Discworld & Terry Pratchett Wiki - User contributions [en]

Book:Unseen Academicals

2021-02-23T16:37:48Z

Nekura: /* Things and Concepts */ Link to Slood

{{Book Data
|title=Unseen Academicals
|cover=[[File:UnseenAcademicals.jpg|thumb|240px|Cover art by Paul Kidby]]
|coauthors=
|illustrator=Paul Kidby
|date=13 Oct 2009
|publisher=Doubleday
|isbn=0385609345
|pages=320
|rrp=£18.99
|series=Ankh-Morpork Series
|characters=[[Nutt|Mr. Nutt]], [[Trevor Likely]], [[Glenda Sugarbean]], [[Juliet Stollop]]
|annotations=yes
|notes= The 37th Discworld novel
}}
==Cover Blurb==
"Football has come to the ancient city of [[Ankh-Morpork]] – not the old fashioned, grubby pushing and shoving, but the new, fast football with pointy hats for goalposts and balls that go gloing when you drop them. And now, the wizards of [[Unseen University]] must win a football match, without using [[magic]], so they're in the mood for trying everything else.

The prospect of the Big Match draws in [[Trevor Likely|a likely lad]] with a wonderful talent for kicking a tin can, [[Glenda Sugarbean|a maker]] of jolly good pies, [[Juliet Stollop|a dim but beautiful young woman]] who might just turn out to be the greatest fashion model there has ever been, and the mysterious Mr [[Nutt]]. (No one knows anything much about Mr Nutt, not even Mr Nutt, which worries him, too.)

As the match approaches, four lives are entangled and changed for ever.
Because the thing about football – the ''important'' thing about football – is that it is not just about football.

Here we go! Here we go! Here we go!"

==Characters==
===Major Characters===
*[[Glenda Sugarbean]]
*[[Juliet Stollop]]
*[[Trevor Likely]]
*Mr [[Nutt]]
*[[Lord Vetinari]]
*[[Madame Sharn]]
*[[Pepe]]
*[[Andy Shank]]

===Wizards===
*Wizards of Unseen University
**[[Mustrum Ridcully]]
**[[Rincewind]]
**The [[Librarian]]
**[[Chair of Indefinite Studies]]
**[[Lecturer in Recent Runes]]
**[[Senior Wrangler]]
**[[Ponder Stibbons]]
**[[John Hicks|Dr Hix]]
**[[Bengo Macarona]], for clarity it should be noted that merely one person has matriculated as Bengo Macarona.
**[[Professor of Recondite Phenomena]]
**Professor of Illiberal Studies
**Professor Maidenhair
*Wizards of [[Brazeneck College]]
**[[Dean|Archchancellor Henry]]
**[[Adrian Turnipseed]]
**[[Able Baker]]

===Minor Characters===
*Ankh-Morpork United:
**[[Charles Barton]]
**[[F. Brisket]]
**[[H. Capstick]]
**[[Joseph Hoggett]], captain
**[[J. W. Rickett]]
**[[Jimmy Wilkins]]
*[[Mrs. Atkinson]]
*Miss [[Healstether]]
*Doctor [[John Lawn]]
*[[Igor]] at the Lady Sybil Free Hospital
*[[Lady Margolotta]]
*[[Rufus Drumknott]]
*[[Algernon Stollop]]
*[[Furies|The sisters of perpetual velocity]]
*[[William de Worde]]
*[[Glang Snorrisson]]
*[[Rudolph Scattering]]
*[["Fartmeister" Carter]]
*Employees at Unseen University
**Mrs [[Whitlow]]
**[[Natchbull Smeems]], the [[Candle Knave]]
**[[Downbody]]
**[[Bledlow Nobbs]] (no relation)
**[[Frankly Ottomy|Bledlow Ottomy]]
**Bledlow Hipney
**[[Concrete]]

===Cameos and Mentions===
*Sergeant [[Angua]]
*[[J.P. Bunderbell]]
*Herr [[Fassel]]
* [[Frugal]], a philosopher of the [[Bonk School]]
[[Category:Discworld characters]]
*Constable [[Haddock]]
*[[Bluejohn]]
*[[Hwel]] the Playwright
*[[Dave Likely]]
*[[Piggy Love]]
* Herr Doktor [[Maspinder]], another philosopher of the [[Bonk School]]
*Ofleberger, a philosopher of the [[Bonk School]]
*Pondlife, a student at UU
*[[Low King]] [[Rhys Rhysson]]
*[[Mr. Shine]]
*[[Martin Sogger]]
*Trousenblert, yet another philosopher of the [[Bonk School]]
*[[Vonmausberger]]. Did we mention he is a philosopher of the [[Bonk School]]?
*[[Dustworthy Swithin]]
*[[Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler]]
*[[Death]]
*[[Bill Rincewind]]
*[[Sam Vimes]]
*[[The Luggage]]
*[[Ankh-Morpork Post Office|The Postmaster General]] ([[Moist von Lipwig]])

