Sourcery (Discworld)

I'm re-reading the Discworld series and each one gets better as I go along. Terry Pratchett has created such a rich tapestry of imaginative, witty, and humorous prose that I just can't stop reading them!

I recently discovered the Discworld series. Pratchett weaves wonderful tales of wizards, warriors, witches and magical critters. Satirical, twisted words and phrases, situations uncannily familiar to our everyday life and politics. The series is a must read. The man was a genius. I imagine him much like Rincewind!

A fairly early Pratchett and not one of his best although it's a fun read. It does provide some background for later stories. The character of Rincewind does not develop as well as some of the characters in his later works.

I have loved all of the Discworld novels that I've read. This one runs in the upper middle of the pack in terms of favorites. Good plot. You get to see a good portion of the Librarian and Death, two of my favorite characters. You cannot go wrong with any of them.

In a review, the reader tries to create a sense of the book; the task is to boil down the essence of the work and to summarize and give opinion about the quality of the object in a very subjective manner. I am making a project of finding that essence in the most constrained manner possible. Here, I present you with a haiku review. I hope you like the review and take under consideration a purchase of the work.

Some books you read so
fast you never break the spine.
I found this to be...

Let's face it, Terry Pratchett is a legend! The discworld novels let you laugh at the world as it is, while creating a completely fictional land. Such a complex world, yet Terry Pratchett makes you feel like you've been there. The characters are funny, and.....well, us!

The story is typical Pratchett: funny, inventive, and thoroughly entertaining. The Kindle format, however, is a hot mess. Disclaimer: I bought the Kindle edition a year ago and just recently got around to reading, and being annoyed, by it so it's possible that improvements have been made. Meanwhile I'm stuck with an edition where the italics go on for pages, the typos and misspellings are rife and, worst of all, the footnotes (a very important part of Pratchett's humor) appear at the end of the book instead of at the bottom of the 'page.' Possibly there's some way to access the correct footnote immediately but I don't know what it is. Waily, waily, waily. I'll try again with another Pratchett title and report back...

He never disappoints. Rincewind is my all-time favorite wizzard (Yes, I know. And if you read Pratchett, you know too.) I particularly loved the part when he actually gets to cast a couple spells in this one :) Ook!

Concerning the delights of wine, women, and song, wizards can drink and croon with the worst of us (thank the gods karaoke hasn’t been invented on Discworld), but the middle pleasure is strictly forbidden. This book deals with the consequences of two wizards mixing it up with the fairer sex.

The first wizard, Ipslore the Red fathers the eighth son of an eighth son, who is a wizard squared, i.e. a sourcerer. The Lore strictly forbids wizards to breed, for fear of sourcery, because the last time it appeared on Discworld, the Apocraplypse (Pratchett’s spelling) was narrowly averted. When Ipslore’s sourcerous (Pratchett’s spelling) son crashes through the gates of the Unseen University, even the gargoyles have sense enough to flee, although not the majority of the wizards.

The second wizard, Rincewind the Inept falls in love (as does his Luggage) with the daughter of a temple dancer for some mad god. She enters the narrative while breaking into the Unseen University and stealing the Archmage’s hat. Rincewind meets Conina while drinking himself under the table at Ankh-Morpork’s coolest tavern, the Mended Drum. He soon discovers, after the requisite bloody bar fight, that his new companion also happens to be the daughter of Cohen the Barbarian. Her secret dream is to become a hairdresser, but she has to work hard at controlling her reflexes when she has a sharp object, e.g. scissors, comb, or a broken bottle in her hand.

The Discworld novels starring the cowardly wizard, Rincewind were never my favorites, but “Sourcery” also features the Librarian (who happens to be an orangutan), and a whole horde of inept wizards who suddenly turn ept when the Sourcerer appears in their midst.

One of my favorite scenes occurs when a newly empowered wizard turns Ankh-Morpork’s Patrician into a small yellow lizard.

Naturally the wizards immediately go to war with each other to determine who is the most powerful. Only Rincewind, Conina, and Nijel the Destroyer, son of Harebut the Provision Merchant can save Discworld from their sourcerous folly.

With a little help from the Librarian.

Third in the Rincewind subseries revolving around Rincewind the Wizzard and fifth in the overall Discworld series. If you're interested, there is a chronological listing of the Discworld books on my website (http://kddidit.com/reading-books/series-info/chronological-lists-of-complex-intersected-series/#discworld).

My Take
Greed for power. It's a universal trope in the human race. And this eighth son of an eighth son is no exception. I suspect there's some brainwashing involved in this as well as this eighth son of an eighth son influences his own eighth son.

It's that third round of eighth sons that causes all the trouble because he's a "wizard squared. A source of magic. A sourcerer." It's also how Ipslore will get his vengeance against wizards for hating his humanity.

Pratchett continues to poke fun at the wizards at Unseen U, and I wonder what happened to him when he was at university. These wizards certainly sound like tenured professors too content and lazy now that they've finally achieved their security. "…work up an appetite for the evening's feast; about a dozen steps was usually considered quite sufficient" is only part of the fun.

It's choice and circumstance that enables the world to survive. Luggage has its part to play as does Rincewind and Conina and Nigel. I do love how well Pratchett engineered all this.

I am curious to know why Rincewind didn't end up being archchancellor after events in The Light Fantastic , 2.

Ooh, the bursar's robes sound pretty, right down to the vermine hood, a "skin [that] is rare and highly valued, especially by the vermine itself; the selfish little bastard will do anything rather than let go of it". The cheek.

This particular story has a focus on sex, and the fact that wizards weren't allowed any. The purpose has been lost in the mists of time *cue the eerie, lingering music*, but Coin's appearance provides the clue. That's right, mate, when wizards bump uglies too often, they have, gasp, children, and "if wizards are allowed to go around breeding all the time, there was a risk of sourcery".
"The trick relied on the laws of physics failing to spot the flaw until the journey was complete." … "There was the subtle, unpleasant sound of the universe suddenly catching on."

Hmm, while I do think it's practical to give things a good shaking up every few years (or centuries), I draw the line at book burning, although I did crack up at Rincewind's reaction to the book surgery.

Oh god, oh god, LMAO, the scene in which Conina, Nigel, and Creosote steal three of the four horses belong to the "horseman and [now] three pedestrians" of the Apocalypse.

Well, doesn't that one sound familiar? We wanted it, but when we got it, we discovered there were consequences.
"It isn't a good idea to rely on other people or things to … 'remember who you really are' … you see. They always get it wrong."
"Ook" for now.

The Story
It's Ipslore's vengeance coming of age that signals the beginning of the end. When the books in the library go wild. When ants, bedbugs carrying mattresses, rats, gargoyles are all fleeing the school.

Magic has returned to a world in which it had been waning, and now the wizards are going wild with actually being able to do magic. So wild, that they believe they can rule the city, nay, the world!

Fortunately, the greatest thief ever born is roaming the night and steals the Archchancellor's hat. She had to. The hat insisted.

The Characters
Rincewind is now the honorary librarian assistant at Unseen U. He still has Luggage, a chest that has been described as half-suitcase, half homicidal maniac and totally loyal to its owner.

Coin is the sourcerer who returns real magic to Discworld. Ipslore the Red is his vengeance-oriented staff, er, father, er, staff, er…

Conina is a thief, the "type of thief who could steal the initiative, the moment, and the words right out of your mouth". Cohen the Barbarian is her father. And Pratchett doesn't half have fun with Conina's "genetic inheritance".

Death refuses to allow absolute destiny, but he will get drunk along with Pestilence, Famine, and War. We'll have to keep that angle in mind next time the world is threatened with annihilation. It worked pretty well here…

Ankh-Morpork is…
…an ancient city "sprawling like a bag of dropped groceries" with an iridescent green river pungent with its own fetid aroma, which is ruled by the Patrician, Lord Vetinari — think Ernst Blofeld and his white cat — isn't particularly interested in rightful kings and all that rot. Wuffles is his geriatric wire-haired terrier.

Gritoller Mimpsey is vice-president of the Thieves' Guild. Ardrothy Longstaff is the purveyor of Pies Full of Personality. Whose personality, I really don't want to know. Miskin Koble runs a jellied starfish and clam stall.

Unseen University is…
…the premier school for learning about wizardry. There are eight levels a wizard can pass, providing someone on the level above him dies. Those assassination attempts certainly keep a wizard on his toes. There are also eight orders of magic including the Order of the Silver Star led by Skarmer Billias, the Sages of the Unknown Shadow is led by Gravie Derment, and Marmaric Carding who is the current head of the Hoodwinkers.

The Archchancellor Virrid Wayzgoose is the official leader of all the wizards on the Disc. The Librarian is still a wizard, somewhere under the orang-utan he's turned into. Spelter is the bursar. Ovin Hakardly is a seventh-level wizard and a lecturer in Lore. Benado Sconner is the temporary leader of the pack of wizards sent to burn down the Library.

Al Khali is…
…a desert city ruled over by Creosote, the Seriph of Al Khali and a very bad poet who spends most of his time in his Wilderness, a specially designed park designed to look wild. His palace is known as the Rhoxie. Abrim is his Grand Vizier with some rather grand ideas.

Nijel the Destroyer is a hero just getting started. He has the book and everything.

There's a genie in this one, we never do learn its name but we do learn how very overcommitted he is to making money, taking meetings, etc. Maligree was one of the last true sourcerers. Ly Tin Wheedle is the Disc's greatest philosopher. Blind Io is the leader of the gods; Offler is another god. Ice Giants appear when the gods disappear. They sound much worse than the snowman I had in my backyard this past winter.

The Cover and Title
The cover has a muted grass green background with a black vertical border on the left with wizard hats bouncing along it. In the center is a flying carpet and a whistling brass lamp steaming from both ends.

The title is all about this latest character, the ultimate wizard who specializes in Sourcery.

Once again the most inept wizard in reality must face the end of the world as Rincewind goes up against the first sourcerer on the Disc in millennia, who just happens to be 10 years old. Terry Pratchett takes Rincewind, along with the readers, on an epic quest to save the Disc and wizardry that will obviously have epic failures with hilarious results.

