Sourcery (Discworld Series #5)

“Delightful. . . logically illogical as only Terry Pratchett can write.”—Anne McCaffrey

Will the most unlikely hero in all of Discworld save the universe once again . . . or has his luck finally run out in this wildly funny installment in Sir Terry Pratchett’s internationally bestselling series, a hilarious mix of magic, mayhem, and Luggage.

Once upon a time, there was an eighth son of an eighth son who was, of course, a wizard. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, said wizard then had seven sons. And then he had an eighth son—a wizard squared (that’s all the math, really)—who, of course, was a source of magic, a sourcerer.

Unseen University, the most magical establishment on the Discworld, has finally got its wish: the emergence of a wizard more powerful than they’ve ever seen. But be careful what you wish for . . .

As the drastic consequences of sourcery begin to unfold, it’s up to one unlikely wizard to save them. Rincewind has survived a string of misadventures, including falling off the edge of the world—which is no mean feat when it’s flying through space on the back of a turtle and held up by four elephants. Now, he must take the University’s most precious artifact, the very embodiment of magic itself, and deliver it halfway across the Disc to prevent a mathematically blessed sourcerer from leading the wizards to dominate all of Discworld.

Can Rincewind and his tiny band, including the carnivorous Luggage, stave off the Apocalypse?

The Discworld novels can be read in any order, but Sourcery is the 3rd installment in the Wizards series and the 5th Discworld book. The other books in the Wizards collection include:

  • The Color of Magic
  • The Light Fantastic
  • Eric
  • Interesting Times
  • The Last Continent
  • Unseen Academicals
1100185714
Sourcery (Discworld Series #5)

“Delightful. . . logically illogical as only Terry Pratchett can write.”—Anne McCaffrey

Will the most unlikely hero in all of Discworld save the universe once again . . . or has his luck finally run out in this wildly funny installment in Sir Terry Pratchett’s internationally bestselling series, a hilarious mix of magic, mayhem, and Luggage.

Once upon a time, there was an eighth son of an eighth son who was, of course, a wizard. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, said wizard then had seven sons. And then he had an eighth son—a wizard squared (that’s all the math, really)—who, of course, was a source of magic, a sourcerer.

Unseen University, the most magical establishment on the Discworld, has finally got its wish: the emergence of a wizard more powerful than they’ve ever seen. But be careful what you wish for . . .

As the drastic consequences of sourcery begin to unfold, it’s up to one unlikely wizard to save them. Rincewind has survived a string of misadventures, including falling off the edge of the world—which is no mean feat when it’s flying through space on the back of a turtle and held up by four elephants. Now, he must take the University’s most precious artifact, the very embodiment of magic itself, and deliver it halfway across the Disc to prevent a mathematically blessed sourcerer from leading the wizards to dominate all of Discworld.

Can Rincewind and his tiny band, including the carnivorous Luggage, stave off the Apocalypse?

The Discworld novels can be read in any order, but Sourcery is the 3rd installment in the Wizards series and the 5th Discworld book. The other books in the Wizards collection include:

  • The Color of Magic
  • The Light Fantastic
  • Eric
  • Interesting Times
  • The Last Continent
  • Unseen Academicals
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Sourcery (Discworld Series #5)

Sourcery (Discworld Series #5)

Sourcery (Discworld Series #5)

Sourcery (Discworld Series #5)

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Overview

“Delightful. . . logically illogical as only Terry Pratchett can write.”—Anne McCaffrey

Will the most unlikely hero in all of Discworld save the universe once again . . . or has his luck finally run out in this wildly funny installment in Sir Terry Pratchett’s internationally bestselling series, a hilarious mix of magic, mayhem, and Luggage.

Once upon a time, there was an eighth son of an eighth son who was, of course, a wizard. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, said wizard then had seven sons. And then he had an eighth son—a wizard squared (that’s all the math, really)—who, of course, was a source of magic, a sourcerer.

Unseen University, the most magical establishment on the Discworld, has finally got its wish: the emergence of a wizard more powerful than they’ve ever seen. But be careful what you wish for . . .

As the drastic consequences of sourcery begin to unfold, it’s up to one unlikely wizard to save them. Rincewind has survived a string of misadventures, including falling off the edge of the world—which is no mean feat when it’s flying through space on the back of a turtle and held up by four elephants. Now, he must take the University’s most precious artifact, the very embodiment of magic itself, and deliver it halfway across the Disc to prevent a mathematically blessed sourcerer from leading the wizards to dominate all of Discworld.

Can Rincewind and his tiny band, including the carnivorous Luggage, stave off the Apocalypse?

The Discworld novels can be read in any order, but Sourcery is the 3rd installment in the Wizards series and the 5th Discworld book. The other books in the Wizards collection include:

  • The Color of Magic
  • The Light Fantastic
  • Eric
  • Interesting Times
  • The Last Continent
  • Unseen Academicals

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780061807145
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 10/13/2009
Series: Discworld Series
Sold by: HARPERCOLLINS
Format: eBook
Pages: 320
Sales rank: 15,175
Lexile: 820L (what's this?)
File size: 5 MB

About the Author

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) is the acclaimed creator of the globally revered Discworld series. In all, he authored more than fifty bestselling books, which have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any.