==Locations==
*[[Ankh-Morpork]]
**[[Unseen University]]
***The [[Night Kitchen]]
***[[The vats]]
***[[Uncommon Room]]
**[[Dolly Sisters]]
**[[Dimwell]]
**[[Tenth Egg Street]]
**[[The Hippo]]
**[[Lady Sybil Free Hospital]] (mentioned)
**[[Patrician's Palace]]
**[[Shatta]]
**[[Treacle Mine Road]]
*[[Genua]]
*[[Pseudopolis]]
**[[Brazeneck College]]
*[[Sto Lat]]
*[[Uberwald]] (mentioned)
**AKA The [[Evil Empire]] (mentioned)

==Things and Concepts==
*[[Bu-Bubble]]
*[[Cabinet of Curiosity]]
*[[Compendium of Odours]] by Brakefast
*[[Dark War]]
*[[Dictionary of Eye-Watering Words|Discomforting Misusage]], by Birdcatcher
*First Prodostian War, lost by the Maranids
*[[Five Hours and Sixteen Minutes Among The Goblins of Far Uberwald]]
*[[Furies]]
*[[Goblins]]
*[[Grapeshot's Therapeutic Squeezer]]
*[[Hex]]
*Hunt the [[Megapode]]
*[[Micromail]]
*[[Orcs]]
*[[Pex]] (mentioned)
*[[Retribushium]]
*[[Ritual Aggression in Pubescent Rats]]
*[[The Shove]]
*[[Slood]]
*[[The Speech of Trolls]] by Postalume
*The [[Ankh-Morpork Times]]
*[[Trespassers' Society]] of Ankh-Morpork
*[[Trumpet of Equestrianism]] by Spout
*[[We Can Rule You Wholesale]]
*[[Beauty Arising from the Pease Pudding Cart Attended by Cherubs Carrying Hot Dogs and Pies]]
*The whistle of [[Evans the Striped]]
*[[Blit]]
*[[Crab Bucket]]

==Foot-the-ball sides==
* The Angels
*[[Dimmers|Dimwell Old Pals]]
*[[Dollies|Dolly Sisters Football Club]]
*Unseen Academicals
*Ankh-Morpork United
*Treacle Mine Tuesday ("the Miners")
*Cockbill Boars
*Pigsty Hill [[Pork Packers]]
*Naphill United
*Whopping Street Wanderers ("the Whoppers")
*Lobbin Clout

==Gameday Iconograph==
[[Image:UnseenAcademicals10.jpg|right|thumb|250px]]
'''Lineup'''
*Front: [[Librarian]]
*First Row, from left: [[The Luggage]]-The [[Chair of Indefinite Studies]]- Mr. [[Nutt]]
*Seated: Dr. [[John Hicks|Hix]]-[[Ponder Stibbons]]-The [[Lecturer in Recent Runes]]-[[Trevor Likely]]
*Standing: [[Glenda Sugarbean]]-[[Senior Wrangler]]-[[Bengo Macarona]]-[[Mustrum Ridcully]]-[[Rincewind]]-[[Havelock Vetinari]]-[[Juliet Stollop]]

==Roundworld comparisons==
That {{wp|Shakespeare|hack from Stratford-on Avon}} wrote a {{wp|Romeo and Juliet|play about horny teenagers in Verona}}, Italy. This Discworld story centers on horny teenagers (well, not Glenda) who are fans of different foot-the-ball sides, but then again it doesn't.
The name Dimwell seems close to Millwall, area and football club in London noted for the belligerence of their supporters.
Uberwald is a roundworld reference to Germany. The orcs are symbolic for modern Germans. All books that Nutt cites have German titles. Today, Germans have problems with their place in history, because of their role in the war, just like the orcs, even several generations afterwards. Uberwald actually translates as over the forest as does Transylvania. The books have German titles because Freud is the father of psychology.

==Adaptations==
===[[Theatre Adaptations|Theatre]]===
Adapted by [[Stephen Briggs]] into a stage play in 2015.

===[[Radio Adaptations|Audio Drama]]===
Adapted into an audio drama for Amazon Audible by Richard Curtie and Bev Doyle, directed by Dirk Maggs, in partnership with [[Narrativia (production_company)|Narrativia]] in 2018.