Along with Rincewind is Conina, daughter of Cohen the Barbarian, the greatest thief in on the Disc who wants to be a hairdresser and Nijel, an aspiring Barbarian hero. Along the way they encounter slave trading pirates, a villainous vizier, an aspiring poet emir, a magic carpet with lamp. For part of the journey Rincewind is accompanied by Luggage who gets annoyed and leaves to begin its own interesting journey in the desert of Khali before wanting to return to Rincewind's side. The situations and conversations that all the characters have are top notch hilarious throughout the book, save for the vignettes of the drunkenness of three of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse that dragged on a little too long.

Overall at the end of Sourcery, the reader has a smile on his face and can't wait to see how Pratchett hilariously gets Rincewind out of the predicament he's in and what Luggage will do next.

First, new readers of Discworld books should start with #1 and not here at #5. The concept of Discworld should be understood before this point along with a few of the characters, rather difficult to properly describe characters. Also, I shall continue reading the series and I'll probably not review any future books. If you are a fan, then you'll probably continue also and a review will have little or no impact. Also, I cannot even contemplate starting one of these unless it is an ebook. Pratchett uses obscure words and having an instant dictionary is a necessity to me. It definitely enhances the fun of the book.

Regardless, this is a good little story about Discworld and brings back Rincewind, a character I like and hope to see again in future books. He saves the world!! If you've read the others, I assess it to be not as good as Mort, but entertaining nonetheless.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld does for Fantasy what Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy did for science fiction--firmly sets a story within a genre, stereotypes intact, then goes to town. Sourcery is Pratchett's fifth Discworld adventure, and while I am a bit of a completist it stands on its own fairly well. Kind of. Because in this installment we catch up with Rincewind once more as he is forced onto yet another adventure against his will. For that alone I recommend reading The Colour Of Magic and The Light Fantastic before this one, but to each their own.

When we last saw Rincewind he had settled down in relative safety as the assistant librarian of Unseen University, the home of wizardry on the Disc. But even the University may no longer be safe.... The eighth son of an eighth son is destined to be a wizard; so much is common knowledge. But the eighth son of a wizard is something far more dangerous--a sourcerer, a conduit for raw and unstable new magic to enter the world. It has been eons since a sourcerer last walked the disc....wizards are celibate for this very reason, though they don't remember that this was the original purpose. But against all odds the Disc is once more faced with the prospect of a sourcerer.....and a return to the sheer chaos of the Mage Wars as once-staid wizards are for the first time faced with power beyond their dreams. And that's leaving aside all the discussion of the Apocralypse.....

No, that title isn't a misspelling. It's one of Pratchett's plays on words that he's so fond of. Because in this book - which was the fifth Discworld novel- sourcery is when magic goes beyond wizardry and taps into the very source of magic- raw power that ordinary wizards can't touch.

`Sourcery' takes on sword and sorcery fantasies, taking satirical swipes at pretty much all the big ones- Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Fantasia, The Tempest, Conan the Barbarian, 1001 Nights, Fafhrd and Grey Mouser- with a few bits from Omar Khayyam, Kublai Khan and Casablanca along the way. But unlike many satires, this is also a great story.

When the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son is born, he is not just a wizard but a sourcerer. His father, who was fated to die shortly after the child's birth, tricks Death by becoming a part of the wizard's staff he gives to his infant son, which allows him to control his son and the power he wields. Father isn't completely sane, and his aim is to destroy the Unseen University and its wizards- and the world. He puts this action into motion when the boy is 10, thinking it's going to be an easy thing. But he hasn't counted on the inept wizard Rincewind and his sentient pearwood Luggage, the Unseen University's orangutan librarian, a wizard's hat, the daughter of Cohen the Barbarian's daughter, a would be adventurer who is learning adventuring from a book, and a genie who doesn't follow the usual genie pattern.

While all these characters are funny, not one of them is flat or there just for a single joke. They are all interesting people who have backstory and dimension, people who we come to care about. And while the events of the prospective end of the world happen in a ridiculous fashion, the threat and danger is real. It's not an easy task to make a satire that incorporates these things. One of my favorite Discworld novels so far- other than the Tiffany Aching ones, of course.

The Discworld, being a flat world that is carried through space on the backs of four elephants, who in turn are standing - rather patiently, I think - on the back of a great turtle, is, understandably, a world awash in magic. There are magical creatures on the Disc - trolls and dwarfs and elves - and people who know how to use the magic that infuses the world. People like wizards.

If you want to be a wizard, there are ways to get there. The best thing you can do is to be the eighth son of an eighth son - that type is almost certainly destined for the more arcane arts. Once you've become a wizard, you dedicate yourself to one thing: magic. And late lunches, comfortable robes and your pointy hat, but mainly to magic. Wizards don't marry. Wizards certainly don't have children.

Except for one wizard. Ipsalore the Red, the eighth son of an eighth son, broke this law of wizardry. He fell in love, ran away from the University, and had sons of his own. Eight of them. His youngest son, Coin, was the carrier of a great power. He was the eighth son of the eighth son of an eighth son. Wizardry squared.

A Sourcerer.

Back in the old days, when the magic on the disc was much wilder, there were sourcerers everywhere. They built great castles and fought horrible wars of magic, the effects of which still scar the Disc to this day. Modern wizardry is a pale reflection of those days, and for good reason. If wizards continued to battle as the sourcerers did, the disc would be broken beyond recognition. Every wizard knows this.

And yet, when young Coin comes to the Unseen University of Ankh-Morpork, bristling with power and holding a staff possessed by the ghost of his father, the wizards are more interested in the power he can give them than the responsibility they have. A sourcerer has arisen, and a new age of magic has come, with all of the terror that implies. Coin reminds them of what wizards used to be, and the power they used to have. Through him, old men who could barely manage a simple illusion are now able to re-shape the world with their wills. With a sourcerer behind them, there is nothing these wizards cannot accomplish.

Only one man can stop them. His name is Rincewind, and he really, really doesn't want to get involved.

Rincewind is a wizard (or, if you go by his pointy hat, a "Wizzard"), although he is so deficient in magical talent that it is believed that the average magical ability of the human population will actually goup once he dies. He wants nothing more than to be left alone to live a boring, mundane life. The universe, it seems, has different ideas. Together with Conina - the daughter of Cohen the Barbarian - and Nijel the Destroyer, Rincewind has to figure out how to stop a sourcerer from destroying the world.

This book is one of the early volumes of the Discworld series, and so it doesn't quite have the depth that later books do. Oh, there's certainly a message to be found in it - mainly on the subject of identity. Rincewind identifies himself as a wizard, despite having all the magical talent of a lump of silly putty, and cannot conceive of being anything else. The sourcerer Coin, on the other hand, has been told who he is to become, mainly by the spirit of his dead (and rather monomaniacal) father. Conina has the blood of heroes in her veins, but her dream is to wield nothing sharper than a pair of beautician's scissors. And Nijel the Destroyer - who looks almost exactly the way his name sounds - desperately wants to be a barbarian hero, despite being about as muscular as a wet noodle.

Despite all of this, however, the characters succeed when they decide for themselves who they want to be. The ones who suffer the most are the other wizards - the ones who allow Coin to tell them who they are. They invest their entire sense of self in the inflated image fed to them by the sourcerer - an image of power and strength - and when it all comes crashing down around them, they are only left with shame and disappointment. In the end, the remain who they always were, and that is the tragedy of their downfall.

So if there's a lesson to be had in this book, that's it: know who you are and be it, as hard and as loud as you can. Other than that, it's a rollicking little adventure. Enjoy.

The wizards of didn't know what was started when they banished Ipslore the Red from Unseen University. Because Ipslore fell in love, he was not allowed anymore to enter the university as the risk of creating a dreaded sourcerer became too high. Indeed, when the eighth son of an eighth son, commonly known as a wizard, gets an eight son, that descendant will automatically be a sourcerer. And no one wants that, no way? Sadly for the wizards, that is exactly what Ipslore had in mind as revenge. He would nurture his eighth son and let him become Archchancellor of Unseen University. He succeeds in his plan, apart from one small detail: Iplsore dies. His son Coin will have to fend for himself. Which he does. With a vengeance.

With Sourcery Terry Pratchett has delivered a decent and fun episode of the Discworld series. This time the focus lies on the Unseen University and one of the all-time favourite characters Rincewind. Our anti-hero is accompanied by a colourful ensemble: the Luggage, the Librarian, Nijel the Destroyer and Conina the Hairdresser, daughter of Cohen the Barbarian. The plot is rather standard for a Discworld novel and the humor is more subdued than the more exuberant stories have showcased. Not to say that it lacks originality, but it certainly does not excel in it. Nevertheless, it still succeeds in tickling the funny bone and is a must read for the fans of the wizard-series.

One of the great things about the Discworld novels at this point in the series (SOURCERY is the fifth book) is that the increasingly rich group of supporting characters that populate Terry Pratchett's insane universe make good stories even better. Rincewind is the main character in three of the first five novels (as well as making a brief appearance in MORT). He would not continue to be the main character in the Discworld novels, but he definitely helped hold up the series early on. The conceit of having a wizard who has virtually no magical abilities is a delicious one, as is his status as a survivor's survivor. With other returning characters like Death, the librarian (Oook), and the luggage made of sapient pearwood, along with the daughter of and the disciple of a previous character, Cohen the Barbarian, a good time is had by all, especially the reader.

Honestly does anyone read Terry Pratchett for the story? I don't, at least. I read him for his absolutely nutty collection of characters, his delightfully weird inversion of ideas and concepts, and his wonderful word play. I rarely laugh when I read Pratchett. He isn't that kind of comic writer. I find myself smiling a lot. In fact, nearly the whole time that I read him. In short, he makes me happy.

This has been an interesting undertaking. I've read a bunch of novels in the series over the years, but not in order and omitting entire groups of books. For instance, I've not really read much in the wizards and the Unseen University. I've read all of the books dealing with the Watch along with a few other random odds and ends. All of the first five books are new for me. In fact, the first novel that I will reread will be GUARDS! GUARDS after a couple of more books. But I have enjoyed these first five books immensely and I already know that i love the ones to come. My only regret is that Pratchett's physical condition might prevent him from writing many more books in the series. We can hope for a miracle treatment that will enable him to maintain his creative faculties for the longest possible time. Nothing would be better than for him to continue writing books as long as he would like.

