turn rest on the back of an even more gigantic celestial turtle, the Great A''Tuin. A failed mage, Rincewind only wants to have a peaceful and unexciting life. So it is extremely unfortunate for him when he runs into the Discworld''s first tourist, Twoflower, come sightseeing to Ankh-Morpork from the fabled, and often believed to be mythical, Agatean Empire, accompanied by his homicidally sentient Luggage. As one of the few people able to communicate with Twoflower in a language the tourist understands, the extremely reluctant Rincewind finds himself forced to become Twoflower''s guide by Ankh-Morpork''s ruler, the Patrician, who fears the Agatean Emperor''s wrath should something untoward befall a citizen of that empire within the bounds of crime-ridden Ankh-Morpork. Unfortunately for the city, Twoflower works in inn sewers ants, and once he explains the concept of people agreeing to pay out if you make a bet with them that your business won''t burn down, he inspires the first attempt at insurance fraud on the Disc.