==See also==
[[Book:Unseen Academicals/Annotations|Annotations for ''Unseen Academicals'']]

[[The Ankh-Morpork Football Association Hall of Fame playing cards]]

==Gallery==
{|
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:UnseenAcademicals.jpg|thumb|120px|First Edition Cover by [[Paul Kidby]]]]
| valign="top" | [[File:UA Proof.jpg|thumb|160px|Book Proof]]
| valign="top" | [[File:UA Slip.jpg|thumb|110px|Collectors Slipcase Edition]]
| valign="top" | [[File:UA Promo cards.jpg|thumb|110px|Promotional Football Cards]]
| valign="top" | [[File:UA Black.jpg|thumb|110px|Paperback]]
| valign="top" | [[File:UA CD.jpg|thumb|140px|Audio CD]]
| valign="top" | [[File:UA US.jpg|thumb|110px|US Cover]]
|}
{|
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:UA Zoom.jpg|thumb|110px|Paperback cover by [[Paul Kidby]]]]
| valign="top" | [[File:UA CL.jpg|thumb|120px|Collectors Library Edition]]
|}

{{series|before=Making Money|series=Discworld|after=I Shall Wear Midnight}}
{{series|series=Ankh-Morpork|before=Making Money|after=Raising Steam}}

[[Category:Discworld Series|Unseen Academicals]]
[[Category:Ankh-Morpork Series|Unseen Academicals]]

Slood

2021-02-23T16:34:42Z

Nekura:

The discovery of '''slood''' is said to be one of the basic hallmarks of any noteworthy civilization. It is, apparently, easier to discover than fire, but slightly more difficult to discover than water. There is an Emeritus [[Professor of Slood Dynamics]] at [[Unseen University]].

The Special Theory of Slood was discovered by Archchancellor [[Sloman]], a past Archchancellor of the [[Unseen University]]. A stained-glass window commemoration this discovery can be seen in the UU Council Chamber.

The [[gods]] of the Discworld have often heard the story of a race of people who lived on a blue world in the shape of a sphere, and how they watched massive asteroids slam into a neighboring planet, and then did NOTHING ABOUT IT because that sort of thing only happens in outer space... The gods find this story very amusing, if not very likely, as any race ''that'' stupid would have never been able to discovered slood.

Slood is first mentioned in [[Book:The Last Continent|The Last Continent]], and the wizards at UU have "...huge pipes for balancing the slood differential across the university..." in [[Book:Unseen Academicals|Unseen Academicals]].

{{stub}}

[[Category:Discworld concepts]]
[[de:Greipel]]

Slood

2021-02-23T16:30:53Z

Nekura: Added references to books slood is mentioned in

The discovery of '''slood''' is said to be one of the basic hallmarks of any noteworthy civilization. It is, apparently, easier to discover than fire, but slightly more difficult to discover than water. There is an Emeritus [[Professor of Slood Dynamics]] at [[Unseen University]].

The Special Theory of Slood was discovered by Archchancellor [[Sloman]], a past Archchancellor of the [[Unseen University]]. A stained-glass window commemoration this discovery can be seen in the UU Council Chamber.

The [[gods]] of the Discworld have often heard the story of a race of people who lived on a blue world in the shape of a sphere, and how they watched massive asteroids slam into a neighboring planet, and then did NOTHING ABOUT IT because that sort of thing only happens in outer space... The gods find this story very amusing, if not very likely, as any race ''that'' stupid would have never been able to discovered slood.

Slood is first mentioned in [[The Last Continent]], and the wizards at UU have "...huge pipes for balancing the slood differential across the university..." in [[Unseen Academicals]].

{{stub}}

[[Category:Discworld concepts]]
[[de:Greipel]]

Book:Eric

2019-04-08T00:16:52Z

Nekura: /* Cameos */ edited beezlemoth

{{Book Data
|title=Eric
|cover=[[File:Cover Eric (alt).jpg |thumb|240px|Cover art by Josh Kirby]]
|coauthors=
|illustrator=[[Josh Kirby]]
|date=August 1990
|publisher=Victor Gollancz
|isbn=0575600012
|pages=160
|rrp=
|series=Rincewind Series
|characters=[[Rincewind]], [[Eric]], [[Death]], [[The Luggage]]
|annotations=
|notes=
}}
==Blurb==
Eric is the [[Discworld (world)|Discworld]]'s only demonology hacker. Pity he's not very good at it.

All he wants is three wishes granted. Nothing fancy - to be immortal, rule the world, have the most beautiful woman in the world fall madly in love with him, the usual stuff. But instead of a tractable demon, he calls up Rincewind, probably the most incompetent wizard in the universe, and the extremely intractable and hostile form of travel accessory known as the Luggage.

With them on his side, Eric's in for a ride through space and time that is bound to make him wish (quite fervently) again - this time that he'd never been born.

==Plot Summary==
As indicated by the crossed-out portion of the title, a parody of {{wp|Faust|Faust}}.

On a blazingly hot Ankh-Morpork summer afternoon, Rincewind the wizard, trapped in the [[Dungeon Dimensions]] after the events of {{S}}, attempts to return to the Disc.

His attempted return attracts the attention of [[Death]] (who is pretty much used to Rincewind doing unusual things), and the [[wizards]], who ultimately use the [[Rite of AshkEnte]] to get Death to tell them what is going on.

