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Marky Lazer · 24th October 2007, 03:16 PM

Demons Gone Wild

Just assume you have to write a story where you have to, say, interweave three classic works with evolution and bureaucracy. Where would you start?

The best start is buying a ticket to the Discworld of course. Because it’s all been done before. Terry Pratchett linked Faust, Dante’s Inferno and Homer’s Illiad together in Eric. And funny thing is, he summarizes these three classic words in less than 200 words, too!

Eric is about Eric. A kid demonologist who is as incapable in demonology as Rincewind is in wizardry. And now we’re mentioning him… When Eric tries to summon a demon, he ends up summoning the inept wizard who ended up in the Dungeon Dimension a couple of Discworlds ago (Sourcery to be precise). And together they plod along through time and space to spoil the fun of the three masterpieces for everyone who hasn’t read them. Though, as Pratchett likes to do, there’s a bunch of subtle details hinting to the classic works as well which only people who did read them will discover. This Discworld is again very easy to read. Maybe a bit too easy for people a bit too serious about the satirized works. But then, I don’t think Mr. Pratchett wrote it for people taking themselves too seriously. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty damn sure he wrote it for people very much not taking themselves a bit too seriously… So, the only point of critique that remains is that it’s too damn short.

24th October 2007, 03:16 PM	#181 (permalink)
Marky Lazer Plastic Paddy Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Netherlands Posts: 2,705	Re: The Discworld Diaries Demons Gone Wild Just assume you have to write a story where you have to, say, interweave three classic works with evolution and bureaucracy. Where would you start? The best start is buying a ticket to the Discworld of course. Because it’s all been done before. Terry Pratchett linked Faust, Dante’s Inferno and Homer’s Illiad together in Eric. And funny thing is, he summarizes these three classic words in less than 200 words, too! Eric is about Eric. A kid demonologist who is as incapable in demonology as Rincewind is in wizardry. And now we’re mentioning him… When Eric tries to summon a demon, he ends up summoning the inept wizard who ended up in the Dungeon Dimension a couple of Discworlds ago (Sourcery to be precise). And together they plod along through time and space to spoil the fun of the three masterpieces for everyone who hasn’t read them. Though, as Pratchett likes to do, there’s a bunch of subtle details hinting to the classic works as well which only people who did read them will discover. This Discworld is again very easy to read. Maybe a bit too easy for people a bit too serious about the satirized works. But then, I don’t think Mr. Pratchett wrote it for people taking themselves too seriously. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty damn sure he wrote it for people very much not taking themselves a bit too seriously… So, the only point of critique that remains is that it’s too damn short.