‘Sourcery’ is book five in Terry Pratchett’s magisterial Discworld series. It features the return of Rincewind, the world’s worst wizard of whom it was said that when he “dies the average occult ability of the human race will actually go up by a fraction”.

In the Discworld we have seen thus far, (i.e. in books 1-4) the wizarding community is generally held in low regard. Wizards have their uses but are not particularly respected or valued. The fact that Rincewind is their most travelled representative does not help that situation of course. But all this changes in ‘Sourcery’, when the eighth son of an eighth son goes on to have an eighth son, the result being that rarest of magical phenomenon, a wizard squared, a Sourcerer, the most powerful wizard on the disc.

The source of this trouble (see what I did there?) begins with Ipslore the Red, a wizard banished from Unseen University for getting married. Marriage and procreation are forbidden for wizards, ostensibly as a precaution against the accidental creation of a Sourcerer, although I would have thought that a prohibition against having any more than seven sons would have the same effect. Ipslore vows revenge upon all wizardry, and has an eighth son, Coin. Ipslore then cheats Death by transferring his soul into Coin’s staff.

Coin makes his way to the Unseen University, (I noticed traces of the plotline of ‘Equal Rites’ here, with a child of significant magical power), casually murders the Archchancellor, and effectively takes his place. Most wizards welcome the significant boost to their powers that Coin’s arrival gives them, and accepting his plans for world domination as a matter of might is right. Rincewind, accompanied by Twoflower’s Luggage and the Librarian, flee the university with that inherent sense of self preservation that has served them so well, and join up with Conina, professional thief and daughter of Cohen the Barbarian, who has stolen the Archchancellor’s sentient hat. (Does Harry Potter’s sorting hat owe a debt to Pratchett here? Hard to be sure because JKR borrowed quite freely from across literature ancient and modern. For the avoidance of any doubt, I have no problem with that – after all Shakespeare did exactly the same). Together they feel to Al Khali, where they meet Creosote, the seriph of Al Khali, and Abrim, his treacherous vizier. Speaking of borrowing, Pratchett proceeds to rework the ‘1001 Nights’ in this thread of the story.

The second wizarding war between Coin’s forces and those led by Abrim, now being controlled by the Archchancellor’s hat, kicks off. The possessed vizier is killed by the Ankh-Morpork wizards, leaving Coin to continue his rampage. He traps the Discworld Gods, accidentally releasing the Ice Giants and therefore triggering the end of the world. A timely intervention by Ipslore eventually rectifies matters after some visits to teh Dungeon Dimensions – you can probably tell by now I was not taking notes, but with Pratchett the plot is really a peripheral part of the experience.

Binge reading any author usually leads inevitably to surfeit and a sense of diminishing returns, so I am going to pause my Pratchettery for now. But I know for sure that I will be picking up series up again soon enough.