Meanwhile, demonologist Eric Thursley attempts to summon a [[Demons|demon]], managing to rescue Rincewind in the process (unknown to either, Duke Vassenego arranges this as part of his plot against Astfgl).

Rincewind convinces Eric that he's not a demon, but the sudden appearance of the Luggage (which follows Rincewind everywhere) convinces Eric that he was right in the first place. Eric then makes three wishes:

* mastery of the kingdoms of the world
* meeting the most beautiful woman who has ever lived
* living for ever (the text reads "for ever", which becomes a significant point later; presumably Eric wanted to live "forever", which is a little different)

and a chest of gold "just to be getting on with it".

Meanwhile, Astfgl, the new King of the Demons, is trying to adjust to his new position, annoyed that:

* no one can pronounce his name yet
* the "old guard" almost-but-not-quite disobey him, and are plotting against him
* the Gods ignore him

To demonstrate he has no power, Rincewind snaps his fingers, transporting himself and Eric about a thousand miles above the Disc. A second snap transports them to a [[Tezuman Empire]] (ruled by the [[Great Muzuma]]). The Tezumen (plural of Tezuman) accept Eric as Ruler of the World, and shower him with tribute and speeches.

The Tezumen, however, have not invented paper (communication between them and Eric/Rincewind is via stone tablet), nor the wheel (they use disks with holes as jewelry, currency, and hats, but not as wheels), and their calendar counts down, giving them a suicidally gloomy and pessimistic view of life (well, that, plus the swamps, hummingbird-sized mosquitoes, lack of metal ore, volcanoes, weather, etc).

After Rincewind rescues explorer Ponce da Quirm (who's wasted all his life searching for the Fountain of Youth), he learns (by reading a large collection of stone blocks) that the Tezumen intend to kill (in an exquisitely painful manner) the Ruler of the World (ie, Eric), and Rincewind. Rincewind and da Quirm try to leave quietly, but are captured.

Just as they're about to be killed, the Tezuman god Quezovercoatl appears. Contrary to his appearance in visions and statues, he is only 6 inches high. As he's about to give the Tezumen Astfgl's new directive, he is crushed by the Luggage (requiring him to spend several centuries regenerating in one of the nether hells, since demons apparently can't die), which is racing to re-unite with Rincewind.

The Tezumen release Rincewind, Eric, and da Quirm, and decide to worship the Luggage as a God. Rincewind gives Eric's parrot to da Quirm as a present.

Rincewind snaps his fingers again, landing himself and Eric in the Tsortean Horse, a ruse concocted by Ephebian leader Lavaeolus to conquer the city of Tsort. Lavaeolus correctly assumes that the Tsorteans will think the horse contains an invading force. Instead, while the Tsorteans are waiting for the Ephebians to come out of the horse, the Ephebians "nip round the back" and slip in through Tsort's unguarded back gate, accidentally assisted by Rincewind and Eric, who were trying to leave.

Despite his best efforts, Rincewind is influential in getting Eric to meet the beautiful Elenor.

Rincewind and Eric are sent back in time to when the Creator was making the world. They have a discussion about the Discworld. Later, Rincewind and Eric discuss the meaning of living forever. Rincewind tosses his egg and cress sandwich into the water, starting the formation of life. Eric's wishes are now used up, requiring Rincewind to find a way to save them.

Rincewind and Eric are then sent to [[Hell]], which they basically run through, meeting Ponce da Quirm and Eric's Parrot. Ponce da Quirm explains that he found the Fountain of Youth, but forgot to boil any still water found in the wild, and subsequently died from the bacteria in the water. At the end of the book, Rincewind and Eric escape, and Astfgl is promoted to Lifetime President of Hell, a mainly maintenance job, which he is completely happy with.

==Characters==
===Main characters===
* [[Eric]]
* [[Rincewind]]
* [[The Luggage]]

===Minor characters===
* Archchancellor [[Ezrolith Churn]]
* [[Astfgl]], King of Hell
* [[Elenor]] of [[Tsort]]
* [[Lavaeolus]]
* The [[Librarian]]
* [[Duke Vassenego]]
* [[Quezovercoatl]], the Feathered Boa, a parody of {{wp|Quetzalcoatl|Quetzalcoatl}}
* [[Ponce da Quirm]], parody of {{wp|Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n|Ponce de Leon}}
* The [[Creator]]
* [[Death]]

==Cameos==
* [[Herrena the Henna-Haired Harridan]]
* [[Red Scharron]]
* [[Diome, Witch of the Night]]
* [[Senior Tutor]]
* [[Private Archeios]], a private who looks after a child
* [[Urglefloggah]], Spawn of the Pit and Loathly Guardian of the Dread Portal
* [[Azaremoth]], Stench of Dog Breath, a demon who guards a parody of {{wp|Tityus|Tityus}} (whose liver was eaten by two vultures) and/or {{wp|Prometheus|Prometheus}} (whose constantly-regenerating liver was eaten by an eagle, albeit not in Hades)
* [[Lord Vizzimuth]], a demon who reads "Unhealthy and Unsafety Regulations Governing the Lifting and Moving of Large Objects" to a parody of {{wp|Sisyphus|Sisyphus}}
* [[Earl Beezlemoth]] a lord of hell, shocked by the tortures humans can think up