There was an eighth son of an eighth son who was, naturally, a wizard. But, for reasons too complicated to get into now, he also had seven sons. And then another one: a source of magic, a sourcerer. The Discworld hasn't seen a sourcerer for thousands of years, since the Mage Wars almost destroyed the world and caused an awful racket which annoyed the gods. Soon enough the re-energised wizards of the Disc are engaged in all-out warfare and the Apocralypse draws nigh (provided the Four Horsemen can get out of the pub in time). It falls to a wizard who doesn't know any spells, a box with lots of little legs, a mighty barbarian warrior of three days' experience, a timeshare genie and a homicidal hairdresser to save the day.

Sourcery sees the return of Rincewind and the Luggage as the Disc faces its greatest threat so far. Whilst previous books seemed to have end-of-the-world plots tacked on, this one embraces the concept to the fullest and is probably as 'epic' as the series ever gets. Fortunately, Pratchett seemed to get the end-of-the-world-is-nigh story out of his system with this book and whilst dire consequences would still abound in later books, things would never quite get as huge as this again.

Still, Pratchett has fun with the concept. Deep in the heart of every fantasy author is the burning desire to unleash a story with magical duels, vast magical towers exploding, evil grand viziers twirling their moustaches and unreconstructed, mighty-thewed barbarian warriors smiting legions of disposable extras with a broadsword so huge that it had to be forged from a gantry. There's some nice typically Pratchett twists on the concept though, and the humour is well-constructed throughout, particularly involving the Librarian who gets one of his biggest starring roles in the series. However, there are only a few new introductions to the Discworld mythos here, most notably Wuffles (an elderly dog).

As entertaining as it is, Sourcery is also a little bit obvious as a story, and as with Equal Rites it does feel that this story should have had much more long-lasting ramifications for the history of the Disc, even moreso given the epic scale of the novel. These problems can be borne for the strong characters, entertaining humour and the unexpectedly sad ending (which remains effective even when you know what happens in later books, particularly Eric).

Sourcery (***½) is a strong comic novel which showcases Pratchett's growing confidence and ability. It is available in the UK and USA right now.

Concerning the delights of wine, women, and song, wizards can drink and croon with the worst of us (thank the gods karaoke hasn't been invented on Discworld), but the middle pleasure is strictly forbidden. This book deals with the consequences of two wizards mixing it up with the fairer sex.

The first wizard, Ipslore the Red fathers the eighth son of an eighth son, who is a wizard squared, i.e. a sourcerer. The Lore strictly forbids wizards to breed, for fear of sourcery, because the last time it appeared on Discworld, the Apocraplypse (Pratchett's spelling) was narrowly averted. When Ipslore's sourcerous (Pratchett's spelling) son crashes through the gates of the Unseen University, even the gargoyles have sense enough to flee, although not the majority of the wizards.

The second wizard, Rincewind the Inept falls in love (as does his Luggage) with the daughter of a temple dancer for some mad god. She enters the narrative while breaking into the Unseen University and stealing the Archmage's hat. Rincewind meets Conina while drinking himself under the table at Ankh-Morpork's coolest tavern, the Mended Drum. He soon discovers, after the requisite bloody bar fight, that his new companion also happens to be the daughter of Cohen the Barbarian. Her secret dream is to become a hairdresser, but she has to work hard at controlling her reflexes when she has a sharp object, e.g. scissors, comb, or a broken bottle in her hand.

The Discworld novels starring the cowardly wizard, Rincewind were never my favorites, but "Sourcery" also features the Librarian (who happens to be an orangutan), and a whole horde of inept wizards who suddenly turn ept when the Sourcerer appears in their midst.

One of my favorite scenes occurs when a newly empowered wizard turns Ankh-Morpork's Patrician into a small yellow lizard.

Naturally the wizards immediately go to war with each other to determine who is the most powerful. Only Rincewind, Conina, and Nijel the Destroyer, son of Harebut the Provision Merchant can save Discworld from their sourcerous folly.

With a little help from the Librarian.

"Sourcery" is the fifth novel in Terry Pratchett's hugely popular Discworld series, was first published in 1988 and is the third to give a starring role to Rincewind, the cowardly one-spell wizard.

Wizardry is widely seen as the most appropriate profession for the eighth son of an eighth son - however, given that it's also a celibate profession, is isn't a job that is intended to run in the family. Unfortunately, accidents do occasionally happen and the eighth son of a wizard is known as a Soucerer - a wizard who is also a source of magic. They are hugely dangerous, and will increase the background levels of magic to such a degree that other wizards may just start building towers and launch another round of the Mage Wars...

Ipslore the Red is one of the exceptions : he fled the halls of the Unseen University, married and had a family. The inevitable eighth son, Coin, is only a baby when Death arrives for Ipslore and the ex-wizard decides to choose his son's destiny. The future he picks for Coin includes wearing the Archchancellor's Hat of the Unseen University and, in an attempt to cheat Death, Ipslore enters his staff when he leaves his body. His intention is to guide Coin to his destiny....

Coin is roughly ten years old when he makes it to the University, and isn't long in taking over. When he deals with two of the Wizards - including the incoming Archchancellor - in a swift and very final manner, the remaining members of staff are understandably reluctant to stand against him. However, two of the survivors - a rather devious pair called Spelter and Carding - smell an opportunity. In seeing themselves as Coin's most senior and trusted advisors, they don't realise that Ipslore already has that role to himself.

Coin's arrival isn't universally welcomed - the rats and the gargoyles are amongst the first to flee, while the books in the University's library are distinctly unsettled. Rincewind, now acting as the University's honourary assistant librarian, is the first member of staff to realise there's something strange happening and nips off to the pub in a panic with the Librarian (an orang-utan), and his Luggage. (Luggage is a large brass-bound box, made from sapient pearwood - the same material wizard's staff is traditionally made from. It can move around by itself, has rather a vicious temper and - like Dr Who's Tardis - appears to be much bigger on the inside than on the outside). While Rincewind has been lucky enough to avoid Coin at the University, he's unfortunate enough to be apprehended by Conina at the Mended Drum. Conina, a very successful thief, is the daughter of Cohen the Barbarian and has pilfered the Archchancellor's Hat from the University. In this case, however, she stole the hat at its own request. (It is a magic hat after all...and it has realised that Coin's arrival will signal the Apocralypse). Under the Hat's instructions, Rincewind and Conina travel to Klatch, where the Hat believes there is a mind devious enough to wear it...and stand against the Sourcerer.

As usual from Pratchett, this is an easily read, rather silly and very enjoyable book.

Terry Pratchett has become one of the most popular authors alive today and his popularity is richly deserved. But not even with his fertile mind could ever have envisaged the heights to which his Discworld series would rise. This book first published in 1982 is the start of the Discworld novels and to a degree it is amazing that these books have achieved such popularity.

You would think that a fantasy world full of trolls, zombies, witches, vampires would be an alien concept to most readers. Werewolves and dwarves in the Ank Morpork city watch. Wizards running a university. All this to come in future episodes. Surely this style of writing would have a limited readership? but no the books are loved by anybody and everybody and are read by people who would not normally allow fantasy fiction anywhere near their book shelves. This is the Discworld of Terry Pratchett.

Pratchett's wit and imagination are second to none. Who else would have or could have thought of the Discworld, a world of mystery and magic sitting on the back of four elephants, who in turn are standing on the back of the great turtle A'tuin the whole lot journeying through an eternal void. Are you with the plot so far?

In this book, first published in 1988 the Discworld has been brought to the edge of disaster. The birth of a sourcerer has created magic so powerful that the Discworld is teetering on the edge of a cataclysmic war. All that stands in the way is our old friend Rincewind, who would dearly love to save the world, or at the very least the part of it that he is currently residing in at any particular moment, if you see what I mean . . .

Pratchett's books are pure escapism and a laugh a minute guaranteed.

"I get vertigo just listening to tall stories," says the inept wizard Rincewind at one point. He'd have a serious Jimmy Stewart moment if he ever tried to make his way through this story. It's classic Pratchett and classic Discworld for sure. But not as well developed as the previous books in the series.
Pratchett concocts a menacing figure in Coin, the 9-year old eighth son of an eighth son (making him a sourcerer) who comes to Unseen University (where wizards learn their trade) in an attempt to rule the world. But Coin's magic, which we are to believe is all-powerful, comes off as little more than glorified parlour tricks. Not really menacing at all. Still, the sniveling cowards the make up the elite professors of the university are a treat to read about, and save most of those scenes.
Rincewind returns, after dominating "The Colour of Magic" and "The Light Fantastic" while making a brief cameo appearance in "Mort". Here, he has a history of unwanted adventures behind him, and Pratchett uses this world-weariness to give Rincewind a cool demeanor that he didn't have in the other books. Sure, he's still cynical and pessimistic and cowardly, but with a touch of the fatalist about him. Without that addition, the character would become stagnant and boring. Kudos to Terry for an inspired bit of tweaking. On the other hand, Rincewind's constant companion The Luggage is little more than window-dressing here. He (it?) doesn't really do much, except remind us of his (its?) finer moments in previous books. Joining these two Discworld staples on their adventure are Conina the Barbarian (remember her father Cohen from "The Light Fantastic"?), a warrior princess who'd rather be working in a salon; Nijel (the Destroyer son of Harebut the Provision Merchant if you please) who learned about being a hero from a book, and is on his first gig here; and Creosote, an ignorant sovereign who's more concerned with poetry and drink than ruling his kingdom. Also, watch out for the run-in with a lamp genie that sets new standards for parody, and the continuing development of the character of the Librarian, who gets to do much more than chomp bananas and say "Ook".
"Sourcery" is probably the weakest overall of the Discworld books I've read so far. That being said, it's still a fine and fun adventure filled with many humourous moments, and well worth the read.

This is about a sourcerer. They are the most powerful beings on the Discworld, even equal with the Gods. A sourcerer happens by a wizard having eight children. Then the eighth one has eight children, and then his eighth child is a sorcerer. Sourcerers aren't generally good news.

This time what had happened was that a wizard had eight sons. Ok, so that's fine. But then, his eighth son fled the University, married, and had eight sons. And the eighth son became a sourcerer.

This sorcerer, Coin, was an infant when Death came for Ipslore, his father. Ipslore was supposed to go with Death, at least. Death was pretty annoyed when the man died and put his spirit inside the staff. And Ipslore got away with it, for Death could only take him if he destroyed the staff, but then that would destroy Coin, for the staff became his. And if Death destroyed Coin, then that would damage the whole fabric of time.

