Sourcery

Discworld, Book 5

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Colin Morgan, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy

Length: 9 hrs

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The audiobook of Sourcery is read by Colin Morgan (Merlin; Testament of Youth; Belfast). BAFTA and Golden Globe award-winning actor Bill Nighy (Love Actually; Pirates of the Caribbean; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) reads the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace; Shaun of the Dead) stars as the voice of Death. Featuring a new theme tune composed by James Hannigan.

'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.'

An eighth son of an eighth son is born, a wizard squared, a source of magic. A sourcerer.

Unseen University, the Discworld's most magical establishment, has finally got its wish: the emergence of a wizard more powerful than ever before. You'd think they would have been a little more careful what they wished for....

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.

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.

And the end of the world, depending on who you listen to.

Sourcery is the third book in the Wizards series, but you can listen to the Discworld novels in any order. The first book in the Discworld series—The Colour of Magic—was published in 1983. Some elements of the Discworld universe may reflect this.

©1988 Terry Pratchett and Lyn Pratchett (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"May well be considered his masterpiece.... Humour such as his is an endangered species." (The Times)

"One of our greatest fantasists, and beyond a doubt the funniest." (George R.R. Martin)

Fun read

Fun read although I can never quite tell if this author’s books are written for a YA audience or an adult one. They are like the original Looney Tunes cartoons and meant to entertain and still contain a bit of bawdy suggestive humor that only an adult is likely to appreciate. Either way it’s a fun read and sometimes I wish to forget life and appease my inner child. Escapist Fantasy makes me happy.

New recordings are fantastic.

These new recordings are fantastic. Don’t get me wrong, the originals are good too, but these are something else.

An Average Man's Thoughts

With the character that started it all making a big return, Rincewind took me on yet another desperate attempt to save the Discworld as a whole, after his reluctance to leave in the first place. The idea of a source of magic in a Sourcerer was quite exciting and showed me how powerful magic could be on the Discworld, after most of the wizards had turned it into more of a bureaucratic club. The friends in this adventure are also quite fun. Conina the wannabe hairdresser with a barbarian streak in her, The sultan, the vizier, and even the very briefly known first day on the job hero. The unexpected and unlikely characters of the Discworld fantasy make the world like no other. A great villain, which the previous books have more or less lacked in a strict villain, but for Pratchett's real first antagonist it's quite good.

Odd voicing choices

Again, a good book and an overall good reading but some of the choices made for character voices were just bizarre. And in one or two spots I'm pretty sure the narrator gave the wrong voice to a line. Still very enjoyable, though :)

Thankfully, 70 more books to go!

1st a disclaimer of personal bias that I've not yet discovered a "Discworld" (or any Terry Pratchett) book I haven't liked..

A master of utilizing mind-bending plot lines & a plethora of entertaining characters to point out the more ridiculously humorous aspects of human nature, while always poking some good natured fun at the sci-fi/fantasy literary genres in general, Sir Terry Pratchett hits the mark & then some with these wonderfully reinvigorated audiobooks of his expansive (yet dependably flat) "Discworld" series.

If a fan of such works as "The Bobiverse" series, "Dirk Gently" or many of Neil Gaiman's best offerings, these audiobook versions of the "Discworld" series are worth your time.

As was the case with the other series mentioned, I found these ensemble cast, narrated versions brought new aspects of these stories to life in the most unexpected, pleasant ways- the ensemble narration does a particularly great job of weaving in the footnotes to perfectly compliment (vs distract from) the plot & makes for easily identified distinction for all of the many major as well as minor characters- even crafting unique voices for inner monologues so as to easily differentiate a character's thoughts from their dialogue or narrated actions. What's better is you'll not find it easy figuring out where one cast member's narrative stops & another begins, as the production quality is also top notch.

Overall I keep burning through credits as I enjoy listening to many of the books in this series I'd read before, while excitedly waiting for Audible to release more books in the series I haven't yet read. The narrations are 2nd to none, the stories guaranteed to please the most discerning science fiction fan (provided they have a sense of humor) & the ability to jump anywhere in this superb 80 book series makes for a wonderfully entertaining literary rabbit hole.

Classic Pratchett

I have become hooked on Discworld and this one was another great story. I have read and listened to about 10 so far and I'm just getting started!

Not Stephen Briggs

Colin Morgan is good as a narrator, but once you've heard Stephen Briggs narrate Pratchett, no other narrator is good enough.

Performance was spot on

The story was really great but it was made better by the voice actors. It was a great listen!

The whole family loved it!

Excellent entertainment for the whole family, from 12 year old to 70! Now for the next one…

So Much Heart

Colin Morgan is an exceptionally talented audio performer. I could blather on about his range, creativity, comedic timing, skill with accents, etc., but what stands out most to me with this one is his subtle use of the tiniest of nuances -- a well-placed pause, breath, or sigh; a barely perceptible change in tone -- to effortlessly convey the heart & empathy in Pratchett's writing. He's so very, very good at this.