==Locations==
* [[Pseudopolis]]
* [[Ankh-Morpork]]
* [[Death's Domain]]
* [[Hell]]
* [[Klatch (continent)|Klatch]]
**[[Tezuman Empire]]
* [[Quirm]]
* [[Tsort]]

==Sentient Species==
*[[Gorgon|Gorgons]] (mentioned)
*[[Humans]]

==Supernatural Entities==
*[[Creator|The Creator]]
*[[Demons]]
*[[Death]]
*[[The gods|The Gods]] (mentioned)
*[[Imps]]
*[[Dungeon Dimensions|Horrors from the Dungeon Dimensions]] (mentioned)

==Things/People Mentioned==
* [[The Joy of Tantric Sex|The Joy of Tantric Sex with Illustrations for the Advanced Student, by A.Lady]] (parodying books like {{wp|Story_of_O|The Story of O}} and {{wp|Joy_of_Sex|The Joy of Sex}} and authors with names like "J" (an alias of {{wp|Joan_Garrity|Joan Garrity}})) and Roundworld books published anonymously, such as Jane Austen's first novel.
* [[Some Little Known Aspects of Kuian Rain-making Rituals]], a seven-volume treatise by Ezrolith Churn
* [[Names of the Ants]], a book by [[Humptemper]]
* [[Ku]], continent that sank slowly (over a period of 30 years) into the sea, a parody of {{wp|Atlantis|Atlantis}}
* [[Old Tom]], [[Unseen University]]'s magical clock that tolls out silences every hour
* Riinjswin and Winswin, demons with names similar to Rincewind's
* [[Mallificarum Sumpta Diabolicite Occularis Singularum]], a demon-summoning book whose initials parody {{wp|MSDOS|MSDOS}}
* [[succubus]], a type of demon that makes mad passionate wossname
* [[neuralger]], a type of demon that has a headache at you
* [[Mirror of Souls]], demon device that can be used to show events anywhere, any time
* [[the Fountain of Youth]], a rejuvenating fountain with apparently tainted water
* The [[Tsortean Horse]], a parody of the {{wp|Trojan_Horse|Trojan Horse}}
* The [[Tsortean Wars]], in which Ephebe attempts to rescue a reluctant Elenor
* [[Corporal Disuse]], a corporal whose squad is consumed by the Luggage
* [[Mr Beekle]], a possibly fictional person referred to by a child on a potty
* [[King Mausoleum]], king of Tsort, who kidnapped and married Elenor
* [[The Ball of Philodelphus]], a song popular with soldiers, parody of ''The Ball of Kerrymuir''.
* [[Heliodeliphilodelphiboschromenos]], an Ephebian city with vestal virgins
* [[Big Bang Hypothesis]], theory of Discworld creation
* [[Continuous Creation]], theory of Discworld creation
* [[Unhealthy and Unsafety Regulations Governing the Lifting and Moving of Large Objects]], a demon book
* [[Throne of Dread]], where the king of Hell sits

==Illustrations==
First editions of Eric came with fifteen internal illustrations drawn by [[Josh Kirby]]. These illustrations were removed for the paperback editions, they were then replaced into a later edition known as [[Book:The Illustrated Eric|''The Illustrated Eric'']].

==Adaptations==
===[[Radio Adaptations|Radio]]===
Adapted for BBC Radio 4 in 2013, directed by Joquil Panting.

Cast:
*Mark Heap: [[Rincewind]]
*Jeffrey Whitehead: [[Death]]
*Will Howard: [[Eric Thursley]]
*Ben Crowe: Parrot, Sergeant, [[Duke Vassenego]]
*Nicholas Murchie: [[Astfgl]]
*Christine Absalom: Mother, [[Elenor]]
*Jack Klaff: [[Ponce da Quirm]], Urglefloggah
*Rick Warden: Narrator, [[Lavaeolus]]
*Micheal Shelford: Screwpate
*Robert Blythe: [[Ezrolith Churn|Archchancellor]], [[Quetzovercoatl]], [[Creator]]

==Notes==
Rincewind is present when the Creator reads the [[Octavo]] to create the universe. This might explain why one of the Octavo's spells chooses to jump into Rincewind's mind when it sees him: it recognises him from the time of creation.

