Rating: 
Summary: The Wizzard returns, and this time he's armed
Review: Rincewind is one of my favorite charecters in Discworld. and this time he's got guts. Three horsemen of the aprocralypse get drunk as skunks and forget to show up. The fiercest barbarian in the world's hairdresser daughter teams up with the richest man in the world and steal the horsemen's horses. And that's not all. This book is great.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful! keeping up his standards for greatness!
Review: simply loved it. i am a long-time Discworld fan and this book was no dissapointment
Rating: 
Summary: yeah well....
Review: Some hard core Pratchett fan is reading this right now and wondering why I gave this book a three, well... My first Pratchett book was Feet of Clay, having said that it is self explanatory that all other Pratchett books I read were a let down. Feet of Clay is weighted against all the rest of the series in humor and writing. After being somewhat deeply disapointed with the newer books I searched in the earlier works to try and match some of the brilliance of Feet of Clay, so far I read about half the discworld and finaly arrived at Sourcery. Pratchett is almost always a mediocare writer- his excellence lies in the compensating humor which in this book is mostly not there(with the notable exception of the horseman- this part also was a little overdone). So one star goes to the horseman (and one or two other worthwhile joks), one star for being discworld, and one star for the rich imagination- which later on in the series fades to a monotonous scenery of "the woods" - some well harvested charachters- and some repeating puns. All and all Ive been nice on this review mainly because the book although not well planed takes on some unexpected turns and is hence interesting (again as comparable to lack of this in other d.w. novels). If Pratchett happens to read this than-"stops the series before you run what's left of your credit to the ground", "take a summer off- combine some of your unique charachters and humor to one single concentrated novel like feet of clay". To the rest of humanity- forget this b.s. and read FEET OF CLAY.
Rating: 
Summary: One of his first...before he found his real style
Review: Sourcery is one of Pratchett's earlier books, and fans of his Discworld series won't be dissappointed. For those who haven't yet read Pratchett, this one has a bit more of a confusing plot than his later books. You might want to start with Pyramids, or something like that, even though Sourcer and the Colour of Magic both set up background and history referred to in later books. At least keep in mind that he really does get better.
Rating:
Summary: Sourcery - the return of Rincewind
Review: Sourcery is the fifth Discworld novel, in which we are treated to the return of Rincewind the Wizzard (and the Luggage, and also the Librarian). The book is a bit similar to Equal Rites, since we now have an eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son (who in this case really is a son), named Coin, who becomes a Sourcerer as the inevitable result of his pedigree. Sourcerers have incredible power, and in Coin's case this power is further augmented by his staff, which contains the soul of his dead father, Ipslore the Red. Ipslore wants revenge against the wizards who drove him out from Unseen University because he fell in love and had children (something which is strictly forbidden, since the result could be Sourcerers).
Coin and his sourcery, under the guidance of his staff, is a grave threat to wizardry, and a full-scale mage war soon breaks out, with Coin and his wizards against another group of wizards commanded by the Archchancellor's hat (which contains the essences of all past Archchancellors). The results are devastating, with chaos and destruction, and finally even the Ice Giants are set free to spread their glaciers over the disc (the four horsemen of the Apocralypse [sic] get a little sidetracked, however, or at least three of them do...).
The hat managed to escape from Unseen by the help of Rincewind, ever the reluctant hero, and the invincible barbarian heroine Conina (her father is Cohen the Barbarian), who really wants to be a hairdresser, but who is unable to fight her destiny. The escapees end up in Al Khali, where they are eventually joined by Creosote, the ruler of Al Khali (with a fetish for stories), who really wants to be a poet, and by Nijel the Destroyer, who really wants (and tries very hard) to be a barbarian hero. Eventually it is up to Rincewind to save the world once again.
There are some problems with Sourcery. For example, Rincewind's epic heroics in the end are quite against his character, and although Pratchett does give a reason for Rincewind to act the way he does (other than the fact that the fate of the whole world is at stake) - the reason being that you should always know what you are, and since Rincewind is a wizard, he must protect wizardry against sourcery - the whole business still feels a bit off. Then there is the inevitable romance that immediately develops between Conina and Nijel. This feels totally out of place. Conina is described as the sexiest and most desirable woman imaginable, and on top of that, she even has a nice personality (even though she's a barbarian, or perhaps that's why), and she's unbeatable in a fight. Nijel, on the other hand, although nice and intelligent, is the quintessential bumbling loser, and about as unattractive as it is humanly possible to be. So where is the basis for the sweet music? Pratchett is usually far more insightful than this. It is also hinted that Rincewind (and the Luggage) has began to develop feelings for her (as all men in her presence apparently do), but then Pratchett doesn't do anything with this and it just sort of fades out of the story. Also, in the latter part of the book, the other heroes (Conina, Nijel, and Creosote) do not seem to have anything to do anymore, as the climax is concentrated wholly around Rincewind and his confrontation with Coin.
