Eric | Terry Pratchett | Another Hilarious Romp on the Discworld

Eric | Terry Pratchett | What else needs to be said for a Terry Pratchett book?

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Eric

	Eric Terry Pratchett HarperTorch, 2002 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 53 reviews view larger image
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Discworld's only demonology hacker, Eric, is about to make life very difficult for the rest of Ankh-Morpork's denizens. This would-be Faust is very bad...at his work, that is. All he wants is to fulfill three little wishes:to live forever, to be master of the universe, and to have a stylin' hot babe.

But Eric isn't even good at getting his own way. Instead of a powerful demon, he conjures, well, Rincewind, a wizard whose incompetence is matched only by Eric's. And as if that wasn't bad enough, that lovable travel accessory the Luggage has arrived, too. Accompanied by his best friends, there's only one thing Eric wishes now -- that he'd never been born!

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Another Hilarious Romp on the Discworld

Terry Pratchett has become one of the most popular authors alive today and his popularity is richly deserved. But not even with his fertile mind could ever have envisaged the heights to which his Discworld series would rise. This book was first published in 1988 and is number six in the Discworld novels.

You would think that a fantasy world full of trolls, zombies, witches, vampires would be an alien concept to most readers. Werewolves and dwarves in the Ank Morpork city watch. Wizards running a university. All this produced by one of the funniest minds writing today. Surely this type of writing would have a very limited readership. Not a bit of it, new books by Pratchett are almost as eagerly awaited as are the current J. K. Rowling offerings.

What do you do when you are fourteen years old and live on a place as crazy as the Discworld. Well, whatever fourteen year old boys do wherever they live. Make a nuisance of themselves. Eric has achieved that magical age of fourteen, how, nobody knows and has decided that as he is a little devil himself he might as well try and raise a few more, with less than successful results. What he does manage to raise is our old friend Rincewind, a wizard. Now what Rincewind doesn't know about wizardry really isn't worth knowing. No really it isn't worth knowing. Of course where Rincewind goes, the Luggage will surely follow. Now this really is worth having, a piece of luggage that never gets lost and it does, it always manages to find you. What a boon for the modern day airport.

The usual hilarious mayhem occurs, hocus pocus, the old three wishes trick and even a trip to hell, not to be recommended for the those of a nervous disposition. Hell that is, not the book which is hilarious and should be recommended to anybody and everybody.

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What else needs to be said for a Terry Pratchett book?

If you haven't read any of Terry Pratchett's books, you are missing the boat. Entertaining to no end, and Eric follows suit. Simply wonderful!

Fast, funny, clever

This is the story of Eric Thursley, a young man with three small ambitions--he wants to rule the world, live forever, and secure the love of the most beautiful woman who ever lived. To achieve his goals, Eric attempts to summon a demon. Through a cosmic fluke, he gets Rincewind, Discworld's most incompetent wizard. Bound by the rules of the netherworld, Rincewind grants Eric's wishes, but not in the manner Eric expects. Over the course of the novel, Eric learns that there is only one thing worse than wanting something--actually getting it.

Pratchett does some funny riffs here, putting a humorous spin on such classics as The Iliad and The Odyssey. Especially funny is the Tezuman tribe, who, like Mark Twain, have concluded that God is a malign thug. This pessimistic, sour bunch has a score to settle with their creator, and when Eric shows up claiming to be the big kahuna, chaos ensues. If you're looking for a quick read, that's funny, fast and clever, this one's for you.

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Not Free SF Reader

Or, Rincewind goes to Hell. In other words, Pratchett has decided to again spoof another couple of pieces of writing.

A young lad wants to do the whole power, fame, women, etc. thing and tries to summon a demon. Much to his disappointment, he gets Rincewind.

You also get Death, the Librarian, the Luggage, and a parrot.

Eric: A mid-shelf outing form Terry Pratchett

I am, of course, Terry Pratchett's biggest fan, and normally willing to defend the man against just about any accusation. In this case, however, I'm afraid that I must agree with the consensus. "Eric" is one of Pratchett's most mediocre novels. It is short and hasty, for beginners. The main character is a major pain in the neck and not much more. The humor is fairly sparse. As a whole, the book doesn't seem to have much point.

Rincewind, last seen in the Dungeon Dimensions, gets summoned by a bizarre rite of wizardry that was intended to produce a demon. The summoner was Eric, a pint-sized teenager with a naughty parrot and a serious acne problem. Eric has three little wishes: to rule the world, see the most beautiful woman in existence, and live forever. Fate, however, has some tricks to play. The ensuing series of events will carry this non-dynamic duo to the usual set of exotic locations and wild adventures, before depositing them more or less where they started.

Eric is the main problem with the book. Being mainly just unpleasant and unable to learn, he has no appeal and we don't have anyone to cheer for. Moreover, the relationship between the two main characters never seems to gel. "Eric" is, in short, a largely pointless book. The Pratchett humor is there in small doses. I particularly appreciated a conversation between the Devil and Death which alone may be worth the price of the book.

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