- Paperback: 160 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz; First Edition & printing in this form edition (8 Aug 1991)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575051914
- ISBN-13: 978-0575051911
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 162,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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"Humorously entertaining? and thought provoking."Chicago Tribune"Unadulterated fun. Pratchett parodies everything in sight."San Francisco Chronicle"A hearty dose of comedy and genuine slapstick humor."Library Journal
--This text refers to an alternate
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edition.
Book Description
Eric calls up a demon to grant him three wishes - but what he gets is the Discworld's most incompetent wizard . . .
--This text refers to an alternate
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First Sentence
The bees of Death are big and black, they buzz low and sombre, they keep their honey in combs of wax as white as altar candles. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
The bees of Death are big and black, they buzz low and sombre, they keep their honey in combs of wax as white as altar candles. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It has really really shocked me that so many reviewers don't appreciate this book! 'Too short', 'too childish' you say. Sorry!? Maybe the humorous parodying of the Trojan war was lost on you or the parodying of creation, in fact this book is a fine example of brilliant parodying by a very clever author. In my opinion this ranks easily alongside some of Pratchett's best. It's a nice easy to read short story, with the excellent sardonic wit of Rincewind shining through once again. This is a book i will read again and again when I want a good laugh. Keep going Terry......
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
to assume a pleasing shape according to Hamlet but only on Discworld could the devil or any demon assume the shape of Rincewind. But that is exactly what Terry Pratchett calls up in "Eric", Pratchett's Discworld homage to Faust.
Eric, the protagonist, is a teenaged `demonologist' from Pseuodopolis. Eric is also a spoiled brat according to Eric's parrot. Eric is first seen trying to summon a demon in order to have the demon grant Eric's wish for power, women, and eternal life. Instead, through a series of Discworldian circumstances Eric calls up Rincewind, last seen locked in the Dungeon Dimensions (Sourcery).
What follows is a Discworld version of a Hope and Crosby Road movie that parallels Faust. Eric and Rincewind travel to the ends of time (actually the beginning of time among other places) and Rincewind faces adversity and the threat of death in his own inimitable fashion (feet don't fail me now).
There are some great set pieces in Eric. DEATH makes two brief, but very funny appearances. First, when the Wizards determine something strange is going on they summon DEATH and demand answer. Of course, they realize quickly that perhaps they should speak to him in the same manner that people in Ankh Morpork speak to the Patrician. Later in the book, DEATH patiently awaits the moment for life to begin is priceless Pratchett fashion. Having the universe start with a paper clip and not a big bang was a very appealing concept.
Similarly hilarious is Rincewind's trip to the new and improved version of hell. Physical torture has been replaced by endless viewings of someone else's holiday slides, elevator music, and the recitation of thousands of pages of regulations only a hellish bureaucrat could construct. Interestingly, Rincewind's conversation with a creator of universes who takes special pride in the creation of trees had a nice resemblance to Slartibartfast from Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who award for creating the jigsaw like coastline of the fjords of Norway.
Despite these typically brilliant bits Eric lacked some of the cohesion found in most of the other Discworld books I have read. Apparently, Eric was originally published as a graphic novel and the illustrations went a long way towards fleshing out the story line. In a sense this version seems to be akin to reading a comic (a very good comic book) without the comic art. There does seem to be something a bit lacking.
However, even if Eric is not Pratchett's finest Discworld book it is still very much worth reading. There is an old cliché that a bad day of fishing is better than the best day of work. In this instance I think it fair to say that a good but the best Discworld book is better than the best that many other authors can put out. I recommend this book to any Discworld fan. I would not recommend this to anyone new to Discworld. Eric works best once one has got to know a bit about Discworld generally and Rincewind specifically.
Eric, despite any flaws, is still very much worth reading.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Eric is a hilarious novel by Terry Pratchett. It begins in Ankh- Morpork, where the University wizards are performing the Rite of AshKente, which summons Death, when they find out that Rincewind, a cowardly wizard ,is stuck in the Dungeon Dimensions, due to the events of Sourcery. As he was there, he was summoned as a demon by Eric, a demonologist, and his parrot, who has a limited vocabulary, so keeps saying " wossname". He must grant Eric 3 wishes. So Eric, parrot and Rincewind (and his Luggage ,a fearsome walking chest, who attacks enemies of its owner), set off on a journey through time which includes such horrors as wheels being used as headgear, cleaners being bribed, and small rat faced men with sandwiches. I loved this book, and you will want to read it again and again.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Thank you
Thank you for the book. It arrived quickly, in very good condition and was just what I expected. I would recommend it to people I know.
Published 3 months ago by Laura J
Don't mess with the Luggage
This is a funny little book - only 155 pages, and it reads a bit like a series of random thoughts about what horrors Rincewind could be subjected to next. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Keen Reader
Rincewind returns.
Pretty good but not his best. As I find is often the case with Pratchett, you'll like if more if you get the references. Read more
Published 4 months ago by P J Benney
One of his best - short but laugh out loud funny
This is much shorter than most of the other Discworld books and also much less cerebral, but that is not a bad thing. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Andrew Dalby
Eric: A Discworld Novel
Just can't stop reading these discworld novels,weird and wonderfull characters in a world that is a parody of Earth.Great. Les H
Published 8 months ago by Les H.
Highway to Hell
Eric" is the ninth novel in Terry Pratchett's hugely popular Discworld series and was first published in 1990. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Craobh Rua
Hilarious! Many laugh out loud moments!
By far, one of the shortest Pratchett novels, but definitely one of the funniest and brilliant stories I have read. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Louise Roberts
eric
if it had arrived in time for my holl i may have enjoyed reading it
it was ordered in plenty of time
it was ordered in plenty of time
Published 17 months ago by omendeath
Vintage Pratchett
You buy Practchett becuase you love his style and comic genius - this doesn't disappoint.
Published on 9 May 2010 by J. Alford
Short but good
At the end of `Sourcery' Rincewind was left trapped in the Dungeon Dimension and running for his life. Read more
Published on 23 April 2010 by T. R. Alexander
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