==Other Stuff==
*Ninth published Discworld book
*Fourth book in the series of Rincewind-books
*First illustrated Discworld book
*Originally published in Great Britain by Victor Gollancz Ltd. London<br />Copyright (c) 1990 by Terry and Lyn Pratchett
*Cover and internal illustrations by [[Josh Kirby]]

==Gallery==
{|
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:EricFirstEdition.jpg|120px|thumb|First Edition Cover by [[Josh Kirby]]]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E FirstPaper.jpg|thumb|110px|First paperback editon]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E Vista.jpg|thumb|110px|Vista paperback]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E Black.jpg|thumb|110px|Paperback 2004 (Italian)]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E Tape.jpg|thumb|120px|Audio Cassette]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E CD.jpg|thumb|120px|Audio CD]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E Roc.jpg|thumb|110px|Paperback ROC Publishing]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E G50.jpg|thumb|110px|[[Gollancz]] Top 50 edition]]
|}
{|
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:E US.jpg|thumb|110px|US Cover]]
| valign="top" | [[File:IllustratedEricCover.jpg|thumb|110px|[[Book:The Illustrated Eric|Illustrated Edition]]]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E Unseen.jpg|thumb|110px|Unseen Library Edition]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E CL.jpg|thumb|110px|Collectors Library Edition]]
|}

==External Links==
[http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/eric.html ''Eric'' Annotations - The Annotated Pratchett File]

{{series|before=Guards! Guards!|series=Discworld|after=Moving Pictures}}
{{series|series=Rincewind|before=Sourcery|after=Interesting Times}}

[[Category:Discworld Series|Eric]]
[[Category:Rincewind Series|Eric]]
[[Category:Graphic Novels|Eric]]
[[de:Buch:Eric]]

Book:Eric

2019-04-08T00:14:59Z

Nekura: /* Cameos */ added Beezlemoth

{{Book Data
|title=Eric
|cover=[[File:Cover Eric (alt).jpg |thumb|240px|Cover art by Josh Kirby]]
|coauthors=
|illustrator=[[Josh Kirby]]
|date=August 1990
|publisher=Victor Gollancz
|isbn=0575600012
|pages=160
|rrp=
|series=Rincewind Series
|characters=[[Rincewind]], [[Eric]], [[Death]], [[The Luggage]]
|annotations=
|notes=
}}
==Blurb==
Eric is the [[Discworld (world)|Discworld]]'s only demonology hacker. Pity he's not very good at it.

All he wants is three wishes granted. Nothing fancy - to be immortal, rule the world, have the most beautiful woman in the world fall madly in love with him, the usual stuff. But instead of a tractable demon, he calls up Rincewind, probably the most incompetent wizard in the universe, and the extremely intractable and hostile form of travel accessory known as the Luggage.

With them on his side, Eric's in for a ride through space and time that is bound to make him wish (quite fervently) again - this time that he'd never been born.

==Plot Summary==
As indicated by the crossed-out portion of the title, a parody of {{wp|Faust|Faust}}.

On a blazingly hot Ankh-Morpork summer afternoon, Rincewind the wizard, trapped in the [[Dungeon Dimensions]] after the events of {{S}}, attempts to return to the Disc.

His attempted return attracts the attention of [[Death]] (who is pretty much used to Rincewind doing unusual things), and the [[wizards]], who ultimately use the [[Rite of AshkEnte]] to get Death to tell them what is going on.

Meanwhile, demonologist Eric Thursley attempts to summon a [[Demons|demon]], managing to rescue Rincewind in the process (unknown to either, Duke Vassenego arranges this as part of his plot against Astfgl).

Rincewind convinces Eric that he's not a demon, but the sudden appearance of the Luggage (which follows Rincewind everywhere) convinces Eric that he was right in the first place. Eric then makes three wishes:

* mastery of the kingdoms of the world
* meeting the most beautiful woman who has ever lived
* living for ever (the text reads "for ever", which becomes a significant point later; presumably Eric wanted to live "forever", which is a little different)

and a chest of gold "just to be getting on with it".

Meanwhile, Astfgl, the new King of the Demons, is trying to adjust to his new position, annoyed that:

* no one can pronounce his name yet
* the "old guard" almost-but-not-quite disobey him, and are plotting against him
* the Gods ignore him

To demonstrate he has no power, Rincewind snaps his fingers, transporting himself and Eric about a thousand miles above the Disc. A second snap transports them to a [[Tezuman Empire]] (ruled by the [[Great Muzuma]]). The Tezumen (plural of Tezuman) accept Eric as Ruler of the World, and shower him with tribute and speeches.

The Tezumen, however, have not invented paper (communication between them and Eric/Rincewind is via stone tablet), nor the wheel (they use disks with holes as jewelry, currency, and hats, but not as wheels), and their calendar counts down, giving them a suicidally gloomy and pessimistic view of life (well, that, plus the swamps, hummingbird-sized mosquitoes, lack of metal ore, volcanoes, weather, etc).

