Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

260 Pages, Paperback (Fantasy Fiction)

I am again reviewing a Pratchett book. It is so easy to pick up another one of his books after reading something else, it just keeps happening. Most fans of Pratchett agree that he improves as a writer the further into his career he gets. I am not totally sure of the placement of Sourcery in the book release order, but we can see the quality of humor and writing is starting to shine at this point.

A long time ago a powerful wizard had his soul sucked into a staff. Generations pass and the eighth son of an eight son comes into possession of this enchanted staff. Through it he has the ability to tap into Sourcery, the source of magic. This is way more than the simple magic the Wizards in the Unseen University normally use. They all are soon drawn into a world where the most minor of wizards can do things they previously only dreamed about. As more wizards start to take advantage of this new power it starts to become apparent as to why Sourcery Magic has been unused for so long.

I found the book to be a quick and satisfying read. I wouldn't put it in with his best works, but it is certainly entertaining and worth a read for any fan of Pratchett. We start to see the writing that makes Pratchett great. He entertains amusing juxtapositions of ideas and humorous use of language. 

2 Emotional/Intellectual - Rincewind is the only characters I care much for in the book and that is mainly because of  interaction with him in other books.

4 Readability/Style - We see where Pratchett style really start to take hold and that is where this book really shines.

3 Long Term Impact - I can only see Pratchett's writing to become more and more appreciated as time goes on. That said I don't see this ever become a "must read" of his books.

9 out of 13. I would have liked to give it a 10, but I couldn't really justify it. Any Pratchett fan should read it, but this wouldn't be the place to start as a new reader.

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