Czarodzicielstwo
Author: Terry Pratchett
We return to Rincewind, but the tone is slightly darker and more apocalyptic. A “Sourcerer” is born - a wizard who generates magic rather than just borrowing it from the background field. The book feels like a commentary on power and possibly weapons of mass destruction. Coin, the boy sourcerer, is terrifying not because he is evil, but because he has absolute power with the emotional maturity of a child (and is being manipulated by his dead father). Rincewind is again the reluctant hero, forced to save a world he doesn’t particularly like, armed only with a half-brick in a sock.
It captures the feeling of an arms race, where the wizards of the Unseen University get drunk on this new, unlimited power and start wars just because they finally can.
Key moments include the Luggage finding love amidst the apocalypse, meeting another chest and having… smaller chests-bizarre and adorable. The Librarian (an orangutan) also takes a stand, saving books from magical fire and prioritizing knowledge over the wizards themselves. Finally, Rincewind faces Coin in the Dungeon Dimensions, realizing that he can’t win by magic, but he can win by just being distracting and human.
The book deals with power and corruption, illustrating how quickly the established order (the Wizards) crumbles when offered unlimited power, mimicking nuclear proliferation or total war. It also touches on generational trauma, as Coin is literally possessed by the ghost of his father, unable to live his own life until he breaks free.