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book, book reviews, books, Discworld, Eric, fantasy, fiction, reviews, Terry Pratchett
Eric
Discworld #9*
by Terry Pratchett
genre: fantasy
Eric is a fourteen year old demonologist who wants three things out of life: endless riches, the most beautiful woman in the world, oh and yeah- to rule the world. What he gets is Rincewind, a wizard better at running away than granting wishes. I’m always up for “be careful what you wish for” cautionary tales and this one did not disappoint. It had me chuckling and turning pages wondering how they were going to get out of each new wish. As the King of Hell puts it, “the whole point of the wish business was to see to it that what the client got was exactly what he asked for and exactly what he didn’t really want.” (location 583)
Eric has a few drops of very interesting wisdom like laughing at the world to keep from losing your mind. Humans are more devious than demons as the demons take note from the humans on how to dethrone their leader and how best to torture people in Hell. Inspiration from literature includes Homer’s Iliad and Dante’s Inferno.
It’s a cute, possibly young adult story and very quick to read. I’ll read it again, but it didn’t blow me off my feet.
4 out of 5 stars
-Eliabeth Hawthorne
*The Discworld series are all about the same world, but do not need to be read in order.
Related Reviews
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett
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Ermilia 
I quite enjoyed Eric too. Did you have the large illustrated version? I think I spent as long looking at the fabulous illustrations as I did reading the text. 🙂
:O There’s an illustrated version? I just got text on my Kindle touch. Now I want to see it in print.
Absolutely! I can’t post one of the images here, but you can find a sample at: http://files.myopera.com/zapfod/albums/2863112/09%20Faust%20Eric.jpg
LOVE the chest, exactly how I pictured it. Thanks so much for sharing!
I liked the law surrounding wishes as put forth by the King of Hell the best in this post. I think I will try out Discworld.
Have you ever tried an Eoin Colfer books? Artemis Fowl, Airman, etc. If not I recommend you do. They are young adult but so brilliant that they blew my mind away with their level of genius.
Artemis Fowl sounds familiar, but I don’t think I’ve read anything by Eoin Colfer. Is there one that you recommend above the others or are they pretty even?
I definitely think you should give the first book in the ARTEMIS FOWL series a try to begin with. But my all time favorite is Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception, which is the fourth book in the series.
Added it to my to-read pile on Goodreads, thanks for the recommendation!
I’m going to suggest that in fact one should try to follow the order of the series, if only because ‘The Colour of Magic’ – the first one – is by far the funniest. Also it is closest in style to the fantasy genre which it is satirising. It first came to my attention as the daily serial on the BBC’s ‘Woman’s Hour’ radio programme. I can recall rolling on the floor in agony because I couldn’t get my breath back from laughing so much.
The phrase ‘DARK IN HERE, ISN’T IT!’ has become a family saying.
M
Oh really? My favorite was Monstrous Regiment. No idea where it falls right off the top of my head though. I know I have The Color of Magic on my Kindle, so that will have to be one of the next ones I read.
Thanks!
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