After Rincewind rescues explorer Ponce da Quirm (who's wasted all his life searching for the Fountain of Youth), he learns (by reading a large collection of stone blocks) that the Tezumen intend to kill (in an exquisitely painful manner) the Ruler of the World (ie, Eric), and Rincewind. Rincewind and da Quirm try to leave quietly, but are captured.

Just as they're about to be killed, the Tezuman god Quezovercoatl appears. Contrary to his appearance in visions and statues, he is only 6 inches high. As he's about to give the Tezumen Astfgl's new directive, he is crushed by the Luggage (requiring him to spend several centuries regenerating in one of the nether hells, since demons apparently can't die), which is racing to re-unite with Rincewind.

The Tezumen release Rincewind, Eric, and da Quirm, and decide to worship the Luggage as a God. Rincewind gives Eric's parrot to da Quirm as a present.

Rincewind snaps his fingers again, landing himself and Eric in the Tsortean Horse, a ruse concocted by Ephebian leader Lavaeolus to conquer the city of Tsort. Lavaeolus correctly assumes that the Tsorteans will think the horse contains an invading force. Instead, while the Tsorteans are waiting for the Ephebians to come out of the horse, the Ephebians "nip round the back" and slip in through Tsort's unguarded back gate, accidentally assisted by Rincewind and Eric, who were trying to leave.

Despite his best efforts, Rincewind is influential in getting Eric to meet the beautiful Elenor.

Rincewind and Eric are sent back in time to when the Creator was making the world. They have a discussion about the Discworld. Later, Rincewind and Eric discuss the meaning of living forever. Rincewind tosses his egg and cress sandwich into the water, starting the formation of life. Eric's wishes are now used up, requiring Rincewind to find a way to save them.

Rincewind and Eric are then sent to [[Hell]], which they basically run through, meeting Ponce da Quirm and Eric's Parrot. Ponce da Quirm explains that he found the Fountain of Youth, but forgot to boil any still water found in the wild, and subsequently died from the bacteria in the water. At the end of the book, Rincewind and Eric escape, and Astfgl is promoted to Lifetime President of Hell, a mainly maintenance job, which he is completely happy with.

==Characters==
===Main characters===
* [[Eric]]
* [[Rincewind]]
* [[The Luggage]]

===Minor characters===
* Archchancellor [[Ezrolith Churn]]
* [[Astfgl]], King of Hell
* [[Elenor]] of [[Tsort]]
* [[Lavaeolus]]
* The [[Librarian]]
* [[Duke Vassenego]]
* [[Quezovercoatl]], the Feathered Boa, a parody of {{wp|Quetzalcoatl|Quetzalcoatl}}
* [[Ponce da Quirm]], parody of {{wp|Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n|Ponce de Leon}}
* The [[Creator]]
* [[Death]]

==Cameos==
* [[Herrena the Henna-Haired Harridan]]
* [[Red Scharron]]
* [[Diome, Witch of the Night]]
* [[Senior Tutor]]
* [[Private Archeios]], a private who looks after a child
* [[Urglefloggah]], Spawn of the Pit and Loathly Guardian of the Dread Portal
* [[Azaremoth]], Stench of Dog Breath, a demon who guards a parody of {{wp|Tityus|Tityus}} (whose liver was eaten by two vultures) and/or {{wp|Prometheus|Prometheus}} (whose constantly-regenerating liver was eaten by an eagle, albeit not in Hades)
* [[Lord Vizzimuth]], a demon who reads "Unhealthy and Unsafety Regulations Governing the Lifting and Moving of Large Objects" to a parody of {{wp|Sisyphus|Sisyphus}}
* [[Earl Beezlemoth]] a lord of hell, who suggests learning torture from humans

==Locations==
* [[Pseudopolis]]
* [[Ankh-Morpork]]
* [[Death's Domain]]
* [[Hell]]
* [[Klatch (continent)|Klatch]]
**[[Tezuman Empire]]
* [[Quirm]]
* [[Tsort]]

==Sentient Species==
*[[Gorgon|Gorgons]] (mentioned)
*[[Humans]]

==Supernatural Entities==
*[[Creator|The Creator]]
*[[Demons]]
*[[Death]]
*[[The gods|The Gods]] (mentioned)
*[[Imps]]
*[[Dungeon Dimensions|Horrors from the Dungeon Dimensions]] (mentioned)

