Sourcery (Discworld Novels (Audio))

It's another Pratchett gem. Doctors might consider prescribing these books instead of anti-depressants for some patients. They always work for me.


sourcery review   February 5, 2006
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Sourcery is excellent.In Sourcery Rincewind,a failed wizard who can't even spell wizard and his "terminally dangerous" travel accessory the Luggage must save the Disc from Coin,the eigth son of an eigth son of an eigth son,the sourcerer.With the help of Coinina,the babarian hairdresser,Njiel the apprentice babarian,and Creosote,seriph of Al-khali they must make Coin throw away his staff causing him to lose his powers of sourcery.Sourcery is another exciting,fast-paced book by Terry Pratchett.If you enjoy this book then try books 1,2,9,17 and 22.


Apocralypse Now!   June 23, 2005
 4 out of 6 found this review helpful

Having broadened his scope with Granny Weatherwax and Death in the last couple of books, Terry Pratchett returns to original lead character Rincewind for the 5th Discworld novel. Rincewind is even more inept and cowardly than ever before, but is still a hilarious and sympathetic character, and it's nice to see the return of his homicidal sentient luggage.

Looking back at the entire series of Discworld novels before embarking on a re-reading, Sourcery was the novel I remembered least about. It turns out to be for a good reason - this book has a very simple storyline: a sourcerer tries to take over the world, Rincewind has to stop him, the end. It's not a bad book, and there's plenty of great humour, but don't expect any intricate plotting with this instalment. Re-reading the series in order it becomes clear that this novel is an expansion of some of the ideas previously used in Equal Rites - in both stories the main plot focuses on a young powerful wizard arriving at the Unseen University and putting the world at danger by their meddling with powerful magic (though this was only briefly touched on in Equal Rites due to the novel concentrating on Esk's apprenticeship), and both novels feature inherited magical staffs that watch over their young owners and drive the plot.

Sourcery is a good novel for fans of the Librarian, as he gets a substantial role for the first time, while Lord Vetenari makes his first (named) appearance. The novel breaks out of the standard Ankh-Morpork setting for a mid-book excursion to Klatch, and the introduction of Cohen's daughter Conina and inept wannabe-barbarian Nijel. It's a reasonably amusing diversion as Pratchett gets the opportunity to satirise Arabian Nights-style stories with flying carpets and genies, but ultimately the story of Nijel and Conina doesn't really have any impact on the outcome of the story. There's some good build up as we learn why the wizards laze around in the University instead of ruling the world, and some fantastic imagery as Coin transforms the University into a tower to challenge the gods, but ultimately the climax is a bit of a letdown.

With it's epic scope involving the fate of the entire Discworld and the release of the apocalyptic (or at least apocralyptic) Ice Giants, Sourcery should have more impact than it does. A light, readable, amusing book - but just a bit too basic a romp to really rank among Pratchett's finest.


Unfortunately showed a Lacklustre Rincewind   November 27, 2004
 3 out of 5 found this review helpful

Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic remain (combined) as two of my favourites out of the whole discworld series regardless of the fact that many of the others are much more developed. They remain in a special place in my mind largely because of the phenomenal creations that are Rincewind and Twoflower. After COM, I found myself missing them profoundly and felt only at eaze knowing that TLF would also feature my two favourite characters. Needless to say, by the end of TLF I wanted more of Rincewind and Twoflower still. I was delighted to hear that Rincewind makes a comeback in Sourcery.

Everyone knows that an eighth son of an eighth son is a wizard. And ofcourse wizards arent supposed to... you-know. But what if he did? An eighth son of an eighth son of an eigth son is born and a Sourcerer (source of magic)is created. Enter: Coin - the sourcerer who's about to take on the wizards at the Unseen University and take over the world.
Only Rincewind can stop the next potential Mage War so along with a cast of new characters: Conina, Nigel and the Serif (plus a cameo from a suave genie), he sets about (somewhat reluctantly) tackling the situation at hand.

Overall, I'm afraid I was disappointed. I'm not sure if I had too high expectations as I went into reading. There were a few let downs for instance, by the end of TLF, I'd imagined Rincewind to have matured and held his head up a bit more. However in sourcery, he returns as if all that happened in COM and TLF left him unchanged. That lacked authenticity. Also, I'd just finished Mort and when I felt read of Nigel as being gangly and enthusiastic, I imediately thought 'Mort!'. It didnt' help that I didn't find the plot that appealing.

Having said all that, I still ENJOYED reading this book - the only real 'letdown' I've had with any in the series is Equal Rites. Sourcery shines in comparison - the book itself is not bad! It's still funny, the loveable characters are still there (just don't compare too much :D )


Sourcery   June 26, 2004
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is a brilliant book in the best discworld tradition, funny clever and has a host of brilliant characters. It's the funniest discworld book i've read yet. The story is original and some of the ideas in the book are purely genius. The character conina is a great idea just when you thought you knew Cohen the barbarian you get Conina the barbarian hairdresser! The return of Rincewind put the icing on the cake, back and at his most amusing rincewind is a work of genius. This is a must read for all Discworld fans it's brill!!!