4) Sourcery, by Terry Pratchett (.co.uk, .com)

I have to say that this is not one of pterry’s greatest hits. Rincewind is really a one-joke character, and the proof of Pratchett’s genuis is that he stretched the joke out over two excellent books, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. The wizardly bits of Sourcery are done better in the earlier books, and the exotic foreign parts are better done in later books; the humour hits unrelentingly on the single note of bathos, with very little wit to enliven it. Though I did like this exchange, about why the magic carpet goes up when you tell it to go down, and vice versa:

“How did you get the carpet to fly? Does it really do the opposite of what you command?”
“No. I just paid attention to certain fundamental details of laminar and spatial arrangements.”
“You’ve lost me there,” she admitted.
“You want it in non-wizard talk?”
“Yes.”
“You put it on the floor upside down,” said Rincewind.

Anyway, I shall look out for Wintersmith when in London next week.

Top UnSuggestions for this book: seven evangelical Christian books, and then Runaway, a short story collection by Alice Munro.

The Colour of Magic | The Light Fantastic | Equal Rites | Mort | Sourcery | Wyrd Sisters | Pyramids | Guards! Guards! | Eric | Moving Pictures | Reaper Man | Witches Abroad | Small Gods | Lords and Ladies | Men at Arms | Soul Music | Interesting Times | Maskerade | Feet of Clay | Hogfather | Jingo | The Last Continent | Carpe Jugulum | The Fifth Elephant | The Truth | Thief of Time | The Last Hero | The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents | Night Watch | The Wee Free Men | Monstrous Regiment | A Hat Full of Sky | Going Postal | Thud! | Wintersmith | Making Money | Unseen Academicals | I Shall Wear Midnight | Snuff | Raising Steam | The Shepherd’s Crown