==Things/People Mentioned==
* [[The Joy of Tantric Sex|The Joy of Tantric Sex with Illustrations for the Advanced Student, by A.Lady]] (parodying books like {{wp|Story_of_O|The Story of O}} and {{wp|Joy_of_Sex|The Joy of Sex}} and authors with names like "J" (an alias of {{wp|Joan_Garrity|Joan Garrity}})) and Roundworld books published anonymously, such as Jane Austen's first novel.
* [[Some Little Known Aspects of Kuian Rain-making Rituals]], a seven-volume treatise by Ezrolith Churn
* [[Names of the Ants]], a book by [[Humptemper]]
* [[Ku]], continent that sank slowly (over a period of 30 years) into the sea, a parody of {{wp|Atlantis|Atlantis}}
* [[Old Tom]], [[Unseen University]]'s magical clock that tolls out silences every hour
* Riinjswin and Winswin, demons with names similar to Rincewind's
* [[Mallificarum Sumpta Diabolicite Occularis Singularum]], a demon-summoning book whose initials parody {{wp|MSDOS|MSDOS}}
* [[succubus]], a type of demon that makes mad passionate wossname
* [[neuralger]], a type of demon that has a headache at you
* [[Mirror of Souls]], demon device that can be used to show events anywhere, any time
* [[the Fountain of Youth]], a rejuvenating fountain with apparently tainted water
* The [[Tsortean Horse]], a parody of the {{wp|Trojan_Horse|Trojan Horse}}
* The [[Tsortean Wars]], in which Ephebe attempts to rescue a reluctant Elenor
* [[Corporal Disuse]], a corporal whose squad is consumed by the Luggage
* [[Mr Beekle]], a possibly fictional person referred to by a child on a potty
* [[King Mausoleum]], king of Tsort, who kidnapped and married Elenor
* [[The Ball of Philodelphus]], a song popular with soldiers, parody of ''The Ball of Kerrymuir''.
* [[Heliodeliphilodelphiboschromenos]], an Ephebian city with vestal virgins
* [[Big Bang Hypothesis]], theory of Discworld creation
* [[Continuous Creation]], theory of Discworld creation
* [[Unhealthy and Unsafety Regulations Governing the Lifting and Moving of Large Objects]], a demon book
* [[Throne of Dread]], where the king of Hell sits

==Illustrations==
First editions of Eric came with fifteen internal illustrations drawn by [[Josh Kirby]]. These illustrations were removed for the paperback editions, they were then replaced into a later edition known as [[Book:The Illustrated Eric|''The Illustrated Eric'']].

==Adaptations==
===[[Radio Adaptations|Radio]]===
Adapted for BBC Radio 4 in 2013, directed by Joquil Panting.

Cast:
*Mark Heap: [[Rincewind]]
*Jeffrey Whitehead: [[Death]]
*Will Howard: [[Eric Thursley]]
*Ben Crowe: Parrot, Sergeant, [[Duke Vassenego]]
*Nicholas Murchie: [[Astfgl]]
*Christine Absalom: Mother, [[Elenor]]
*Jack Klaff: [[Ponce da Quirm]], Urglefloggah
*Rick Warden: Narrator, [[Lavaeolus]]
*Micheal Shelford: Screwpate
*Robert Blythe: [[Ezrolith Churn|Archchancellor]], [[Quetzovercoatl]], [[Creator]]

==Notes==
Rincewind is present when the Creator reads the [[Octavo]] to create the universe. This might explain why one of the Octavo's spells chooses to jump into Rincewind's mind when it sees him: it recognises him from the time of creation.

==Other Stuff==
*Ninth published Discworld book
*Fourth book in the series of Rincewind-books
*First illustrated Discworld book
*Originally published in Great Britain by Victor Gollancz Ltd. London<br />Copyright (c) 1990 by Terry and Lyn Pratchett
*Cover and internal illustrations by [[Josh Kirby]]

==Gallery==
{|
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:EricFirstEdition.jpg|120px|thumb|First Edition Cover by [[Josh Kirby]]]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E FirstPaper.jpg|thumb|110px|First paperback editon]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E Vista.jpg|thumb|110px|Vista paperback]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E Black.jpg|thumb|110px|Paperback 2004 (Italian)]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E Tape.jpg|thumb|120px|Audio Cassette]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E CD.jpg|thumb|120px|Audio CD]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E Roc.jpg|thumb|110px|Paperback ROC Publishing]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E G50.jpg|thumb|110px|[[Gollancz]] Top 50 edition]]
|}
{|
|-
| valign="top" | [[File:E US.jpg|thumb|110px|US Cover]]
| valign="top" | [[File:IllustratedEricCover.jpg|thumb|110px|[[Book:The Illustrated Eric|Illustrated Edition]]]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E Unseen.jpg|thumb|110px|Unseen Library Edition]]
| valign="top" | [[File:E CL.jpg|thumb|110px|Collectors Library Edition]]
|}

==External Links==
[http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/eric.html ''Eric'' Annotations - The Annotated Pratchett File]

{{series|before=Guards! Guards!|series=Discworld|after=Moving Pictures}}
{{series|series=Rincewind|before=Sourcery|after=Interesting Times}}

[[Category:Discworld Series|Eric]]
[[Category:Rincewind Series|Eric]]
[[Category:Graphic Novels|Eric]]
[[de:Buch:Eric]]