Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

 

Sourcery by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ipslore the Red the eighth son of an eighth son and a mage of incredible power and above average (for a Wizard) level of arrogance is thrown out of the Unseen University after he shows tendencies towards relationships and love for a woman. He has seven sons all mighty Wizards and then he has an eighth son (Coin) who is born with the power to create magic, to wrap the world around his will, he is a Sorcerer. Death however comes to us all and will not allow Ipslore to dictate the fate of Coin, destiny and free will must have a chance so if the new born sorcerer willingly abandons his staff only then will the future have a chance to be something other than a world without wizardry and alas by extension human life as the Ice Giants ultimately return to reclaim the Disc.
Coin eventually makes his way to the University and offers the Wizards power and influence beyond the walls they themselves have made however with the wisdom of mages down the centuries the Archchancellors Hat arranges for itself to be stolen but ends up in the hands of Rincewind who truth to form gets as far away from the University as possible.
Well there we have the foundation for the fifth novel in the Discworld series, a Sorcerer who can pretty much do anything leads the University faction of the Wizarding world into a Mage War and once again the Discworld trembles on the edge of catastrophe. Rincewind has adventures along with a new companion ( Conina the daughter of Cohen the Barbarian ) and of course the Luggage. Overall the narrative is quite compelling, we understand why Wizards are not encouraged to marry and why by and large they don't do magic. The history of the disc is also expanded to clarify the existence of the areas saturated with magic (source of Sapient Pearwood) and why the Gods are useful in the bigger picture if not in everyday events. Sourcery is a Rincewind novel but not so much as you would think, the secondary and ancillary characters are pretty well presented and are entertaining in themselves and the story flows well leading to a satisfying and ultimately logical conclusion.

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