Book Review: Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

Hello, Discworld my old friend! And that is as far as I get with this book. Sourcery isn’t one of my favorite Discworld novels. It lacks something. I think that something is the thought process behind the setting. The usual depth and thought are missing, the reasons why I love Terry Pratchett’s writing. There were some intriguing, intelligent, and funny lines in Sourcery that saved the book, but overall it is an okay book.

I read the book with my book club and noticed that there was a consensus that the actual battle between the wizards wasn’t engaging and nobody could give a rat’s ass about it. It surprised me to hear this as I have always thought this was just my low opinion. It wasn’t. I think the reason for general disinterest for the wizards was there was no personal engagement there. It feels irrelevant and unattached.

The only one I was rooting for in the whole book was the Librarian and his fight to save the books. That wasn’t a lot to carry me on reading. I love Pratchett’s funny and intelligent lines, but they have never been for me the driving motivation to read onward. I have always looked forward to reading about the social and political commentary he argues or ponders about. There was none of that in Sourcery. Maybe Coin and his forced fate could be thought as a driving force in the book, but it felt weak and not well put together. I feel sorry for Coin though. To be all-powerful and know nothing of humanity.

I’m sorry I cannot give a more in-depth analysis of Sourcery. I and this book just didn’t connect. It is not a bad book. There are some amazing lines in it. Noteworthy quotes. But I need substance!

Thank you for reading!