Book Review: Sourcery by Terry Pratchet

Sourcerers, the magic users who can manipulate the magic of the Diskworld at it's source have become the basis of legends. There have not been sorcerers on the Diskwold for hundreds of years. Until the boy named Coin is born.

Coin is the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son. A wizard squared. The son of a disgruntled wizard who had been kicked out from the Unseen University. A boy whose father at his death had decreed his son would become arch chancelor of the Univerity, then willed his soul into his staff. 

A boy who has been led by the staff his entire life. 

When the time comes to pick a new arch chancellor of the University Coin appears in the wizard's gathering. He cows the wizards and convinces them that wizards should rule not just Ahnk-Morpork but all of Diskworld. 

The magical hat worn by the Arch Chancellor knows that sorcery is abroad. It calls for help and finds it in the form of a young barbarian girl named Conona who steals it from the Unnamed University, and also in the form of the bumbling and inept wizard Rincewind. The two must join forces to get the magical hat to faraway Klatch to find someone with the power to wear the hat and face Coin. But the question arises as the face of Diskworld starts to be magically changed by the whims of a child, will they find the right person before  the magic tears apart the barrier between reality and the unknown evil that waits to invade?

Sourcery is the fifth Diskword book. It is the third book containing Rincewind and is part of the Unseen University story arc of the 40+ long series. It is also one of the earlier books that I had not read before. I enjoyed this one quite a bit. The ongoing adventures of Rincewind have amused me since the first time I read The Light Fantastic and The Color of Magic.  I really enjoyed how this book really delved into how magic works on Diskworld, the history of wizardry and the Unseen University, and the effects of the great Thamaturgic War whose magical battles shaped the current day Diskworld. 

The edition that I recently acquired from an Amazon seller in the UK is one of the UK publisher Gollancz hardcover collectors editions. I have to say it is a beautiful little book. The cover art has been printed directly onto the cover, without having just a printed dust jacket. I am very happy to add this to my growing collection of Diskworld hardcovers. Since I started collecting the hardcover books on and off after The Truth was published in the early 2000's, I still have quite a few of the early books to get for my collection. Now I know to look for these special printings from the British publisher Gollancz, as they have the publishing rights of the first 21 books (up to Jingo)