So, one day, the wizards at the Unseen University were going to elect a Archchancellor, and Coin appeared, reduced the 'one who was about to be elected' to ashes, and demanded to be chosen himself. The wizards only protested for a little, until they found out what they could do once he showed them. Sourcerers are sources of magic. And so, all the wizards were able to do anything they wanted. Produce anything out of thin air, fly, etc. Which was not good for the city of Ankh-Morpork.

Rincewind was a wizard. Or, he tried to be a wizard. He was not in the Unseen University at the time when Coin appeared. He was getting drunk (this was after he heard that a sourcerer was coming, from a gargoyle, all of which were off the walls and were leaving, and after he saw all the rats, bedbugs, and ants fleeing also), and talking with the Librarian, an orangutan who used to be human.

Then a thief comes in and takes him away (after a few incidents), telling him that the Archchancellor's hat had spoken to her and made her steal it and find a wizard to put it on. But the hat is highly disappointed with Rincewind.

And so, the usual happens. They go in search of a wizard so they can save the world (and universe) from the sorcerer.

There is, throughout Terry Pratchett's "Sourcery," a somewhat sorrowful tone being struck amidst the high spirited comedy and dramatic saving the world (again) sorts of action.

Because, at the heart of this story of how a most magical being, one whose very existence could unravel the fabric of the universe, is a scared and cruelly tormented little boy. That Pratchett keeps this in mind, and indeed, makes his salvation just as important as saving the world, is a credit to his skills as a writer and heart as a person.

The eighth son of an eighth son is a wizard. And the eighth son of a normally celibate wizard is a sourcerer, a living font of magical energies. But it's slightly more complicated than that: a father with a grudge against the magical establishment, a magical establishment (the cast of Unseen University, alternately pathetic and for once frightening) that's hungry for power, and a chain of events that quickly gets out of control all hurtle this story towards disaster.

Along the way, we get introduced to the daughter of the greatest hero in Discworld's history, who just desperately wants to be a hairdresser but finds that some things are just in her blood. We also pick up a very unlikely barbarian hero and a literary minded monarch and his fabulous pleasuredome. And, of course, the magic-less wizard Rincewind and his animate Luggage make a triumphant (well, as triumphant as Rincewind gets) return.

"Sourcery" is Pratchett's most heartfelt novel to date, and he puts the characters ahead of plot or jokes -- although there are plenty, especially concerning Conina and Unseen University -- and it makes for one of the best Discworld novels to date.

Strongly recommended.

Everyone knows the eighth son of an eighth son is a born wizard -- but now we find out that the eighth son in the next generation is born a "sourcerer," so called because he doesn't just wield magic, he's a source of it himself. (There's a reason wizards are more or less celibate.) The inhabitants of Discworld have long considered wizards merely slightly amusing fuddy-duddies, but that's because magic has been largely suppressed. There's also the question of why wizards don't rule the world, and it's because wizards aren't naturally cooperative. In fact, "deep in his heart, every wizard knew that the natural unit of wizardry was one wizard." A few thousand years ago, there were lots of sourcerers around and the Discworld very nearly destroyed itself by thaumaturical warfare. And, as rival towers go up in Ankh-Morpork and Klatch and Quirm, those days appear to have again. And the only one who might be able to save the world is (alas) Rincewind. This is one of Pratchett's earlier works and, like all the Rincewind sub-series, it's not entirely successful. The narrative seems to wander and even stalls occasionally, and the metaphors and similes (most of them admittedly funny) are simply packed in too tightly. Finally, there appears to be an unresolved continuity error, in that there's a lot of destruction in Ankh-Morpork and Klatch -- and Genua is completely destroyed, for that matter -- that simply isn't accounted for in the later Discworld novels.

This book was a little disappointing after the the previous 2 that I read. I still found myself laughing at certain times, but more often than not, I missed TwoFlower. I also found that this book focused a bit too much on the magic school and Rincewind took a back seat this time, despite this being considered the 3 book in the Rincewind series of the Disc World.

What do you get when the eighth son of an eighth son has an eight son? A thaumaturgical headache that's too big for his britches, is what.
In Terry Pratchett's discworld, wizards are like your uncle that builds stuff in the basement: you wouldn't want to be left alone with him, but boy! can he do some cool stuff! And when they are fired up by a powerful young Sourcerer, they decide that the Disc is better off in their hands. The only problem is "their hands" means their own and no one elses', even another wizard. Fortunately, to battle this powerful youngster, the Disc has Rincewind, the most inept and ill-equipped wizard of all time.
Like many of the earlier Pratchett books, Sourcery is a pretty basic plot, with a lot of jokes sprinkled throughout. There are some great bits with Death, the Apocralypse (think apocryphal + end of the world, because no one can agree on when it's coming) and the Ice giants were a hoot. After having moved on to prefer the books involving the Watch (Men At Arms, Feet of Clay) and the Witches (Lords and Ladies, Equal Rites, etc.) I was glad to read a Rincewind book that cast him a little deeper than a mobile panic attack, even though that's what he is.
You don't necessarily have to have read the prior four books, but why not start at The Color of Magic? Then, you can enjoy Sourcery a little more fully, then want to read all of them like I did.

When the eighth son of an eighth son has an eighth son named Coin, that child is a wizard squared - a mighty sorcerer. Sorcery makes wizardry look like child's play, and ten-year-old Coin, guided by his staff imbued with the spirit of his wizard father, wants his magical power to reign supreme over all Discworld. Starting off by usurping the position of Archchancellor of Unseen University, he proceeds to overpower anyone and anything that stands in his way. The Patrician Vetinari, and even the gods themselves, are no match for Coin. The entire future of Discworld is at stake as it teeters on the brink of the Apocralypse. No, I didn't misspell it - the Aprocralypse is an apocryphal apocalypse in which magic will destroy Discworld and the Ice Age will return.

Rincewind, the bumbling and cowardly wizard of previous Discworld books, is back to face his most daunting challenge yet as he is commanded by the Archchancellor's magic hat to vanquish sorcery and save Discworld. He reluctantly joins forces with the beautiful but fierce Conina and an adolescent barbarian-wannabe named Nijel, and together they travel from Ankh Morpork to Klatch and back using some very unusual modes of transportation. Rincewind's many-legged luggage makes an appearance as well, but it keeps wandering off and it doesn't do much to advance the story line.

Pratchett delivers another madcap adventure full of satire and spoofery. He does a wonderful job of portraying a parade of funny characters. Among them are a filthy rich Klatchian ruler who spouts bad poetry, the One Horseman and Three Pedestrians of the Aprocralypse, the orangutan librarian of Unseen University, and a genie who doesn't obey commands very well. Pratchett can anthropomorphize objects like no one else. Besides the luggage, he animates an ill-tempered magic staff and the frightened grimoires of the university library. He enlightens the reader on the nature of hit-or-miss inspiration, warns of the flaws of the wizards' genetic experiments, and presents a magic lamp paradox that even the laws of physics can't keep up with. This is a hilarious story of magic gone awry. Since it builds on the characters from the previous books of the Discworld wizard track, I suggest you read "The Color of Magic" and "The Light Fantastic" first, if you haven't already done so. Then dive headlong into this one. You will be enchanted!

Eileen Rieback

While Sourcery succeeds at being a genuinely funny story with some interesting plot developments, I feel it is weaker tham most of Pratchett's efforts. Part of this is due to it's use of Rincewind as a main character. The world's most incompetent wizard is also the one Pratchett character who goes through little if any character development. Whatever book about Rincewind you pick up, you can count on him to be completely self-centered and cowardly. The best you can say is that his running skills steadily improve.

Pratchett's thesis here is that there is something out there far more powerful than wizardry. Something that tapped right into the world's magical forces and could change reality. This something is called sourcery and you have to be an eighth son of an eighth som to even qualify. Which is why Ankh-Morpork's wizards are forbidden to marry. The last time there were sourcerers they set about trying to kill each other and very nearly turned discworld into a radioactive Frisbee. Wizards try to kill each other too, but on a much more incompetent scale.

Unfortunately, Ipslore the Red cheated, got married, and was promptly thrown out of the Unseen University. Not a fan of birth control he promptly had eight sons (his daughters were uncounted). Coin was the last, and Ipslore, angry about the death of his wife decided to make the young boy into his means of revenge. When the wizards met to elect a new Chancellor, they found a surprise candidate - a 10 year old boy with a knack for turning people into greasy smudges.

Coin turns magic upside down, gives the wizards almost inexhaustible power, and starts coming very close to starting Wizard Wars II. The unlikely team to come to the rescue is Rincewind, Conina (the barbarian daughter of Cohen - capable of wiping out entire police forces while being a hair stylist), and Nijel - who learned everything there is to know about successful barbarianism from a comic book. And don't forget the Chancellor's what, which is so appalled by the mess that it sets out on its own.

As you can see, there's quite a bit of potential for a good story here, and much of it is realized. But Pratchett sets in to repeating his jokes just a bit too early, and some funny things become less funny too soon. This book is hardly a failure, it just suffers from too much type casting (if you can call barbarian women who just want to settle down and style hair 'types'). I prefer Rincewind tales like The Last Continent, which has less Rincewind and a stronger plot. Still, you will want to read Sourcery, and you'll probably like it despite this review.

I've decided he's too good and too prolific for me to write a brand new review every single time I read one of his books. Discworld currently has 34 titles and every one of them will probably knock your socks off. His mind bubbles and flashes like a boiling pot of electric eels, and I simply can't get enough of his writing.

A reviewer has compared him to Geoffrey Chaucer. He reminds me more of Douglas Adams, or perhaps S Morgenstern. Great company, isn't it? He's an extremely skillful and imaginative writer, damn funny, clever and observant to boot. He's also very easy to read. A master of characterization, and if there's anything else you like about reading that I didn't mention here, assume I simply forgot. He's awesome.

Another reviewer mentioned Jonathan Swift and PG Wodehouse. Why such hallowed company? Because Pratchett belongs there! Truly, I'm enjoying my quest to read every book in the series. You should do the same, and begin your quest at the library because he's got to be there. He's awesome!

Yet another reviewer said Jerome K Jerome meets Lord of the Rings. Yeah, that works too.

Why do we, as reviewers, compare authors to other authors? Because it's easier than thinking. In the case of Terry Pratchett, it's probably because we'd otherwise wind up quoting the guy. He's so unique that we just don't know how else to cope with his greatness. Even this paragraph sounds like foamy drool raving, doesn't it? That's how all readers react to Pratchett. Reviewers simply don't have the good sense to keep it to themselves.