Another thing to note is that, at this stage, the Discworld is still not fully developed the way it will eventually be in the later books. The big difference here is the way the wizards at Unseen are portrayed. A big part of the plot centres around the extreme competitiveness between the wizards, and how they frequently assassinate each other as a way of promotion. This doesn't really square with how the wizards are also described as typical dusty old university professor types, absent-minded, vague, bumbling, and very fond of food, drink, and smoke. In later stories Pratchett has wisely gotten rid of the assassination element, with the introduction of the various recurring wizard characters.
All in all, Sourcery is by no means a bad book. This is still highly enjoyable Pratchett stuff, and there are several quite hilarious episodes to look forward to. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Magic from the Source
Review: Sourcery, the fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, has many of the problems that Pratchett's earlier books had but shows a few signs of his breaking out into the Pratchett that I'm familiar with. Considering that Mort was the fourth book and was very good, I can only say that Sourcery is a step back, however. For the most part, it's a very hard 270 pages to get through.While I give Sourcery two stars, it is a better book than Equal Rites, the only other Discworld book that I gave two stars to. It's much more like 2.75 stars, if that were possible. This is for three reasons: The Librarian, Nijel the hero in training, and Conina, the thief who finds Rincewind. The Librarian is an ape who used to be a human wizard, until a magical accident lost in history turned him into an ape. He found that he likes it better as an ape, and has refused any attempts to turn him back. When Coin comes to take over, the Librarian must safeguard all of the magical texts in the University before Coin can destroy them. It's amazing how much characterization that Pratchett can give him when the only thing he can say is "Oook." However, his actions give him a certain nobility. He safeguards the Patrician of the city when Coin turns him into a lizard. While he's barricaded himself in with his books, he's not above showing Rincewind what he needs to do in order to save everything. Conina and Nijel are the other two saving graces. Pratchett does great things with his characterization of these two. Conina is a thief and warrior who wants to hide her lineage and just be a hairdresser. However, the fantasy conventions of her profession are too powerful for her. When she's surrounded, she can't bring herself to surrender, no matter how much she wants to. Instead, she must kick some tail. She's very dismissive of Rincewind when she finds out how incompetent he is, but she still feels responsible for him and helps him out whenever she can. Nijel is young warrior still getting his feet wet in this hero business. He has read the manual, but he doesn't have much practical experience. When things start to get out of hand, he always retreats to what the book says. His naivete is very touching at times, and very funny at other times. The only bad thing about the two of them, and this brings to mind the first problem in the book, is the "romance" that starts between them. Conina finds herself drawn to Nijel, and Nijel to her. In Nijel's case, it's obviously a bit of the warrior convention: the hero gets the girl, who falls all over him. However, it doesn't fit Conina's characterization at all, and the scenes where they make eyes at each other just seem too unbelievable. Then Pratchett seems to dismiss the whole thing, having Conina make a couple of harsh comments to Nijel. Finally, at the end, it comes back again, out of the blue. It feels completely arbitrary. The characterization of the rest of the cast is almost as bad. None of the other characters are really developed. Coin and the wizards fulfill their roles, but that's about it. The wizards are scheming back-biters, but that's the extent of their characters for the most part. The Sariph of Al Khali is fairly one-note as well, playing the stereotypical Sultan of Arabia with harem who, while he compliments women extensively, is only interested in them telling him stories. He's not very interesting, and I didn't find him very funny. Every time there's a woman present, he finds himself making lavish compliments ("Has anyone told you that your neck is as a tower of ivory.") He drinks a lot. But that's about it. There is a genie who is amusing at times ("Let's do lunch!"), but he starts to wear thin as well after awhile. Rincewind is just Rincewind, a coward who ends up doing the job despite himself. I have never really cared for him that much (with the exception of The Last Continent) because I don't find him that funny. And the intelligent luggage is just annoying, and it doesn't do anything interesting in this book. It just takes up space. Other characters are in the book just for the jokes they can provide, a failing that happens a lot with early Pratchett. The Four Horsemen are the best example. While the most prominent member is hilarious as always (Death, of course), the other three are there just for a long-running joke about being in a bar and forgetting what they're supposed to do. While it's amusing for a time, it starts to grate when Pratchett keeps coming back to them and the same thing occurs. All in all, this book is one to skip unless you're a completist. It's too bad, too, because Rincewind as a concept is interesting. However, of the four Rincewind books I've read, only one has been any good. I'll be giving the other two a try, but I'm not holding my breath.
