It's A Kind Of Magic (Sourcery - Terry Pratchett)

Member Name: Nomad

Product:	Sourcery - Terry Pratchett
Date:	24/11/03 (70 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The return of Rincewind, Generally strong characters, Very entertaining

Disadvantages: Some padding out of the plot slows things down, The Luggage isn't given enough to do

Sourcery is the fifth book in Terry Pratchetts often bizarre but always amusing Discworld series which currently weighs in at around thirty titles. A little while ago I was foolish enough to set myself the challenge of reading and reviewing them all and here we are, only four months later, and already I'm on book five. This could take a while ...

There is every chance that you'll find that the Discworld is a bit of an odd place. That's easy to say about a flat disc shaped world that travels through space on the back of four giant elephants who are themselves stood on the back of an even larger space turtle. But what might not be such a strange concept is that there are laws, rules and traditions firmly in place and whenever they get broken bad things happen.

Take wizards for example. The Discworld has a natural abundance of magic and so it comes as no surprise that it's inhabitants have attempted to harness this resource. Of course, there are people who are more adept at using it than others. If you are an eighth son of an eighth son you will become a wizard and, because wizards are expected to be celibate, that's where the story should end as indeed it has for centuries.

But things that shouldn't happen tend to happen quite a bit on the Discworld. One particular wizard, Ipslore, did fall in love and was banished by the wizards. He had seven sons, each of which was as powerful as any wizard. Then he had an eighth. A wizard squared, a source of magic, a sourcerer.

Bitter at the wizards' rejection, Ipslore is determined that his eighth son Coin, the sourcerer, will exact his revenge and become the ruler of them all. But, rather than leave it to destiny to take care of it for him, he is determined to play a more active part in events and, with literally only seconds of his life remaining somehow manages to transfer himself into Coins' staff leaving Death more than a little miffed.

Some year
s later the child arrives at Unseen University where all wizards go to learn their craft. Coin goes on to demonstrate his tremendous abilities and, despite the fear he initially arouses, his powers allow the wizards to perform magic they haven't been able to for years. Gradually they get swept up in things and soon most of them are obeying his every command. But it soon becomes clear that becoming Archchancellor of Unseen University is merely the first step in Coins plan.

Meanwhile, thanks to hundreds of years of sitting on the head of numerous Archchancellors of Unseen University, the Archchancellors' Hat has learned a few tricks of it's own. It's very much aware of Coins' ambitions and knows that the Discworld itself is in grave danger. The Hat summons a thief to steal it from the University and attempts to seek out a wizard unaffected by Coins' presence. A wizard who has a keen sense of tradition, doesn't mind facing a perilous journey in dangerous lands and almost certain death. A wizard who would not mind taking risks for high rewards. Unfortunately they find Rincewind.

For those of you who haven't read the first two books in the series (and if not, why not?) Rincewind is a failed wizard, unable to perform even the most basic spells. A self confessed coward he spends most of his time simply trying to stay out of trouble which is something else he's not very good at.

Since his last adventure he has become honorary assistant librarian at the university and life has been largely trouble free. But then Coin arrives and against his better instincts, he reluctantly becomes involved in an adventure which may possibly end with the destruction of the Discworld ... again.

So, here we are with book five in the Discworld series and if, like me, you've read the first four (in order obviously!) then you will know exactly what to expect. A varied cast of characters let loose in a magical land dealing
with the not so glamorous side of life. Add a strong dose of humour and an extremely active imagination and you'll end up with some of the best comic fantasy you are likely to lay your hands on.

After a short and rather dark opening prologue the usual elements soon fall into place. There is a constant flow of throwaway lines which will have you grinning like a idiot for most of the time and a fair selection of well thought out sequences to enjoy. Mr P has even found room for a flying carpet.

As expected there is a selection of new characters to get acquainted with as well as a few returning favourites. While not all of them are totally successful creations there are certainly more hits than misses.

Initially it's Coin himself (I love some of these names Mr P comes up with) who would appear to be the central character but the re-appearance of Rincewind a little way in soon confirms the direction the story will take. Coin gets relegated to supporting character status for most of the book, which is no bad thing.

The main players are Rincewind, who is back on top form, and Conina, a female thief who would actually rather be a hairdresser but can't quite ignore the calling of the genes passed down from her parents. We also encounter Nijel the barbarian adventurer who is just starting out at this adventuring lark and is keen to gain a bit of experience. We also get the return of the Luggage last seen with Rincewind in the first two books. The Luggage is a magical wooden chest that gets around on hundreds of little legs. Ferociously loyal to it's owner - now Rincewind - it had been rather enjoying the quiet life on top of the wardrobe before the sourcerer came to town.

Rincewinds' previous adventures were chronicled in the first two books entitled "The Colour Of Magic" and "The Light Fantastic". The following couple of books told the tales of other Discworld characters and while it was gr
eat to open up the series a bit I've got to say it's very comfortable to welcome back a character who feels like an old friend.

This is where reading the whole series starts to pay off. It's not essential and there is no reason why you couldn't tackle this as a one-off but there is a rich vein of humour which will go completely unnoticed if you have not read the previous books.

Many examples are subtle - Rincewinds first appearance in book one was in the Broken Drum tavern while in Sourcery he visits the Mended Drum - while others are more obvious references to his previous adventures and the characters he met while on them.

The Discworld series is like Marmite. You either love it or loathe it. As far as I am concerned the Discworld books are comic fantasy at it's best but if you simply don't like comic fantasy then you obviously won't like this. As such the only real way to rate each of these books is against the rest of the series.

Coming straight after "Mort", "Sourcery" doesn't quite maintain the urgency of the previous novel. There seems to be a little more padding out of the plot here than in the previous few books. It's not quite as tight a story as we have come to expect and that's something the first two books also seemed to suffer from. Rincewinds return is welcome, as is that of the Luggage even if it doesn't really have much to do for most of the book. Conina is the most interesting of the new characters and it would be great to see her returning later in the series.

It may not be in danger of overthrowing "Mort" as my favourite of the series but it's good entertaining fun and although some sections of the story do slow things down a bit there is always plenty of humour wrung out of each situation.

If you are up for a little shopping around you'll always be able to save yourself a couple of pounds off the RRP. WH S
miths are well worth a look both on the high street and online as they are currently running a 3 for 2 promotion which seems to include most (if not all) of the Discworld novels.

Next up for review is "Wyrd Sisters" and the tale of the book with no ending.


Thanks for reading.

© Nomad 2003




Book information
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'Sourcery' by Terry Pratchett
270 pages, published by Corgi, £5.99
ISBN: 0-552-13107-5


Some websites worth a look
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The L Space Web - http://www.ie.lspace.org/
Discworld monthly - http://www.ufbs.co.uk/dwm/
Terry Pratchett Books - http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/


Other Discworld book reviews by me
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'Destination Discworld' an opinion on Book 1 - 'The Colour Of Magic'
'Fantastical Magical' an opinion on Book 2 - 'The Light Fantastic'
'Men Only' an opinion on Book 3 - 'Equal Rites'
'A Life Of Death' an opinion on Book 4 - 'Mort'

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