📚 Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

43/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Back to the wizards of Discworld. Last time (in Equal Rites) we had the eighth child of an eighth child, this time we have the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son, all wizards, making them a “sourcerer” — someone who can tap into the very source of magic to create new magic. This does not go well for the Discworld, or for hapless reluctant participant (not really a hero) Rincewind. Once again, somehow, while not necessarily doing much, the Luggage is a standout character.

Me holding my iPad with Sourcery shown on the screen.

📚 Mort by Terry Pratchett

42/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Death has made appearances in every Discworld book so far (my understanding is that this continues throughout the series), but this is the first where Death is more of a central character — though most of what we learn is through Death’s apprentice, Mort. A neat way to really start to flesh out Pratchett’s cosmology and how he approaches Death (and death) on the Discworld.

Me holding my iPad with Mort displayed on the screen

📚 The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett

38/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I found this one to already be a bit better than the first in the series; it certainly had more moments that made me chuckle or laugh out loud. I’ve seen lots of comparisons between Pratchett and Douglas Adams, and while I could see that in the last one, it was definitely more evident here. As if with the first book, Pratchett and Adams definitely lived in the same town, but with this book they’re now next-door neighbors. On its own and if found without any prior knowledge, the first wouldn’t have hooked me; this one would have convinced me that I’d be interested in reading more.

Me holding The Light Fantastic as an ebook on my iPad

📚 The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

37/2023 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Though I’ve absorbed a certain amount of general Pratchett-related knowledge through decades of geek osmosis, until now I’ve not read any of his work (aside from his Good Omens collaboration with Neil Gaiman). Having been gifted a nearly complete selection of Discworld ebooks, after looking at several reading guides with various and sundry suggestions of where to start and how to continue, I finally just decided to start at the beginning and (over time) work my way through in publication order. Of course, this means that the first book I’ve read is one that many lists seem to agree might not be the best introduction to the series, which I suppose I can see – it does have a definite first-book “I have this idea for a humorous fantasy world series, let’s see if it works” feel to it. That said, it’s frequently amusing (particularly for someone old enough to have been reading fantasy in the 80s; much of this book might not land as solidly for someone raised on modern fantasy), and I actually found the idea of the Wyrmburg and its inverted dragonhold, where the riders walk along the ceiling by hanging upside down from rings by using hooked boots particularly imaginative. Admittedly, if I hadn’t already come across enough snippets, quotes, and other mentions of Pratchett and Discworld it might not be enough to solidly hook me, but as it is, I’m looking forward to reading on and seeing how Pratchett evolves the concept through the later books.

Me holding The Colour of Magic on my iPad

Neverwhere

Neverwhere tells the story of Richard Mayhew, a Londoner who stumbles ‘between the cracks’ of the city to discover London Below, a magical (and none-too-friendly) alternate London hidden beneath the streets.

I first discovered Gaiman through the Sandman series of graphic novels, and later his short story ‘Goliath’ that can be found on the Matrix website. I’d also read Good Omens a while ago and greatly enjoyed it, though at the time I didn’t connect Gaiman’s name with anything. He’s got a wonderful eye for the dark and the bizarre, and I’ve found his work quite good so far — but Neverwhere just didn’t quite grab me as much as his other work has.

I enjoyed it, but not quite as much as I was expecting. It was an extremely quick read (I read it in two days, with my only reading time being on the bus to and from work and at lunch), and was a lot lighter than I expected. I believe it was Gaiman’s first novel after his years of work on the Sandman comics, and I’m wondering if that may have affected his writing style as he got used to stretching away from the necessarily sparce narrative employed in comic work. I’m not at all sure, but that was how it felt to me — just a little rushed, as if there were a lot more details there that weren’t being presented. It also wasn’t quite as literary as I’d been hoping — one of the hallmarks of the Sandman series that sets it above so much other comic work in my mind was the great depth and background to it, drawn upon from myths, legends, and stories of cultures throughout the world. Neverwhere, despite being a novel rather than a series of comics, didn’t have that same expansive feel to it.

Still, an enjoyable, if light, read, and I’ll continue to track down the rest of what I can find from Neil Gaiman.