Rating: 
Summary: Intelligent parody!
Review: A friend of mine hooked me on the Discworld series not that long ago. She has been reading them in order of publication and afterwards lending them to me. I had found until this moment that while I have enjoyed every book, the Rincewind novels have not been my cup of tea.I found the extreme cowardice of Rincewind annoying. He showed no curiosity, no love, no qualities which made me interested in his continued well being. This has not truly changed in Eric, but for several reasons, I definitely enjoyed this adventure more than his previous. First of all, the book is short! At just under 200 pages, Rincewind did not have much of a chance to get on my nerves. Second of all, Terry Pratchett weaved in several very interesting ideas. The honeybees of Death, the Faust tale, a comparison of demonology with computer programming, cowardice as impetus for strategic battle, and so much more! Finally, there was the fact that over the course of four books concerning our "wizzard", Terry has slowly been humanizing him. Not too much. He's still an abject coward. But, there have been little moments where you realize that there is (slightly) more to Rincewind that running in terror from everything he encounters. He is reasonably intelligent, for example. Do not let his ineptitude at magic lull you into taking him for a complete fool (sorry King Verence!). Anyway, I highly recommend this and the rest of the Discworld books to anyone with a love of fantasy, humor, or intelligent fun!
Rating:
Summary: Classic, one of Pratchett's best!
Review: A near perfect rendition of the classic story of a boy and his genie...in Pratchett's own wicked style, the boy being
a teenaged demonology hacker who's always wanted three wishes, and the genie becoming Rincewind, the most incapable
and idiotic wizard on the Disc who can't keep his fingers
under control. One of the best Terry Pratchett books I have
ever read, just passing below the perfect mark because of
it's short length. Even when it has ended, it leaves you hungering for more.
Rating: 
Summary: his worst book by far
Review: All humorists have their off-days, but ERIC must represent something like an off-year for Pratchett. There are Pratchett books that have only one joke, and stretch it to a limit far past most readers' patience, like MOVING PICTURES, but this one has ZERO humor, it is about nothing, has no characters the reader would care anything about, veers mindlessly from pointless episode to pointless episode, and basically leaves the reader cheated and annoyed.
Rating: 
Summary: Pratchett's version of Faust
Review: Eric is a little bit of a letdown, compared to the other Discworld novels. It's number nine in the series, and by far the shortest (155 pages). This is because the paperback version lacks the illustrations that the hardcover version has (that one is a graphic novel in the same vein as The Last Hero), which explains some of its shortcomings, since it now seems a bit stunted indeed.
 The story concerns the teenage demonologist Eric (the Discworld equivalent of a young computer hacker, complete with glasses and acne), who tries to conjure up a demon to grant him three wishes (those wishes having mostly to do with beautiful women and power over the world, Eric being a young teenage boy, after all). The powers in Hell see this as a great opportunity, but just as they are about to send one of their minions to appear before Eric, an "unusual conjunction of circumstances" occur, enabling Rincewind (and the Luggage) to escape from the Dungeon Dimensions (where Rincewind had ended up as his reward for having saved the Discworld in Sourcery) into Eric's room in Pseudopolis (Hell, by the way, is a distinct place from the Dungeon Dimensions). Eric is convinced that Rincewind is a demon, and wants him to grant the three wishes. And to Rincewind's extreme surprise, things start to happen when he snaps his fingers. But, of course, Eric's wishes do not quite turn out as he had hoped, as he's taken on an eventful journey (during which, among other things, life gets started on the Disc when Rincewind drops a sandwich) through time and space, making him wish (again) that he had never been born.
The main problem with Eric is that the story is too short. The promised ordeals for Eric (who, by the way, is a very annoying character) never really materialize, and the whole thing has a half-finished feel to it. There are too many grand possibilities (a meeting with the Creator, time travel, a visit to Hell, and so on) crammed into far too little space, and much more could have been done with all these ideas and concepts. Still, it's not at all a bad book, and well worth the little time it takes to read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Any chance of the old edition?