I could call his writing fantasy, but I could likewise call what Douglas Adams wrote science fiction. In both cases, I wouldn't be wrong, but I'd be neglecting so much and just totally missing the point. A rare few authors transcend a genre to such a degree that you know they're shouting out, loud and proud, a big fat "Bite me!"

I love Terry Pratchett's writing, and I completely understand why some folks refer to him as their favorite author. Or favourite, I should say, since we're being British. He's one of those authors that makes you want to grab whoever's in hearing range and start reading passages aloud. I'm simply thrilled that there's such an extremely talented and prolific author who's been working for years without me being aware of him. Now I have much catching up to do, and I will love it.

Have you ever found yourself wondering why wizards don't go forth and multiply? Perhaps it's because they're usually too old to remember how the multiplying part works, or maybe it's because they didn't have access to spam mail with all the special "performance" tablets on offer, but most likely it's just to prevent the birth of an eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son.

According to Pratchett, the little son of a gun that emerges from this equation is a super-mega-wizard called a sourcerer, someone who happens to be a source of magic and the cause of many a mage war with the accompanying wanton destruction and so on and so forth.

As you can probably tell by glancing at the title of this fifth book in the Discworld series, somewhere along the line a double eight wizard broke the rules, fell in love and had a bunch of kids, the eighth boy (this one with the unlikely name of Coin, although it DOES have a ring to it) obviously becoming a sourcerer. Soon Coin begins to cash in on his legacy, and before you know it, he's running a "Wizards Rule!!!" campaign, albeit with a little help from Dad who's sticking beside him for dear life.

Of course there's always a pesky fly or two to get into the ointment, and this time it's a mangy maggot named Rincewind (the world's most useless wizard) with his unlikely companions, Nijel the destroyer and Conina the Hairdresser (daughter of Cohen the Barbarian).

Pratchett fills this one with tons of wonderful characters, including the luggage with a mind of its own, Death with his Horseman and Three Pedestrians of the Apocralypse, a poetry-spouting royal, and a librarian who has no problems with a little monkey-business.

Insanely clever and hysterically funny.

Amanda Richards, December 9, 2006

While I enjoy Pratchett's writing, I wasn't as enthusiastic about this book. I waited a couple of months before reading the Discworld series again because I heard that the writing is a bit repetitive, but I guess I didn't wait long enough. I do really enjoy Discworld and the characters, but I guess I will need to wait a bit longer before reading the next one.

As always, Nigel Planer does an excellent job at narrating the series. He has such good comedic timing and really brings the characters to life. I love listening to him.

As a big Rincewind fan, I count Sourcery as one of my favorite Pratchett novels. This fifth novel of Discworld is the first to have a real epic quality to it. Seeing as how the plot is hinged around the "Apocralypse" (even though an inebriated Pestilence, War, and Famine cannot remember the proper term for it), it pretty much has to be an epic. Ipslore was a natural-born wizard, the eight son of an eighth son, who did the unthinkable (not to mention unwizardly) act of marrying and having an eighth son of his own--a sourcerer. By tricking Death, he enters his own wizard staff and later guides the ten-year-old boy Coin in assuming the Archchancellorship of Unseen University and trying to take over the world. A sourcerer has free rein over the use of magic, unlike modern-day wizards who talk about magic but rarely perform it. Sourcerers almost destroyed the Discworld in ancient times in the Mage Wars, and young Coin sets in motion a modern-day Mage War that can only end in disaster. Only one man can stop the sourcerer and save the world--most unfortunately, that one man is the inept wizard Rincewind. His only allies are the wise and good Librarian (who happens to be an orangutan), the beautiful yet deadly thief Conina (daughter of Cohen the Barbarian), and Nigel, the skinniest hero on the Discworld whose only heroic wisdom comes from a ghost-written book by Cohen the aforementioned Barbarian. The Luggage also plays a part, but he/she/it is not there at Rincewind's side.

I love how the character of Rincewind is strengthened and expanded in this novel; he's still the funny little man in a pointy hat that we met in earlier Discworld novels, but instead of running around all over the world trying to avoid dying, Rincewind is transformed in these pages into a hero--not a very good one, of course, but a hero nonetheless. His commitment to wizardry is steadfast and firm, while the vast majority of successful wizards go along with Coin, delight in the new magical powers they gain through sourcery, and eventually wage a magical war among themselves in the pursuit of raw power. Rincewind redeems himself admirably here by actually performing some acts of bravery, risking his life--albeit reluctantly--for the sake of the Discworld.
The book starts out like gangbusters, and although it loses a little steam and wanders a little bit in the later stages, the conclusion brings everything together rather nicely. It does, however, leave a few questions unanswered for the time being. The character of Coin, the ten-year-old sourcerer, could have used more thrashing out, I felt, but Conina and Nigel are very interesting new characters in Pratchett's universe. Sourcery is overflowing with typical Pratchett humor, but it also features an exciting, narrowly-focused storyline that provides a wealth of new information about the wizards of Unseen University, the brave and wise banana-craving Librarian, and the crucial role and importance of magic in the Discworld. Whereas earlier novels sometimes seemed to have stories built around the jokes, this novel is built upon a solid foundation of an epic fantasy plot--the comedy is just icing on the cake. Of the first five Discworld novels, this is by far the most exciting and entertaining.

As with all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, Sourcery is a fun read. Even so, it is the least of the seven Discworld novels I have read so far (the first six, and Going Postal). There is much humor and wordplay, but Sourcery has two fairly serious problems. Cohen the Barbarian's daughter, Conina, and a zany hero-wannibe, Nigel, are great, supplying much fun. They are supplemented by Rincewind, the inept wizard of earlier books. But oddly, Pratchett never really introduces us to a crucial character, the sorcerer Coin. This ten year old boy, the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son, is the first sorcerer in millennia on Discworld. His father has gone off the deep end, and manages upon his death to escape and reside (in spirit, anyway) in Coin's staff. Throughout the whole book, I kept waiting for a series of hilarious interactions between Coin and his father, and between the two and the wizards, but none of this happened. Pratchett simply never has us spend any time getting to know Coin. Quite disappointing. Also surprisingly, Pratchett allows this story to drive him into corners that he had a hard time getting out of: Sourcery has way too many easy plot escapes by use of magic. For those that love Pratchett, this is still a worthy read. But if you're not interested in reading all 34 Discworld novels, move on to the Wyrd Sisters, a much better book.

Can Rincewind foil the apocalypse? As you might have gathered there is a lot of running away and definitively unheroic behavior in the adventure/fantasy epic-ish narrative.

Still, don't hold Pratchett to the coals for his ridiculous plots...what makes this book, as all of the Discworld novels, are the gags--jokes might been to highbrow for this very lowbrow liberal/progressive/radical ditty on the end of the world. Almost...otherwise there'd be no other books.

4 out of 5 stars for the gags.

Good beach book for progressives.

Still on my way through Pratchett, taking it easy, reading one book a month or so, trying to cast a new light (at least for myself) on these novels. Nothing has changed with this one, it remained exactly as I remembered it, almost dull and uninspiring. Sure, there are wizards of Unseen University there (which reminds me so much of my faculty that their appearance always draws a tear in the eye), there are Shades of Ankh Morpork, Barbarians as hair-dresser wannabes, and young, droopy-eyed individuals as barbarian-wannabes. And of course, there is Rincewind, character I liked when I was 11, who today is nothing more then a giant bother in Discworld body of work. And, as you might have noticed, we have every element of Discworld novel here (Death and the riders of the Apocralipse included) but somehow it's all mixed together wrong. It feels like I'm reading "Equal rites" all over again but without any metaphorical value (or in the best-case scenario with repeated metaphor) mixed with Twoflower lookalike, and recurring trope of world being in peril. Somehow, Pratchett disengaged himself from more serious topics which he handled in Mort or Equal rites, and once again wrote a mere fantasy parody - novel that will mean something to avid readers of fantasy dime-novels, but to others, slightly less versed in the Lore, whole thing might appear a bit too much.

And there's this trouble with ideology once again. Things you don't notice when you're young and believe in whatever your author says. Let's put it like this. The whole book revolves around wizards (with a little help from a sourcerer) trying to take over the world, remodeling the constant chaos of Discworld into something much more decent. Now, in the world of Disc wizards function as a scholars, researchers of all kind, depositories of arcane knowledge and all such things. Somewhat senile silly old men which sit in their ivory towers all day long, sipping sherries and arguing about metaphysics and all that. Do you see a resemblance with the real-world Academics of all kinds? Now, problems arise when Wizards decide to leave their ivory towers and actually do something with all these knowledge that they have. Which, driven by ambition, inevitably, at least according to Pratchett, leads to nothing less of the end of the world. Question that we have to ask ourselves is this one - is end of the world really bad thing? On one hand we have colorful chaos of Discworld (our everyday life), which is nice and all but we all feel that there is something wrong with the way things are, and on the other hand we have a change - driven by science and logic, and idea that things can be better, which, quite naturally lead to destruction of current world order, destruction of system itself which can be interpreted as end of the world. Pratchett is advocating status quo, stasis of some kind, pushing academics back to their ivory towers and sentencing them on fruitless arguments in scientific magazines that no-one reads anyway and thus shutting down entire part of population which could actually contribute in making human world a bit more safer and/or enjoyable. I don't know, this isn't really a critique of the book, that has been covered in first paragraph, it's more of an observation, one that troubles me a bit these days when thinking about Pratchett and his work. A common notion or a feeling that is present in all of the opening Discworld books, something you often miss but it feels somehow important.

While I enjoy Pratchett's writing, I wasn't as enthusiastic about this book. I waited a couple of months before reading the Discworld series again because I heard that the writing is a bit repetitive, but I guess I didn't wait long enough. I do really enjoy Discworld and the characters, but I guess I will need to wait a bit longer before reading the next one.

As always, Nigel Planer does an excellent job at narrating the series. He has such good comedic timing and really brings the characters to life. I love listening to him.

