This Book IS For:
- Readers who like a dash of fantasy with their humor
- Fans of Pratchett’s other work (if you like one, you’re going to like most of them in my experience)
This Book Is NOT For:
- People looking for a straight A–>B plot with no orangutan or sentient luggage-based interruptions
- Those who want a meaty plot and characters they can sink their teeth into—metaphorically, I hope
Brief Review With Mild Spoilers
If you’ve never made your way through the Discworld series there is a ‘guide’ in the loose sense that scratches in dirt can be considered a map:
Using this guide, I am making my way through the wizarding series, and I’ve restarted my journey with Sourcery. Rincewind, the presumed protagonist, is a cowardly wizard who can’t do much magic, and I liked him significantly more in this outing compared to Color of Magic. The story is nonsensical and often confusing, in true Terry Pratchett fashion, but despite that, I found myself laughing the whole way through and rooting for the unlikely band of heroes.
As usual, the star of this novel is really Pratchett’s world. Whether it’s orangutan librarians or genies who are busy diversifying their lamp portfolios, everything has an explanation and it’s often ridiculous. Pratchett fills every last corner of the book with inane details, but they never become boring. It does lead to this story feeling a little long in the tooth and meandering at times, but it suits his writing style.
Rincewind wasn’t a particularly compelling protagonist in Color of Magic, but Sourcery changed that. Although he is a coward and runs from every fight, the book had me rooting for him. While many of his good deeds are done by accident, his personality shines and embodies the absolute chaos that is the disc. The companions Rincewind travels with are equally at odds with their life goals (a barbarian that hasn’t done much fighting, and one that has, but would rather be a hairdresser), and together they make for an entertaining group of heroes.
My one complaint is that the story can be difficult to follow. Part of that is Terry Pratchett refusing to use chapters in most of his Discworld novels: “Life doesn’t happen in chapters— at least, not regular ones.” While I agree with the sentiment, it does make the book difficult to parse with my ADD brain which needs breaks from processing every once in a while. On a positive note, it does lend the book the overall quality of a rambling tale that happens all at once despite spanning multiple POVs, and that’s interesting if nothing else.
Overall, I enjoyed Sourcery. I wouldn’t call the character development strong, but it was entertaining. Pratchett thrives by using fantasy tropes to poke fun at the real world, and that’s a joy to read as always. In my opinion, this is not the best entry point to the Discworld books. The story throws a lot at the reader very quickly and the lack of structure might be even harder to follow without some context for the world. I’d recommend starting with Mort—from what I’ve read so far—as it ties in nicely with Sourcery and is a bit easier to follow.
4/5 Stars – I would like one of whatever they serve in Ankh-Morporkian taverns, please
If you liked this review, consider checking out my new audiobook, The First Ambassador to Crustacea (4.56/5 stars on Goodreads). This story is a humorous sci-fi adventure filled with psychic crabs, mechanized war submersibles, and a talking shrimp! It’s also included with your Spotify Premium membership or available wherever audiobooks are sold.
Ashton Macaulay 