The fifth Discworld book sees the return of Rincewind, whether he likes it or not, along with the Luggage, as they have to deal with the return of Sourcery after it being absent from the Disc for centuries, and for very good reason it turns out.
Ipslore the Red is an embittered, dying wizard. He’s embittered largely from being cast out of Unseen University for the crime of falling in love and having children. In fact, he’s had eight sons. His eighth son, Coin, is just a baby during our introduction to the book and this unusual wizard. He’s soon in conversation with Death where his bitterness is most apparent. As he dies, Ipslore intones a prophecy with the appropriate microscopic loophole that is required in such cases as Death is quick to remind him, and the dying wizard inhabits the strange metal staff he had made for his last child instead of going with Death. This fact not only sets the stage for what is to follow but also has important repercussions for Coin and the Discworld as well.
It’s been mentioned before that Discworld wizards are almost universally male and celibate, but despite some of the earlier, spurious reasons given for this, the real reason is that if a wizard has eight sons, that eighth son will be born a sourcerer, and sourcerers were a large part of why modern magic on the Disc is so tame in comparison. The battles between sourcerers had caused extreme damage to people, property, and even the Disc itself when such things were common, and the world was much younger. The world could not handle such powers again. Sourcerers have been unknown for so long for very good reason as we and the denizens of the Disc soon will find out in this volume.
Rincewind is back at Unseen University, working as the assistant librarian when the sourcerer makes his presence known. Rincewind must work with Conina, the daughter of Cohen the barbarian and a temple dancer who really wants to be a hairdresser, but instead she is a brilliant thief and warrior, even when she doesn’t really want to be; Nijel the Destroyer, a young man who despite all evidence to the contrary, is working to become a barbarian hero, he even has a manual that has instructions; the Librarian, who must protect the books of UU’s library; the archchancellor’s hat, which having been on the heads of so many archchancellors over the years, is not only sapient but quite powerful in its own right; and of course the Luggage, which finds itself even unhappier and more aggressive than usual in this book. The ruler of Al-Khali, Creosote, son of the original ‘rich as Creosote,’ ends up joining them after first being enchanted by Conina’s striking looks earlier, when his kingdom wasn’t under constant threat of magical bombardment and despite his poor poetry. The Patrician and his dog Wuffles also appear here, although not in way that either would be happy with, thanks to the power of sourcery and how it affects the wizards on the Disc.
Coin’s magical power as a sourcerer is extreme. He makes even the most powerful wizards at UU look pathetic by comparison. Despite his young age of around ten years, he quickly establishes himself as the leader of UU, and magic all over the Disc is made more powerful just by the fact that he exists. This in turn brings back the mage wars of the ancient past as wizards do not work well together; they raise towers all over the Disc and then proceed to hurl magic at each other just like what happened so long ago. This spirals out of control until things get bad enough that the very end of the world is threatened.
Despite the increasingly cataclysmic setting, this book is great fun as always thanks to Pratchett’s brilliant humor. I especially liked how much the Librarian got to do here. He’s been mentioned in earlier books, but this is the first volume where he gets to shine as a major character, instead of just being secondary at best. Few people can make a bunch of ‘ooks’ and ‘eeks’ work as well as Sir Terry does.
Sourcery is a bit of a throwback in a way. It feels a lot like the first two books, but it has a more coherent plot and Sir Terry’s writing has improved since they were released, so it gets a higher rating. I do quite like the world building here, the situation is suitably interesting and engaging, and the ending is both satisfying while also leaving us wanting to know what’s to come in future books.
3 and a half towers of sourcery out of 4.
Some fun quotes:
"I meant," said Iplsore bitterly, "what is there in this world that makes living worthwhile?" Death thought about it. "CATS," he said eventually, "CATS ARE NICE."
Strangely enough, he wasn't particularly angry. Anger is an emotion, and for emotion you need glands, and Death didn't have much truck with glands and needed a good run at it to get angry. But he was mildly annoyed. He sighed again. People were always trying this sort of thing. On the other hand, it was quite interesting to watch, and at least this was a bit more original than the usual symbolic chess game, which Death always dreaded because he could never remember how the knight was supposed to move.
Rincewind sagged. "Why me?" he moaned. "For the good of the University. For the honour of wizardry. For the sake of the world. For your heart’s desire. And I’ll freeze you alive if you don’t." Rincewind breathed a sigh almost of relief. He wasn’t good on bribes, or cajolery, or appeals to his better nature. But threats, now, threats were familiar. He knew where he stood with threats.
Morella is a Gen Xer who likes strange things a bit too much.
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