As a big Rincewind fan, I count Sourcery as one of my favorite Pratchett novels. This fifth novel of Discworld is the first to have a real epic quality to it. Seeing as how the plot is hinged around the "Apocralypse" (even though an inebriated Pestilence, War, and Famine cannot remember the proper term for it), it pretty much has to be an epic. Ipslore was a natural-born wizard, the eight son of an eighth son, who did the unthinkable (not to mention unwizardly) act of marrying and having an eighth son of his own--a sourcerer. By tricking Death, he enters his own wizard staff and later guides the ten-year-old boy Coin in assuming the Archchancellorship of Unseen University and trying to take over the world. A sourcerer has free rein over the use of magic, unlike modern-day wizards who talk about magic but rarely perform it. Sourcerers almost destroyed the Discworld in ancient times in the Mage Wars, and young Coin sets in motion a modern-day Mage War that can only end in disaster. Only one man can stop the sourcerer and save the world--most unfortunately, that one man is the inept wizard Rincewind. His only allies are the wise and good Librarian (who happens to be an orangutan), the beautiful yet deadly thief Conina (daughter of Cohen the Barbarian), and Nigel, the skinniest hero on the Discworld whose only heroic wisdom comes from a ghost-written book by Cohen the aforementioned Barbarian. The Luggage also plays a part, but he/she/it is not there at Rincewind's side.

I love how the character of Rincewind is strengthened and expanded in this novel; he's still the funny little man in a pointy hat that we met in earlier Discworld novels, but instead of running around all over the world trying to avoid dying, Rincewind is transformed in these pages into a hero--not a very good one, of course, but a hero nonetheless. His commitment to wizardry is steadfast and firm, while the vast majority of successful wizards go along with Coin, delight in the new magical powers they gain through sourcery, and eventually wage a magical war among themselves in the pursuit of raw power. Rincewind redeems himself admirably here by actually performing some acts of bravery, risking his life--albeit reluctantly--for the sake of the Discworld.
The book starts out like gangbusters, and although it loses a little steam and wanders a little bit in the later stages, the conclusion brings everything together rather nicely. It does, however, leave a few questions unanswered for the time being. The character of Coin, the ten-year-old sourcerer, could have used more thrashing out, I felt, but Conina and Nigel are very interesting new characters in Pratchett's universe. Sourcery is overflowing with typical Pratchett humor, but it also features an exciting, narrowly-focused storyline that provides a wealth of new information about the wizards of Unseen University, the brave and wise banana-craving Librarian, and the crucial role and importance of magic in the Discworld. Whereas earlier novels sometimes seemed to have stories built around the jokes, this novel is built upon a solid foundation of an epic fantasy plot--the comedy is just icing on the cake. Of the first five Discworld novels, this is by far the most exciting and entertaining.

As with all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, Sourcery is a fun read. Even so, it is the least of the seven Discworld novels I have read so far (the first six, and Going Postal). There is much humor and wordplay, but Sourcery has two fairly serious problems. Cohen the Barbarian's daughter, Conina, and a zany hero-wannibe, Nigel, are great, supplying much fun. They are supplemented by Rincewind, the inept wizard of earlier books. But oddly, Pratchett never really introduces us to a crucial character, the sorcerer Coin. This ten year old boy, the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son, is the first sorcerer in millennia on Discworld. His father has gone off the deep end, and manages upon his death to escape and reside (in spirit, anyway) in Coin's staff. Throughout the whole book, I kept waiting for a series of hilarious interactions between Coin and his father, and between the two and the wizards, but none of this happened. Pratchett simply never has us spend any time getting to know Coin. Quite disappointing. Also surprisingly, Pratchett allows this story to drive him into corners that he had a hard time getting out of: Sourcery has way too many easy plot escapes by use of magic. For those that love Pratchett, this is still a worthy read. But if you're not interested in reading all 34 Discworld novels, move on to the Wyrd Sisters, a much better book.

Can Rincewind foil the apocalypse? As you might have gathered there is a lot of running away and definitively unheroic behavior in the adventure/fantasy epic-ish narrative.

Still, don't hold Pratchett to the coals for his ridiculous plots...what makes this book, as all of the Discworld novels, are the gags--jokes might been to highbrow for this very lowbrow liberal/progressive/radical ditty on the end of the world. Almost...otherwise there'd be no other books.

4 out of 5 stars for the gags.

Good beach book for progressives.

Still on my way through Pratchett, taking it easy, reading one book a month or so, trying to cast a new light (at least for myself) on these novels. Nothing has changed with this one, it remained exactly as I remembered it, almost dull and uninspiring. Sure, there are wizards of Unseen University there (which reminds me so much of my faculty that their appearance always draws a tear in the eye), there are Shades of Ankh Morpork, Barbarians as hair-dresser wannabes, and young, droopy-eyed individuals as barbarian-wannabes. And of course, there is Rincewind, character I liked when I was 11, who today is nothing more then a giant bother in Discworld body of work. And, as you might have noticed, we have every element of Discworld novel here (Death and the riders of the Apocralipse included) but somehow it's all mixed together wrong. It feels like I'm reading "Equal rites" all over again but without any metaphorical value (or in the best-case scenario with repeated metaphor) mixed with Twoflower lookalike, and recurring trope of world being in peril. Somehow, Pratchett disengaged himself from more serious topics which he handled in Mort or Equal rites, and once again wrote a mere fantasy parody - novel that will mean something to avid readers of fantasy dime-novels, but to others, slightly less versed in the Lore, whole thing might appear a bit too much.

And there's this trouble with ideology once again. Things you don't notice when you're young and believe in whatever your author says. Let's put it like this. The whole book revolves around wizards (with a little help from a sourcerer) trying to take over the world, remodeling the constant chaos of Discworld into something much more decent. Now, in the world of Disc wizards function as a scholars, researchers of all kind, depositories of arcane knowledge and all such things. Somewhat senile silly old men which sit in their ivory towers all day long, sipping sherries and arguing about metaphysics and all that. Do you see a resemblance with the real-world Academics of all kinds? Now, problems arise when Wizards decide to leave their ivory towers and actually do something with all these knowledge that they have. Which, driven by ambition, inevitably, at least according to Pratchett, leads to nothing less of the end of the world. Question that we have to ask ourselves is this one - is end of the world really bad thing? On one hand we have colorful chaos of Discworld (our everyday life), which is nice and all but we all feel that there is something wrong with the way things are, and on the other hand we have a change - driven by science and logic, and idea that things can be better, which, quite naturally lead to destruction of current world order, destruction of system itself which can be interpreted as end of the world. Pratchett is advocating status quo, stasis of some kind, pushing academics back to their ivory towers and sentencing them on fruitless arguments in scientific magazines that no-one reads anyway and thus shutting down entire part of population which could actually contribute in making human world a bit more safer and/or enjoyable. I don't know, this isn't really a critique of the book, that has been covered in first paragraph, it's more of an observation, one that troubles me a bit these days when thinking about Pratchett and his work. A common notion or a feeling that is present in all of the opening Discworld books, something you often miss but it feels somehow important.

I loved Mort. I REALLY loved it. Because, simply put, it would still be worth reading if you removed the jokes. Sadly, I can't say the same about Sourcery.
Is Sourcery still a great book worth reading? Yes.
Are there more "laughs" than in the previous 4 Discworld novels? Yes.
Is the main premise (the backbone of the story) interesting? Yes.
However, the characters, although solid, aren't as good as in Mort, or Wyrd Sisters. The only memorable enough (as in "I gotta tell my friends about him") is the librarian. Other characters who would otherwise seem amazing either aren't developed enough (Conina, Nijel) or are developed wrongly (the sourcerer himself) And Rincewind seems to be losing his "loser" appeal.
As you can plainly see, I enjoy talking about flaws. The book's still a great addition to the discworld series (much, much better than Equal Rites) and any Terry Pratchett fan owes himself (or herself, in some rare cases) the purchase of this book.

First off, I love Discworld, but I am annoyed that the Transworld editions that I used to buy are no longer available in the US, presumable because Harper Collins would prefer us not to buy that edition for $2 less. That would be annoying enough, but the fact that I have noticed significantly more typographical errors than in any of the previous Transworld edition makes this even more egregious. I haven't checked the ebook agains the paper book, but I would strongly suspect the typos are only in the ebook edition. Also, the footnote are asterisks and will take you to the footnote, but not back to the text. This is completely ridiculous that basic functionality is missing from the ebook.

"Sourcery" is the fifth Discworld novel. This is the third novel that features the inept wizard Rincewind as the main character. "Sourcery" also marks the first time that I was not bored a Rincewind novel. Rincewind would like to settle down into his life at the Unseen University, but circumstances will not allow him to. There is a new threat on the Disc, and this new threat directly threatens wizardry. This time the threat is a sourcerer. What, you may ask, is a sourcerer? If a wizard is the eighth son of an eighth son, a sourcerer is the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son. Or, the eighth son of a wizard. A wizard, squared. What makes a sourcerer different is that because he is a wizard squared, he has an immense amount of power that is not bound by the usual strictures of magic.
The sourcerer in question here is a twelve year old boy named Coin. Coin's existence can alter the very fabric of the Discworld and he begins by making changes at the Unseen University and by naming himself Archmage. Rincewind is thrown into a quest to stop Coin and save the world (again) by, oddly enough, running in the other direction.
"Sourcery" is filled with more humor and sly looks at the world than the previous Rincewind novels and after reading "Mort" it seems that Pratchett is hiding his stride now. "Sourcery", like all of the Discworld novels, is a comic fantasy, and it is rather good.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series is definitely one of my favorites. In Sourcery, the entire Disc is threatened by the sudden rise of wizards. The wizards are lead by one of the most feared people on the Disc, a sourcerer. What exactly is a sourcerer? The source of all magic, of course. The eighth son of an eighth son is, of course, a wizard. There was once a wizard that went out and had seven sons. His eighth son was a wizard squared -- a sourcerer. The sourcerer is the most powerful wizard ever, and with his coming, the powers of all the wizards has grown tremendously. With an evil staff urging him forward, the sourcerer and the wizards want to rule the Disc. They are apparently unstoppable. The hope of the Disc rests on the inept shoulder of Rincewind. Terry Pratchett is hilarious, and his stories are always witty and intriguing, and intelligent as well.

