SPOILERS Sourcery Discussion **Spoilers**

[Anonymous]

If I remember correctly he had the medallion that showed he graduated, though it was more of a 'For hell's sake, your useless. Here, graduation medallion, now GTFO' thing. He said he'll re-enroll at the UU at the end of TLF. Next time we saw him (in Mort) he had been made the Librarian's assistant, and it's constantly mentioned that he failed to pass any exam. (He CAN do magic, though, he just needs a strong magical enviroment. Very strong)

 

[raptornx01]

I could have sworn they mentioned the hat in the first two books, i'll have to go through them again..... though i had been planning to anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

Will have to check again too, but if I recall correctly Rinso lost his hat in CoM when they fled the city.

 

[TimBou]

While on the subject of Sourcery, timelines and links between books...

I'm just reading Interesting Times for the first time. There's a little bit near the beginning where the Dean and Recent Runes sort of admit to having been involved in that... unpleasantness with the Sourcerer, years ago. But from a distance. Visiting their aunts or sitting in their rooms quietly.

Do the Dean, Recent Runes, Bursar etc. have real names? I don't recall any passages from the books I've read so far that go into this, though I haven't finished the Last Continent yet and I know there was a bit in there about the Librarian's name.

I get the feeling Pratchett just wrote the stories as they came, made things up and then went back to see what needed patching up to create a coherent history. Kind of like the History Monks.

 

[Tonyblack]

We know the Dean is named 'Henry' and the Burser is Dr. A. A. Dinwiddie. However, the Burser in Sourcery is not Dinwiddie. The Librarian is Dr Horace Worblehat.

One of the reasons for choosing Ridcully as Archchancellor is that he really was away during the events in Sourcery. By the way - Moving Pictures is the next discussion and the first appearance of both Ridcully and Ponder.

 

[TimBou]

Thanks, it's really interesting to watch how the characters, races, institutions evolve from one book to the next. - I'm just having a go at writing a book myself for the first time and that helps me understand a bit more how it probably works. When I get to a certain point I have to go back and rewrite/add/delete etc. in order to get to the end. Otherwise the whole thing will just fall in a heap. Must be a bit trickier in some ways when you've written 39 of them all set in the same world!

Yes, MP was one of the first DW books I read - not one of my favourites but I think I would like to read it again now that I know a bit more of the UU story.

 

[Anonymous]

Plan the general outline for races/the world ahead. As well as what the characters are like and avoid turning them 1-dimensional and7or their personality by 180° because otherwise your story wouldn't work. (An advice: DO get -how not to write a novel. While tongue-in-cheek, it is much more helpful than those How to books and novel writing. For further advice, ask Jan )

 

[Sister Jennifer]

Is this the only DW novel that has the ice giants in it? Rincewind is a real hero in this one, with his half-brick in a sock and being blasted into the Dungeon Dimensions while saving Coin. The Librarian quiet likes Rincewind. It's lovely how he carefully puts Rincewinds battered hat on a shelf in the library and the line goes something like, No matter how far away a wizard is, he'll always come back for his hat.

 

[raptornx01]

They are mentioned in other books, but never seen.

 

[Tonyblack]

It struck me, when I read it this time, that this was a book about an out of control arms race. It was as if our own Cold War suddenly got Hot.

The wizards knew (it seems) that their actions could cause the end of the world, and yet they just couldn't stop themselves from hurling spells at each other.

The role Rincewind plays is most significant in that he realises that someone has to put a stop to the madness, and he accepts that has to be him. As Sister Jennifer says - this is Rincewind being a real hero.

For those of us who lived through the fear of the Cold War, this is an interesting parallel.

 

[TimBou]

Thanks Tony yes I can certainly see that parallel - actually makes a bit more sense in that light having the global takeover and the huge palaces all over the place.

 

[S@mwich]

When I started reading sourcery, for the first half of the book I misread conina as corina and thought it was alluding to to crowns, and thought that she would crown the new archcancellor at the end

 

[TimBou]

When I started reading sourcery, for the first half of the book I misread conina as corina and thought it was alluding to to crowns, and thought that she would crown the new archcancellor at the end

Yes that is one of the great joys of reading Pterry... guessing where it's all going to end up and usually getting it wrong! Even if you know where he's going you still can't usually predict how he's going to get there. Though you can predict it will often be due to a one in a million chance...

 

[Tonyblack]

You now have two weeks to read or reread Moving Pictures for the discussion starting on Monday 7th May.

This is the last of the discussions - at least for now - so let's try and make it a good one.

 

[Tonyblack]

You now have just one week to read or reread Moving Pictures for the discussion starting on Monday 7th May!

 

[Mimpsey]

I have read the first six DW novels...and I too have found this to be the least enjoyable of the lot. I think this is mostly due to character motivations seeming to either be nonexistent or all over the place. I understand why Coin is doing what he is doing...he is being controlled by his father Ipslore...but I don't understand the father's motivations for wanting to rule the DW...or bring wizardry to its rightful position...he chose to leave the Order to pursue love...and now he seeks to bring it to greater glory...or something.

I understand Rincewind's motivations...he is being forced, as usual. Conina I am less sure about...she steals the hat...because she steals things? The hat wants to get away from the Sourcerer...why Klatch I am not sure about (I know it said it would find someone worthy there...but Abrim?)...and why it involves a pitiful wizard like Rincewind...ditto.

That said...it has plenty of humor...action...Sir Terry's fun prose. The theme of self-definition was thoroughly appreciated...Rincewind, Conina, and Nijel are what they are because that is how they see themselves. Creosote writes horrible poetry, but he enjoys doing it...so there; and his nigh orgasmic delight in hearing a story is wonderful. For all of the seeming faults...it's Discworld. A good time is inevitable.

 

[Turtles4Ever]

I'm currently re-reading Sourcery (for the first time in at least 10 years) and it's a chore (but not as much of a chore as Moving Pictures or Soul Music .........).

It's not BAD as such but it IS lacking both in terms of story and interesting characters.

It also has a rather high "waffle factor", in other words Terry often meanders off for a few paragraphs (or pages!) and totally drops the story, so ruining the flow.

I often wonder when it was written - in many ways it feels like a more light-hearted Equal Rites, another book with a pretty big "waffle factor". Yet Sourcery was published after the excellent 'Mort', a book which was clear and concise without any waffle.

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

With or without the syrup.

 

[Turtles4Ever]

"With" of course.

 

[=Tamar]

It also has a rather high "waffle factor", in other words Terry often meanders off for a few paragraphs (or pages!) and totally drops the story, so ruining the flow.

Just a difference of opinion here. I see those as adding grace notes, or like touches of color in a painting that add to the whole. A novel need not always be a single rush of plot.