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Sourcery

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Sourcery
PublisherVictor Gollancz

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 8th 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

  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
Reading Order Guide
Preceded by 5th Discword Novel Succeeded by
Preceded by 3rd Rincewind Story
Published in 1988
Succeeded by