In many respects, Sourcery is a very special book. It marks the beginning of Pratchett's evolution and transition in writing style: his later books would be more somber than the earlier ones, often having a slightly melancholy feel that I'm amazed so many people miss. Sourcery began it, and it would only get stronger as time would go on.
Sourcery is about the return of a type of Sorcerer to the Discworld, a magician who is a source for magic (hence the pun) and whose emergence marks the beginning of a massive magic war between said wizards, who normally get along as well as cats in a sack. All that stands in their path is the most inept wizard to ever exist and a motley collection of characters who don't exactly inspire much confidence.
As far as plots go, Sourcery is a winner. The story moves along at a good pace and mainly jumps back between Rincewind and the wizards, who are led by said Sourcerer, a small child named Coin. It's interesting to read about the wizards and their reactions to their newfound power in retrospect: in later books, Pratchett would make the wizards the focus of most of the humour in whichever books they'd be in. In this one, however, they're not as fun: indeed, sometimes the whole feel that pervades their power struggle is more sinister than humourous. There are still some very amusing moments in their side of the story, but most of it has a rather dark edge.
So, of course, it is left to Rincewind and his travelling companions to provide the humour, and as usual, they deliver. Of the characters that are introduced in this book (of whom we never hear of again), Nigel, the aspiring Barbarian is probably the best. Conina, Cohen's daughter, is also very amusing, although the others' reaction to her is probably more so. The Seriph, a typical Arab Sultan (well, not so typical really) is pretty funny, although not overly so. One of the best moments in the book is when these three end up with a genie and a lamp, one who's moved on with the times. Hilarious stuff.
The character of Coin is rather interesting. The boy who wreaks so much havoc upon the world is really driven by his father (whose spirit inhabits a staff -just don't even ask) and his innocence is well captured. The book also raises some disturbing questions about child abuse ('You know what happens to boys who are bad'), although the way it is handled is subtle, not heavyhanded.
However, all that aside, the real triumph of the book is Rincewind. As a character, he's always been surprisingly one-dimensional (although admittedly hilarious). This book sheds light on a lot of different aspects of his character, some of which are very unexpected. His attitude towards women was never a secret, but the crush he develops on Conina is pretty funny. However, there are more interesting traits: of particular note are his lapse into a brief, but deep depression in the middle of the book, his reaction to finding the Library burned to the ground, and his reluctant, but heroic sacrifice in the end of the book. All these are so uncharacteristic of him that it's a real revelation to read of them: and of course, that makes the book all the more precious.
Sadly, Pratchett would resort to Rincewind's traditional 'cowardlier-than-thou' outlook in his later books (Eric, Interesting Times, The Last Continent and The Last Hero.) The failed wizard is one of my favorite characters, and all his books are worth reading, but in Sourcery, just for once, he was something other than the utter coward he is usually portrayed as. Highly recommended.

Heaven help us!! This book is funny and insightful. Pratchett manages to make you laugh (way out loud) and ponder about politics all at the same time. He has a mastery of the English language that is not always seen in modern fantasy novels. The novel is so cleverly written that it makes you wonder sometimes -is this fact or fiction.
The dialogue between the characters is "to die for". It goes way beyond some of the best comedy sketches one sees on television. His descriptions are wonderfully unique and refreshing. I read the entire book in less than two days. Then I had to run out and buy another.
Good read, great writing. Not to be read after Tolkien, Goodkind, Eddings or the likes - it's fantasy/comedy; not epic fantasy. But fans of the three mentioned above and anyone who appreciates the literary arts (fantasy reader or not) will like this book.
If this is the first Discworld book you are reading, it will take some getting used to. But once you get the jist and the joke, you'll get the book. Not to be missed. A definite keeper.

This version of the book has been translated from British English into American. I don't just mean they took all the u's out of words like "colour" and "humour". I mean they changed all the Britishisms into America-speak. For example, at one point in the original, Pratchett describes "a noise like someone tapdancing over a bag of crisps." But you're American. You have no idea what a "crisp" is or how to look up the meaning. So you want a book that helpfully changes that incomprehensible sentence into "tapdancing over a bag of potato chips." If that's who you are, this edition is for you. (Though why someone like you would want to read Pratchett at all is beyond me.)

But if you think part of the fun of Pratchett is the British-ness of his word choices and turns of phrase, avoid this version. Go to the store.co.uk or the store.ca and order the book that Pratchett actually wrote.

I was initially thinking this one would be a three-star, as it didn't engage me much at first, even though my favorite character (the Luggage) is back, but it really picked up with the addition of Conina, and really got fun with Nijel came on board. First one in a couple where the big finale really felt that it was part of the same book, as the endings for 2-4 just felt weird and off from the rest of their stories.

Although it was published separately, I finally got to read Sourcery
(the spelling made it a bit hard to find this book on the web) in the collected
volume from the Science Fiction Bookclub, Rincewind The Wizard. The
anthology also contains the first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic,
followed by The Light Fantastic and finishes with Eric. In
comparing Sourcery with the first two novels, it is clear that Pratchett
had at this point moved from just a clever joke to using it as a series for
pointed criticism. It turns out that wizards are forbidden to marry in the
Discworld since if they do there is a chance that their eighth son of an eighth
son might be a person of incredible magical power, a sorcerer. That is what
occurs here, but worst of all, the father of the boy sorcerer escapes Death's
scythe by endowing the boy's staff with his essence. He then begins to use the
boy, whose name is Coin, as a tool for his own revenge. And Death can't get at
the twisted spirit without killing the boy--and Death tries very hard to follow
the rules in Terry Pratchett's world. Magic wars begin and suddenly the
Discworld is being filled with wizard towers from which massively destructive
bolts of magic are being spewed. One can only think of nuclear silos in our own
world. I think though what really strikes me about this novel is that in here I
begin to see characters, who are a favorite of Pratchett, characters who--in
spite of themselves--are deep down good. This is one reason why I am so pleased
that my son Andy loves Terry Pratchett. Rincewind is a proud coward who is
constantly described as a being probably a descendent of some bit of rodent
since he is exceptionally good at scuttling away from danger. Yet when in this
novel it really comes to the push, there is a stubborn part of him that will not
allow evil to have the final laugh. I see similar qualities in Granny Weatherwax--who
sees herself as too close to being a wicked witch for comfort and Captain Vimes--who
is deeply concerned with his own violent qualities as a policeman. Yet all these
characters in the end stand up and stand straight for what is right. Thus,
Pratchett's vision while wonderfully cynical and funny is in the end actually
optimistic. Only an optimist of the highest type would cast Death himself as a
hero--see Hogfather for evidence."

When an eighth son of an eight son is born in the discworld he becomes, naturally a wizard. This is where it usually ends because wizards are not allowed to, erm, you know. However, one wizrd had seven sons and then an eighth is born. A wizard squared. A soucerer. And this soucery - a source of magic - intends to bring forth the "Apocralpse" and the end of the discworld forever.

Set in the Unseen University, we see Rincewind the wizard again as the main charcater in this book (along with a feisty female and an emaciated warrior..and of course the infamous Luggage) trying to save the discworld is his own bumbling, try-to-avoid-actually-doing-anything type way.

Very funny and enjoyable read.

Sourcery has re-entered the Discworld after a fairly quiet millenia without it. The eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son has been born, bringing with him an excess of magic. With this magic, the faintly ridiculous wizards of the Disc World become slightly more ridiculous but much more dangerous. Rincewind the incompetent wizard is at... well, not his best, but certainly his most Rincewindish and we meet Conina, daughter of Cohen the Barbarian. The eternal wisdom of the Librarian of the Unseen University (the wizard's university), summed up as "Ook" also gets some much deserved attention.

This installment of the Discworld series is a showcase for Rincewind, but otherwise does not sparkle the way other Discworld books do. I enjoyed it once, but do not reach for it to re-read it the way I do others in the series.

Sourcery, the fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, has many of the problems that Pratchett's earlier books had but shows a few signs of his breaking out into the Pratchett that I'm familiar with. Considering that Mort was the fourth book and was very good, I can only say that Sourcery is a step back, however. For the most part, it's a very hard 270 pages to get through.
While I give Sourcery two stars, it is a better book than Equal Rites, the only other Discworld book that I gave two stars to. It's much more like 2.75 stars, if that were possible. This is for three reasons: The Librarian, Nijel the hero in training, and Conina, the thief who finds Rincewind. The Librarian is an ape who used to be a human wizard, until a magical accident lost in history turned him into an ape. He found that he likes it better as an ape, and has refused any attempts to turn him back. When Coin comes to take over, the Librarian must safeguard all of the magical texts in the University before Coin can destroy them. It's amazing how much characterization that Pratchett can give him when the only thing he can say is "Oook." However, his actions give him a certain nobility. He safeguards the Patrician of the city when Coin turns him into a lizard. While he's barricaded himself in with his books, he's not above showing Rincewind what he needs to do in order to save everything.
Conina and Nijel are the other two saving graces. Pratchett does great things with his characterization of these two. Conina is a thief and warrior who wants to hide her lineage and just be a hairdresser. However, the fantasy conventions of her profession are too powerful for her. When she's surrounded, she can't bring herself to surrender, no matter how much she wants to. Instead, she must kick some tail. She's very dismissive of Rincewind when she finds out how incompetent he is, but she still feels responsible for him and helps him out whenever she can. Nijel is young warrior still getting his feet wet in this hero business. He has read the manual, but he doesn't have much practical experience. When things start to get out of hand, he always retreats to what the book says. His naivete is very touching at times, and very funny at other times.
The only bad thing about the two of them, and this brings to mind the first problem in the book, is the "romance" that starts between them. Conina finds herself drawn to Nijel, and Nijel to her. In Nijel's case, it's obviously a bit of the warrior convention: the hero gets the girl, who falls all over him. However, it doesn't fit Conina's characterization at all, and the scenes where they make eyes at each other just seem too unbelievable. Then Pratchett seems to dismiss the whole thing, having Conina make a couple of harsh comments to Nijel. Finally, at the end, it comes back again, out of the blue. It feels completely arbitrary.
The characterization of the rest of the cast is almost as bad. None of the other characters are really developed. Coin and the wizards fulfill their roles, but that's about it. The wizards are scheming back-biters, but that's the extent of their characters for the most part. The Sariph of Al Khali is fairly one-note as well, playing the stereotypical Sultan of Arabia with harem who, while he compliments women extensively, is only interested in them telling him stories. He's not very interesting, and I didn't find him very funny. Every time there's a woman present, he finds himself making lavish compliments ("Has anyone told you that your neck is as a tower of ivory.") He drinks a lot. But that's about it. There is a genie who is amusing at times ("Let's do lunch!"), but he starts to wear thin as well after awhile. Rincewind is just Rincewind, a coward who ends up doing the job despite himself. I have never really cared for him that much (with the exception of The Last Continent) because I don't find him that funny. And the intelligent luggage is just annoying, and it doesn't do anything interesting in this book. It just takes up space.
Other characters are in the book just for the jokes they can provide, a failing that happens a lot with early Pratchett. The Four Horsemen are the best example. While the most prominent member is hilarious as always (Death, of course), the other three are there just for a long-running joke about being in a bar and forgetting what they're supposed to do. While it's amusing for a time, it starts to grate when Pratchett keeps coming back to them and the same thing occurs.
All in all, this book is one to skip unless you're a completist. It's too bad, too, because Rincewind as a concept is interesting. However, of the four Rincewind books I've read, only one has been any good. I'll be giving the other two a try, but I'm not holding my breath.