Review: Eric is more of a Discworld novella than it is a novel. At 154 pages, it's not very substantive. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't a quality book. However, in this case, I'm sorry to say that Terry Pratchett dropped the ball a little bit. It's another Rincewind adventure, and like most of the other Rincewind books that I've read, it fails for the most part to entertain. I've never been a fan of Rincewind or his luggage, which I know makes me unusual for a Discworld fan. Unfortunately, Eric continues the trend of sub-par Discworld adventures featuring the incompetent wizard. I just didn't find it that interesting or funny, and the main saving grace is that it's short. If it had been longer, I think my rating would have been less. The idea is clever, a parody of Faust with Rincewind unable to fulfill any of the functions that the devil does in the original play. The execution of it isn't even that bad, though it's not up to Pratchett's usual standards. I guess my main problem with it is that Rincewind seems even a lesser part of things than he usually does. The luggage saves his bacon a couple of times, and the other times things just happen and outside forces end up dealing with things. I think he actually solves a problem himself once in the whole book. The concept of an observer who would rather be sitting home bored than actually taking part in all of these adventures may be a good one, but I don't find it very interesting. Because of that, Pratchett has to make the situation worth my while in order for me to like the book. Eric doesn't do that. There are amusing bits here and there, a wry comment or a funny situation, but as a whole it doesn't work for me. Once again, Death gets the best part of the book, and he's only in it for two scenes. The part at the beginning of the book where the wizards attempt to call forth Death to tell them what's going on is hilarious, with it not working quite as the wizards planned. He always seems to get the best lines in any Discworld book. There are a few other parts of the book where I actually laughed (like where Rincewind becomes a living part of history by tripping over something and setting the city on fire), but the overall affect, for me anyway, was "ho-hum." The thing that brings this book up to 3 stars, though, is the rendition of Hell that Pratchett has. Astfgl has made hell a boring place rather than a fiery place, because he's realized that souls can't really feel any pain, so eternal physical torment really isn't that bad when the soul can't feel anything. So he makes it intensely boring instead, with people chained to rocks and forced to listen to stories of hernia operations and vacations on the various circles of Hell. I found this idea very inspired, and had to laugh at quite a few of the bits here. I don't want to ruin any of the jokes here, since they were most of the funny ones in the book, but suffice it to say that Hell was the best part of the book, and the only real saving grace. The book's ending, though, is as uninspired as the rest of the book. It's a bit anti-climactic and not very well-done. Once again, Rincewind is saved by the actions of outside forces (not even the luggage saves him this time) and things start looking up for him again. Pratchett gives a rundown of what's happened to the various places that Rincewind and Eric have visited, but even that is only mildly amusing and not up to Pratchett's normal standards. I know there are fans of Rincewind out there. I've read a few reviews, and even they think that this is one of Pratchett's weaker efforts. If you're a fan of his, you may enjoy this book, though I would suggest checking it out from the library rather than buying it. If you're not a fan of his, than you may want to skip this one (unless you're like me, and want to read every Discworld book out there). Thankfully, it's short, so you won't spend too much of your life with this one.
Rating:
Summary: What happened to my demon?
Review: Eric is more of a Discworld novella than it is a novel. At 154 pages, it's not very substantive. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't a quality book. However, in this case, I'm sorry to say that Terry Pratchett dropped the ball a little bit. It's another Rincewind adventure, and like most of the other Rincewind books that I've read, it fails for the most part to entertain. I've never been a fan of Rincewind or his luggage, which I know makes me unusual for a Discworld fan. Unfortunately, Eric continues the trend of sub-par Discworld adventures featuring the incompetent wizard. I just didn't find it that interesting or funny, and the main saving grace is that it's short. If it had been longer, I think my rating would have been less. The idea is clever, a parody of Faust with Rincewind unable to fulfill any of the functions that the devil does in the original play. The execution of it isn't even that bad, though it's not up to Pratchett's usual standards. I guess my main problem with it is that Rincewind seems even a lesser part of things than he usually does. The luggage saves his bacon a couple of times, and the other times things just happen and outside forces end up dealing with things. I think he actually solves a problem himself once in the whole book. The concept of an observer who would rather be sitting home bored than actually taking part in all of these adventures may be a good one, but I don't find it very interesting. Because of that, Pratchett has to make the situation worth my while in order for me to like the book. Eric doesn't do that. There are amusing bits here and there, a wry comment or a