Sourcery: (Discworld Novel 5) (Discworld Novels)

Product Information

Once upon a time, there was an eighth son of an eighth son who was, of course, a wizard. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, said wizard then had seven sons. And then he had an eighth son—a wizard squared (that’s all the math, really)—who, of course, was a source of magic, a sourcerer. Once there was an eighth son of an eighth son. He was, naturally, a wizard. And there it should have ended. However (for reasons we’d better not go into), he had seven sons of his own. It's vital to remember who you really are . . . it isn't a good idea to rely on other people or things to do it for you, you see. They always get it wrong.'

Sourcery by Terry Pratchett | Waterstones

Eight years later, Virrid Wayzygoose, the Archchancellor-designate of Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork, is murdered before his induction by Coin, who then forces his way into the university's Great Hall. After Coin bests one of the top wizards in the University, he is welcomed by the majority of the wizards. Rincewind, The Luggage and the Librarian miss Coin's arrival, having fled the University shortly beforehand after the foreboding departure of all of its magically-influenced pest populations. While they are at the Mended Drum, Conina, a professional thief and a daughter of Discworld legend Cohen the Barbarian, arrives holding a box containing the Archchancellor's hat, which she has procured from the room of Wayzygoose, and which possesses a kind of sentience as a result of being worn by hundreds of Archchancellors. Under the direction of the hat, which sees Coin as a threat to wizardry and the very world, Conina forces Rincewind to come with her and take a boat to the city of Al Khali, where the hat claims there is someone fit to wear it. As the drastic consequences of sourcery begin to unfold, one wizard holds the solution in his cowardly, incompetent hands. Rincewind must take the University’s most precious artefact, the very embodiment of magic itself, and deliver it halfway across the disc to safety . . . If he doesn’t make it, the death of all wizardry is at hand. There are many references to geasa in the text, which are idiosyncratic curses, vows or obligations placed upon a person (usually a hero, such as Cúchulainn in Irish mythology).Once again the cowardly wizard must embark on a quest: to deliver a precious artefact - the very embodiment of magic itself - halfway across the Disc to safety. If he doesn't make it, the death of all wizardry is at hand. Gregor Mendel, considered the father of modern genetics, was an Austrian monk who experimented with sweet peas in his 1960s genetic experiments. American embryologist Thomas Hunt Morgan is considered the founding father of Drosophila (fruit fly) research, and arguably the father of genetics in the USA. Thomas started working with Drosophila in 1908. Fruit flies are used in contemporary genetics. At the time Sourcery was written it was believed that you could only cross individuals within each species, not across and that, transferring genes between plants and animals was not remotely - the 'fundamentals' to which Pratchett refers. Since that time however, genes from one species have been routinely inserted into another - the basis of GMO food. One of the earliest was the insertion of a flounder anti-freeze gene in a tomato to attempt to make it more cold weather tolerant. May well be considered his masterpiece . . . Humour such as his is an endangered species' The Times There was an eighth son of an eighth son. He was, quite naturally, a wizard. And there it should have ended. However (for reasons we'd better not go into), he had seven sons. And then he had an eighth son ... a wizard squared ... a source of magic ... a Sourcerer.

Sourcery by Terry Pratchett - AbeBooks Sourcery by Terry Pratchett - AbeBooks

Sourcery is available as an unabridged audio recording, read by Colin Morgan. You can listen to a sample below. Featured characters As the sourcerer takes over the University and sets his sights on the rest of the world, only one wizard manages to escape his influence. Unfortunately for everyone, it's Rincewind.

Wyrd Sisters

Unseen University, the most magical establishment on the Discworld, has finally got its wish: the emergence of a wizard more powerful than they’ve ever seen. You’d think the smartest men on the Disc would have been a little more careful what they wished for. In Dec. of 2007, Pratchett disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. On 18 Feb, 2009, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. In 2008, Harper Children's published Terry's standalone non-Discworld YA novel, Nation. Terry published Snuff in October 2011. Assassins. A band of Carmathians, collected by Hassa, subah of Nishapour, called the Old Man of the Mountains, because he made Mount Lebanon his stronghold. This band was the terror of the world for two centuries, when it was put down by Sultan Bibaris. The assassins indulged in haschisch (bang), an intoxicating drink, and from this liquor received their name."