This is Pratchett's 5th in the Discworld series. Alternatively, it's the 3rd in the Rincewind subseries ("The Color of Magic," "The Light Fantastic," "Sourcery," "Eric," "Interesting Times," and "The Last Continent"). I'd say that this book, along with "Interesting Times," are the best of the Rincewind set. A couple of disconcerting things about the book are that 1) even though the prequel, "The Light Fantastic" has Rincewind saving the Discworld, this book starts off with no reference to it (and with a severe, though not unexpected, lowering of what Rincewind's status should be), and 2) the book doesn't end all that pleasantly for Rincewind and the Luggage. Even so, this is a very good book that I rate at 4 stars out of 5.

But it still hasn't broken the 3 star rating I've given the others (with the exception of Equal Rites which did not rate so highly). There is a bit more depth to this book. Like Light Fantastic, you could tell that Pratchett was trying to say something about power, and how it corrupts--I think. And therein lies the problem. It's a little hard to see the point he wants you to get. I don't mind if the point is subtle, but this was just too fuzzy as I said in Light Fantastic. Same with the point I think he was trying to make about heroism. It was a bit more clear however than Light Fantastic was.

I think that Coin should have really been more developed or at least developed, because otherwise the climatic scene between he and Rincewind was a little too contrived and forced.

Unlike a lot of people, I did not mind the attraction between Conina (who was hilarious) and Nijel--with his woolly underwear. She didn't want a bloodthirsty, quintessential barbarian. She liked him because (despite trying not to be) he was a "nice" boy and most of them were usually scared of her. I'd have liked to have seen a little more development between them as opposed to listening to Creostoles complain so much about being sober.

This book is starting to become what I usually like about his later discworld novels--it is much more of a satirical look at a concept--it just needs a bit more clarity and cohesion.

I've said it before, Terry Pratchet is a real master of Literature. He demonstrates it in his Discworld series (or more accurately collection of books since it's not a traditional series where one book continues where the last book stopped) which is one of the greatest and best fantasy series I've ever read.

In Sourcery, Rincewind the inept and the most un-magical wizard on the Discword has to stop a great calamity. Apparently, a sorcerer appears, a source of magic, a doorway through which magic flows unstoppable into the world. Wizards, who till now have been content to lie back and enjoy six meals a day, each with at least six courses, now are filled to the brim with new fresh power burning in their bones. And when they are filled with power, old thoughts of conquest are rising again. But the wizards are about to start the wizards wars again, when magic weapons scoured the land and made life impossible.

One of the most amusing and at the same time interesting things in this book is the relationship between the wizards inside Unseen University, which mirror quite perfectly the relationships inside every big organization where the underlings fight with each other and try to dethrone their superiors in order to advance and the superiors try to keep their chairs and their heads while stamping down on underlings who are viewed as too ambitious. Everyone could find analogies to his work place, family or college.

In conclusion, this is a great book, filled with humor, action and describes quite accurately the true condition of the human soul. Go and get this book, you won't be sorry.

The back cover makes it sound like this is a sequel to The Color of Magic ("when last seen... Rincewind had fallen off the edge of the world"), but it instead appears to follow The Light Fantastic. We've got the luggage again, the Librarian, a magic hat, and a storyline involving a "sourceror" (a sort of super-wizard of the sort long gone from the disc). There are some moderately funny barbarian characters Conina (daughter of Cohen the Barbarian), and Nijel (a young boy who has apparently mail ordered a book on how to become a barbarian hero), but they are somewhat under-used. There are some alternate-universe science fiction cliches; the funniest involves the potential infinite regress of carrying a Djinn's magic lamp into the magic lamp itself; if you like Escher, it won't be anything new to you. A lot of the action takes place in Klatch, and there are lots of silly references to the Rubaiyat, 1001 Arabian Nights, flying carpets, etc. I'd describe this as a perfectly adequate but completely lackluster Discworld book, with little in it to stick in the mind; in particular, there's very little character-building, world-building digression or significant detail. It reads as if it was written from an outline, and barely fleshed out. In a few months, I doubt if I'll be able to remember much about it. Pratchett fails to achieve any real dramatic tension, partly because there are no clear limits to the Sourceror's power; he's able to easily dispatch the Disc gods and bring on the apocralypse (yes, I spelled that right; in the Discworld, the apocalypse is probably apocryphal). In typical Rincewind fashion we mostly try to avoid danger until the Sourceror's storyline plays itself out. This book does end having left Rincewind in an interesting state, though: he's trapped in the Dungeon Dimensions, having (rather uncharacteristically) thrown himself into grave danger in order to save the young Sourceror. The luggage goes with him, thank God; now, if only it would stay there. It's a shame that when we finally see Rincewind do something interestingly out-of-character, or perhaps revealing a bit of depth to his character, the book is ending.

I was sorry to see this one end. With every Discworld book I fall in love with a different character. This time it was the librarian. Like all good and brave librarians, he stopped a book burning. Hooray for librarians.

Sourcery is one of Pratchett's earlier books, and fans of his Discworld series won't be dissappointed. For those who haven't yet read Pratchett, this one has a bit more of a confusing plot than his later books. You might want to start with Pyramids, or something like that, even though Sourcer and the Colour of Magic both set up background and history referred to in later books. At least keep in mind that he really does get better.

Why wouldn't you believe it? Because of Conina the daughter of a barbarian who wants to be a hairdresser. Because War, Pestilence and Famine missed all the action because they got drunk in a bar just outside of town. And because Rincewind, everyone's favorite wizard, was actually brave!
As usual, this tale of the Discworld is sometimes laugh out loud funny (you'll see) and even though the Discworld is literally a disc carried through the sky on the back of a turtle, it's citizens are not very far off from ourselves.
If you've ever enjoyed a pun, a fantasy novel or ever thought it would be fun if gods did rule the earth and wizards taught university, then I would highly recommend this book

When the last sourceror has returned to Ankh-Morpork to become the head of the unversity, true magic and power is revealed. During this, Rincewind has run away (as usual) and goes to Klatch with Cohen the Barbarians daughter Conina. They also meet a very funny character called Nijel. A story full of magic, power, destiny and sourcery.

This book was entertaining but JUST a bit boring in some parts. But the thing that really made me angry was that I couldn't find out what this book is making fun of. Klatch sounded like Africa, but Mr. Pratchett clearly said that it wasn't loosly based on it at all. Then I heard that this book was a spoof of the Arabien Knights but there was only a few elements that was the Aabien Knights.

I would suggest this book if you like the Rincewind character, but if you like a book that makes you laugh of sattire copy then read The Truth, Moving Pictures, Eric, Soul Music.

Terry Prachett does it again...and leaves us wondering if we'll see the Wizard Rincewind again? (He's appeared in four of five books so far.) Discworld is a great series, no matter which book you start with!!

I really like all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld (fantasy) books, including this one. You will best enjoy reading them in the order published, but they're good on their own. They have a unique, fey humor: I expect you will like all or none, so if they're new to you, get just one to begin with.

Terry Prathett is by far my favorite fantasy-comedy author. As soon as he puts something out, I have an uncontrolable urge to just snatch it up and devour it right away.

Sourcery is no exception! Once you learn the in's and out's of discworld, there is no turning back... They are just too addicting - like Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler's meat pies.

It wasn't THE best, but it was definitely worth the read. Like all Rincewind novels, this one was hilarious. Especially when Rincewind has conversations with his conscience and his libido...
It's better than The Colour of Magic, and about as good as the Light Fantasttic. It is of course about a 10 year old Sourcerer who leads all the Wizards in what is kind of like a Mage Wars, and Rincewind and Conina the hairdresser travel to Klatch with the Archchancellor's hat. They find themselves with Nijel the Destroyer, a teenager who wants to be a Barbarian hero. The Librarian tells (or rather "Ook"s) Rincewind that he must save the World and destroy the Sourcerer. This is where the famous half-brick in the sock originates.

This book had me cracking up more then any of the book so far. I feel like Pratchett is really hitting his stride here, and am really looking forward to moving on in the series. Rincewind should team up with Scooby-Do one of these days; I believe they would make a good team.

I highly recommend this book!

Pratchett has a better sense of humor than any other author whose book(s) I've ever read. This book, the fifth in the Discworld series, is not quite as good as some of his later novels, but it's still quite funny. The part of this book with the over-committed genie was my favorite joke from this book. (Funny title also!)

An ensemble cast, you could say, perhaps. Pratchett comes up with the whacky sourcerers, throwing that into the whole discworld and the number eight thing, with the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son type deal.

Rincewind, Death, the Librarian, and others have to deal with one of these guys to again stop the discworld being no longer a discworld.

This was the first book by terry Pratchett that I as a young man read. I love the way in which Mr Pratchett can move the imagination of a mind and create a place that you just find spellbinding. Sourcery is a story that seem to appear out of a magic spell gone wrong but ends up so right that you cant put the book down. When asking the question should I buy this book, you will in the future say, Why only now have I read this book. A must for all fans of the discworld. A masterpiece.

The world's favourite wizard is back. This book is funny, satirical and ingenious; as is now expected of the Discworld novels. It is not a let-down. Pratchetts's usual style is again the base of a work of art. The Luggage is extremely amuzing, as is DEATH. I would recommend this book to Discworld fans and newcommers alike. Pratchett is very forgiving to new commers starting in the middle of his series. You will not feel lost or left-out. Definately one to read.

Another book that is just as incredible as all other Rincewind books... i am slowly finding that he is my favorite character. It has tons and tons of fun and the story is very enganging and interesting. And there is something happening all the time (unlike wyrd systers which i didn't like very much.) Anyway, the only thing I really didn't like is the harsh way some characters were acting agains Rincewind... I mean, we all know how everybody is making fun of him and all but in this book there are a few occasions that it was too harsh. But overall a stellar read.