funny situation, but as a whole it doesn't work for me. Once again, Death gets the best part of the book, and he's only in it for two scenes. The part at the beginning of the book where the wizards attempt to call forth Death to tell them what's going on is hilarious, with it not working quite as the wizards planned. He always seems to get the best lines in any Discworld book. There are a few other parts of the book where I actually laughed (like where Rincewind becomes a living part of history by tripping over something and setting the city on fire), but the overall affect, for me anyway, was "ho-hum." The thing that brings this book up to 3 stars, though, is the rendition of Hell that Pratchett has. Astfgl has made hell a boring place rather than a fiery place, because he's realized that souls can't really feel any pain, so eternal physical torment really isn't that bad when the soul can't feel anything. So he makes it intensely boring instead, with people chained to rocks and forced to listen to stories of hernia operations and vacations on the various circles of Hell. I found this idea very inspired, and had to laugh at quite a few of the bits here. I don't want to ruin any of the jokes here, since they were most of the funny ones in the book, but suffice it to say that Hell was the best part of the book, and the only real saving grace. The book's ending, though, is as uninspired as the rest of the book. It's a bit anti-climactic and not very well-done. Once again, Rincewind is saved by the actions of outside forces (not even the luggage saves him this time) and things start looking up for him again. Pratchett gives a rundown of what's happened to the various places that Rincewind and Eric have visited, but even that is only mildly amusing and not up to Pratchett's normal standards. I know there are fans of Rincewind out there. I've read a few reviews, and even they think that this is one of Pratchett's weaker efforts. If you're a fan of his, you may enjoy this book, though I would suggest checking it out from the library rather than buying it. If you're not a fan of his, than you may want to skip this one (unless you're like me, and want to read every Discworld book out there). Thankfully, it's short, so you won't spend too much of your life with this one.
Rating:
Summary: Short on page count, long on laughs
Review: First things first: "Eric" is the shortest Discworld novel to date. Even printed in a larger type face, it's slim on the bookshelf placed next to the rest of the series. What that means is that Pratchett didn't provide this novel with multiple interwoven plots, there isn't the female friend/companion who turns into a love interest (a staple of his novels) and all of the action is very narrowly focused on failed wizard Rincewind's escape from the Dungeon Dimensions, where he was trapped at the end of "Sourcery." He gets out when Eric, Discworld's would-be Doctor Faustus, a spoiled brat turned amateur demonologist, summons a demon from Hell and gets ... well, him. Somehow, Rincewind has been gifted with the power to grant Eric's rather venal wishes. These take the duo (trailed by Rincewind's sentient and extremely dangerous Luggage) through time and space. Along the way, we get parodies of Aztec religion and Ponce de Leon, a particularly well-done riff on the Trojan War (superior in every way to the quicker one in "Pyramids"), visit the beginning and end of the universe and see what Hell is really like. Without the need to slow down for a B-story, Pratchett moves through the story at a rapid clip, making this one of the best Rincewind tales to date, as well as tying up a loose end. (Pratchett has a bad habit of doing that with Rincewind; the first Discworld novel ended with him falling off the edge of the planet.) Know that you're getting what amounts to a novella in a novel's packaging, but otherwise, "Eric" lives up to the high standards Pratchett has set with his previous works. Recommended to fans of Discworld and Pratchett's collaboration with Neil Gaiman, "Good Omens."
Rating:
Summary: Pratchett is good.
Review: Funny as a goose in a dryer. Gotta read it for a laugh or two
Rating: 
Summary: Uninteresting Times
Review: Goethe's Faust and Dante's Divine Comedy mixed up on stage at the Discworld Theatre? Give me a break!! I couldn't bring myself to finish it. The most disappointing Discworld novel ever!!
Rating:
Summary: It was short- else I wouldn't have finished it.
Review: I acquired the first four Rincewind stories in one hardcover, but probably wouldn't have read this last one if it weren't so short- and the only thing I had with me in a long doctor's office wait. I had heard from numerous sources that Eric wasn't that impressive- but anything can be tolerated for a hundred or so pages. This time... Eric, a ten-year-old demonologist magically summons Rincewind, but mistakes him for a wish-granting demon. Together they travel to a few odd scenarios (as always), including a Trojan War spoof. But if you were amused by Rincewind and his Luggage in previous books, (as I was) Eric and Sourcery offer little new as far as character development is concerned. Pratchett has simply taken their main traits, magnified and repeated them- too often. Rincewind is even more cowardly, and magically incompetent than ever, and the Luggage still gets annoyed, has a range of wooden expressions and follows its master wherever- freaking out each new group of characters they run into... the usual. Nothing new at all. I cannot recommend Eric, but a fifth Rincewind book called "Interesting Times" is reportedly decent.
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