science fiction

Sourcery - Terry Pratchett Book Review

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"Sourcery"
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Review Summary
A renegade wizard had children, thus causing Coin,the last sourcer(this is a pun of sorts, as Coin is the source of Magic), to be born. Coin causes, by his very existence, for new magic to enter the world. This threatens the world, as the wizards, custodians of magic, will get drunk on power and repeat the historical era know as the mage war, which are analagous with nuclear war.
Incompotent and non-magical wizard Rincewind is charged by the hat of the ArchChancellor, a powerful magic relic, to protect the hat from the sourcer, as the university of wizards was created to prevent the problems sourcers create. Meanwhile, Coin enters the university, and, under the direction of his father's ghost, procedes to woo the remaining wizrds with his infinite power.
With the help of his carnivorous Luggage, Coina, the barbarian hairdresser, who cannot escape her barbarian heritage, and a genie, Rincewind must protect the hat from Coin, while simulteaneously staving off the apocalypse.
Eventaully, Rincwind finds himself face to face with Coin. Coin's father demands that the useless resistor be executed, but coin feels pity and hurls the staff binding the ghost to the world away. Coin then procedes to cast the spell perfected by the sourcers of yore, and leave the world to retire to a magic garden,, where his power would not be abused by wizards, and consequently saving the world from itself

snowy, Resident Scholar

Death has come for Ipslore, the eighth son of an eighth son who left the company of wizards to marry a common woman for love. But Ipslore tricks Death by placing himself in a staff that he gives to HIS eighth son, Coin, a mere slip of a lad destined to become a sourcerer, so that Ipslore can get revenge on his former colleagues and become master of Discworld. Naturally the wizards of Unseen University are too stupid and clumsy to stand up to this threat, but the planet has its unlikely saviors in our old friend Rincewind (widely known as the most inept wizard of all); Conina, a fabulous warrior and daughter of Cohen the Barbarian (though she'd secretly rather be a hairdresser); and young Nijel the Destroyer, a barbarian-wannabe who has been teaching himself to become a great warrior out of a book. The omnivorous, many-legged Luggage that attached itself to Rincewind reappears here (to fall in love and consume a number of mythical beasts that attack it), as does the orangutan Librarian. As is often the case, the set-up and the process of the story are better than the ending, but Pratchett fans will know what they're getting.
David Loftus, Resident Scholar


Detailed literary breakdown of Sourcery
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 15%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 45%




Tone of book - humorous or laughable
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past
Coming of age Yes
Youngster becomes - a powerful magician
Mental/magical powers focus Yes
magical powers: - clash between evenly matched magical power(s) (fantasy)
Parody Yes
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - unemployed - mage/magician
Age: - 40's-50's - long lived adults
Has magical/special powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character: - can cast many different spells
Eccentric: Yes - eccentric - deluded
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique - healthy but a geeky weakling

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - a kid - long-lived adults
Profession/status: - mage/magician
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - fire/thunder/weather cntrl - mind reading - mind control - super strength - can fly - can cast all sorts of spells - is very quick
Eccentric: Yes - obsessed - wild
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters - Genius (really!)
Physique - average physique - missing body parts/abilities

Setting
Terrain - Desert - Water
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a primitive/fantasy society - inhabited by friendly aliens
Planet outside solar system? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
scientific jargon? (SF only) - none/very little science jargon needed
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references only
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to Sourcery
How to Rescue a Dead Princess by Jeff Strand
Mort by Terry Pratchett
Bored of the Rings by Harvard Lampoon
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Bleeding Through Kingdoms: Cinderella's Rebellion by Riley LaShea




Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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