Hometown:

Salisbury, Wiltshire, England

Date of Birth:

April 28, 1948

Place of Birth:

Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England

Education:

Four honorary degrees in literature from the universities of Portsmouth, Bristol, Bath and Warwick

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

There was a man and he had eight sons. Apart from that, he was nothing more than a comma on the page of History. It's sad, but that's all you can say about some people.

But the eighth son grew up and married and had eight sons, and because there is only one suitable profession for the eighth son of an eighth son, he became a wizard. And he became wise and powerful, or at any rate powerful, and wore a pointed hat and there it would have ended ...

Should have ended . . .

But against the Lore of Magic and certainly against all reason-except the reasons of the heart, which are warm and messy and, well, unreasonable -- he fled the halls of magic and fell in love and got married, not necessarily in that order.

And he had seven sons, each one from the cradle at least as powerful as any wizard in the world.

And then he had an eighth son . . .

A wizard squared. A source of magic.

A sourcerer.

Summer thunder rolled around the sandy cliffs. Far below, the sea sucked on the shingle as noisily as an old man with one tooth who had been given a gobstopper. A few seagulls hung lazily in the updraughts, waiting for something to happen.

And the father of wizards sat among the thrift and rattling sea grasses at the edge of the cliff, cradling the child in his arms, staring out to sea.

There was a roil of black cloud out there, heading inland, and the light it pushed before it had that deep syrup quality it gets before a really serious thunderstorm.

He turned at a sudden silence behind him, and looked up through tear-reddened eyes at a tall hooded figure in a black robe.

Ipslore the Red? itsaid. The voice was as hollow as a cave, as dense as a neutron star.

lpslore grinned the terrible grin of the suddenly mad, and held up the child for Death's inspection.

"My son" he said. "I shall call him Coin."

A name as good as any other said Death politely. His empty sockets stared down at a small round face wrapped in sleep. Despite rumor, Death isn't cruel -- merely terribly, terribly good at his job.

"You took his mother," said Ipslore. It was a flat statement, without apparent rancor. In the valley behind the cliffs lpslore's homestead was a smoking ruin, the rising wind already spreading the fragile ashes across the hissing dunes.

It was a heart attack at the end, said Death. There are worse ways To die take it from me

lpslore looked out to sea. "An my magic could not save her," he said.

There are places where even magic may not go.

"And now you have come for the child?"

No. The child has His own destiny I have come for you.

"Ah." The wizard stood up, carefully laid the sleeping baby down on the thin grass, and picked up a long staff that had been lying there. It was made of a black metal, with a meshwork of silver and gold carvings that gave it a rich and sinister tastelessness; the metal was octiron, intrinsically magical.

"I made this, you know," he said. "They all said you couldn't make a staff out of metal, they said they should only be of wood, but they were wrong. I put a lot of myself into it. I shall give it to him."

He ran his hands lovingly along the staff, which gave off a faint tone.

He repeated, almost to himself, "I put a lot of myself into it."

It is a good staff, said Death.

Ipslore held it in the air and looked down at his eighth son, who gave a gurgle.

"She wanted a daughter," he said.

Death shrugged. Ipslore gave him a look compounded of bewilderment and rage.

"What is he?"

The eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son said Death, unhelpfully. The wind whipped at his robe, driving the black clouds overhead.

"What does that make him?"

A sourcerer, as you are well aware.

Thunder rolled, on cue.

"What is his destiny?" shouted Ipslore, above the rising gale.

Death shrugged again. He was good at it.

sourcerers make their own destiny. They touch the earth lightly.

Ipslore leaned on the staff, drumming on it with his fingers, apparently lost in the maze of his own thoughts. His left eyebrow twitched.

"No," he said, softly, "no. I will make his destiny for him."

I advise against it.

"Be quiet! And listen when I tell you that they drove me out, with their books and their rituals and their Lore! They called themselves wizards, and they had less magic in their whole fat bodies than I have in my little finger! Banished! Me! For showing that I was human! And what would humans be without love?"

Rare, said Death. Nevertheless --

"Listen! They drove us here, to the ends of the world, and that killed her! They tried to take 'my staff away!" Ipslore was screaming above the noise of the wind.

"Well, I still have some power left:' he snarled. "And I say that my son shall go to Unseen University and wear the Archchancellor's hat and the wizards of the world shall bow to him! And he shall show them what lies in their deepest hearts. Their craven, greedy hearts. He'll show the world its true destiny, and there will be no magic greater than his."

No. And the strange thing about the quiet way Death spoke the word was this: it was louder than the roaring of the storm. It jerked lpslore back to momentary sanity.

lpslore rocked back and forth uncertainly. 'What?" he said.

I said No. Nothing is Final. Nothing is absolute. Except me, of course. Such tinkering with destiny could mean tee downfall of the world. There must be a chance, however small. The lawyers of fate demand a loophole in every prophecy...

Sourcery. Copyright © by Terry Pratchett. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

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