Rating:
Summary: Another Wonderful Discworld Novel
Review: Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series is definitely one of my favorites. In Sourcery, the entire Disc is threatened by the sudden rise of wizards. The wizards are lead by one of the most feared people on the Disc, a sourcerer. What exactly is a sourcerer? The source of all magic, of course. The eighth son of an eighth son is, of course, a wizard. There was once a wizard that went out and had seven sons. His eighth son was a wizard squared -- a sourcerer. The sourcerer is the most powerful wizard ever, and with his coming, the powers of all the wizards has grown tremendously. With an evil staff urging him forward, the sourcerer and the wizards want to rule the Disc. They are apparently unstoppable. The hope of the Disc rests on the inept shoulder of Rincewind. Terry Pratchett is hilarious, and his stories are always witty and intriguing, and intelligent as well.
Rating:
Summary: Read Equal Rites Instead
Review: The back cover makes it sound like this is a sequel to The Color of Magic ("when last seen... Rincewind had fallen off the edge of the world"), but it instead appears to follow The Light Fantastic. We've got the luggage again, the Librarian, a magic hat, and a storyline involving a "sourceror" (a sort of super-wizard of the sort long gone from the disc). There are some moderately funny barbarian characters Conina (daughter of Cohen the Barbarian), and Nijel (a young boy who has apparently mail ordered a book on how to become a barbarian hero), but they are somewhat under-used. There are some alternate-universe science fiction cliches; the funniest involves the potential infinite regress of carrying a Djinn's magic lamp into the magic lamp itself; if you like Escher, it won't be anything new to you. A lot of the action takes place in Klatch, and there are lots of silly references to the Rubaiyat, 1001 Arabian Nights, flying carpets, etc. I'd describe this as a perfectly adequate but completely lackluster Discworld book, with little in it to stick in the mind; in particular, there's very little character-building, world-building digression or significant detail. It reads as if it was written from an outline, and barely fleshed out. In a few months, I doubt if I'll be able to remember much about it. Pratchett fails to achieve any real dramatic tension, partly because there are no clear limits to the Sourceror's power; he's able to easily dispatch the Disc gods and bring on the apocralypse (yes, I spelled that right; in the Discworld, the apocalypse is probably apocryphal). In typical Rincewind fashion we mostly try to avoid danger until the Sourceror's storyline plays itself out. This book does end having left Rincewind in an interesting state, though: he's trapped in the Dungeon Dimensions, having (rather uncharacteristically) thrown himself into grave danger in order to save the young Sourceror. The luggage goes with him, thank God; now, if only it would stay there. It's a shame that when we finally see Rincewind do something interestingly out-of-character, or perhaps revealing a bit of depth to his character, the book is ending.
Rating:
Summary: Read Equal Rites Instead
Review: The back cover makes it sound like this is a sequel to The Color of Magic ("when last seen... Rincewind had fallen off the edge of the world"), but it instead appears to follow The Light Fantastic. We've got the luggage again, the Librarian, a magic hat, and a storyline involving a "sourceror" (a sort of super-wizard of the sort long gone from the disc). There are some moderately funny barbarian characters Conina (daughter of Cohen the Barbarian), and Nijel, a barbarian hero-in-training, but they are relatively unused. There are some alternate-universe science fiction cliches; the funniest involves the potential infinite regress of carrying a Djinn's magic lamp into the magic lamp itself; if you like Escher, it won't be anything new to you. A lot of the action takes place in Klatch, and there are lots of silly references to the Rubaiyat, 1001 Arabian Nights, flying carpets, etc. I'd describe this as a perfectly adequate but completely lackluster Discworld book, with little in it to stick in the mind; in particular, there's very little character-building, world-building digression or significant detail. It reads as if it was written from an outline, and barely fleshed out. In a few months, I doubt if I'll be able to remember much about it. Pratchett fails to achieve any real dramatic tension, partly because there are no clear limits to the Sourceror's power; he's able to easily dispatch the Disc gods and bring on the apocralypse (yes, I spelled that right; in the Discworld, the apocalypse is probably apocryphal). In typical Rincewind fashion we mostly try to avoid danger until the Sourceror's storyline plays itself out. This book does end having left Rincewind in an interesting state, though: he's trapped in the Dungeon Dimensions, having (rather uncharacteristically) thrown himself into grave danger in order to save the young Sourceror. The luggage goes with him, thank God; now, if only it would stay there. It's a shame that when we finally see Rincewind do something interestingly out-of-character, or perhaps revealing a bit of depth to his character, the book is ending.
Rating:
Summary: Pratchett does it again!
Review: The world's favourite wizard is back. This book is funny, satirical and ingenious; as is now expected of the Discworld novels. It is not a let-down. Pratchetts's usual style is again the base of a work of art. The Luggage is extremely amuzing, as is DEATH. I would recommend this book to Discworld fans and newcommers alike. Pratchett is very forgiving to new commers starting in the middle of his series. You will not feel lost or left-out. Definately one to read.
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