Sourcery

Sourcery is the fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1988. On the Discworld, sourcerers - wizards who are sources of magic – were the main cause of the great mage wars that left areas of the disc uninhabitable. Men born the eighth son of an eighth son are commonly Wizards. Since sourcerers are born the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son, wizards are not allowed to marry or have children. The first few pages of the novel deal with a sourcerer's father who cheats death by making a prophecy that Death must honour; the alternative is to risk destroying the Discworld. The rest of the novel deals with the sourcerer's plan to have wizards rule the Discworld, and the efforts of a small group - including Rincewind the Wizard, Nijel the destroyer and Conina the Hairdresser, daughter of Cohen the Barbarian - to thwart those plans.

There are many references to "geas", in case you wondered see >>link to Geas "a vow or obligation placed upon a person (usually a hero, such as Cuchulainn in Irish mythology)".

Terry Pratchett has said that he considers this the book to be the one in which his writing style began to mature^{[citation needed]}.

Translations

Language	Title	Round-trip translation	Notes
Bulgarian	Магизточник
Croatian	Kiselo čaranje	Sour sorcery	The Sourcers were called Medicine Men (Vračevi), inaccurate^[1]
Czech	Magický prazdroj
Danish	Megamagikeren	The Mega Magician
Dutch	Betoverkind	"Sorcerer-child"
Estonian	Ürgsorts	Primeval Sorcerer
Finnish	Velhous verissä	Wizardry in blood
French	Sourcellerie	Sorcery
German	Der Zauberhut	The Magician's Hat^[2]
Greek	Πιάστε τον μάγο^[3]	Catch the Wizard
Hebrew	מעשי קסמים	Sorcery
Hungarian	Bűbájos bajok	Charming Troubles	the Sourcers were called "Charmers" (Bűbájosok) in the book
Italian	Stregoneria	Sorcery
Norwegian	Magiens kilde	The Source of Magic
Polish	Czarodzicielstwo	Sourcery	literally something between "sorcery" (czarodziejstwo) and "parenthood" (rodzicielstwo)
Portuguese	Fontiçaria		Portugal
Portuguese	O Oitavo Mago	The 8^th Mage	Brazil
Romanian	Copilul Minune
Russian	Посох и шляпа	The Staff and the Hat
Serbian	Čudotvorac	Miracle-maker
Spanish	Rechicero
Swedish	Svartkonster	Black Arts

Footnotes

^ The Croatian translation of the title, Kiselo čaranje, isn't a literal translation. It is also inaccurate. Literally translated it would mean something in the line of Sour sorcery or Sour spellcraft , because it was translated taking into account the sour part of Sourcery. Thus, omiting the -rce in source the translation has lost the meaning of the original title.
^ Or The Magic Hat."Sorcery" would be "Zauberei".
^ Transliteration: Piaste ton mago

External links

Reading Order Guide

Preceded by Mort	5^th Discword Novel	Succeeded by Wyrd Sisters
Preceded by The Light Fantastic	3^rd Rincewind Story Published in 1988	Succeeded by ~~Faust~~ Eric

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[1] The Croatian translation of the title, Kiselo čaranje, isn't a literal translation. It is also inaccurate. Literally translated it would mean something in the line of Sour sorcery or Sour spellcraft , because it was translated taking into account the sour part of Sourcery. Thus, omiting the -rce in source the translation has lost the meaning of the original title.

[2] Or The Magic Hat."Sorcery" would be "Zauberei".

[3] Transliteration: Piaste ton mago

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Terry Pratchett's Discworld
Novels	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
Short stories	"Troll Bridge" "Theatre of Cruelty" "The Sea and Little Fishes" "Death and What Comes Next" "A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices" A Blink of the Screen
Other books	The Discworld Companion The Science of Discworld The Science of Discworld II: The Globe The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day The Pratchett Portfolio The Art of Discworld The Unseen University Challenge The Wyrdest Link The Streets of Ankh-Morpork The Discworld Mapp A Tourist Guide to Lancre Death's Domain Nanny Ogg's Cookbook The Discworld Almanak Where's My Cow? The Unseen University Cut Out Book The Discworld Diaries Once More* with Footnotes The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld The Folklore of Discworld The World of Poo Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch
Games	The Colour of Magic Discworld MUD Discworld Discworld II GURPS Discworld Discworld Noir Discworld: Ankh-Morpork
Films and TV series	Soul Music Wyrd Sisters Hogfather The Colour of Magic Going Postal The Watch The Amazing Maurice
Characters	Tiffany Aching Death Hex Moist von Lipwig Nanny Ogg Rincewind Susan Sto Helit Lord Vetinari Sam Vimes Granny Weatherwax
Races and creatures	Dwarfs Nac Mac Feegle
Locations	Discworld Ankh-Morpork
Organisations	City Watch Unseen University The Witches
Other	Boots theory Games of the Discworld Lie-to-children