Review: Eric
Daniel Orner
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-Faust-Eric (which heretorefore I will refer to as _Eric_ to save
sanity) is a strange creature. It's certainly part of the Discworld
canon, but isn't really a book; it's more of a novella, clocking in at
about half the length of a full novel. I understand it was originally
meant to be a graphic or at least illustrated novel.
As you can guess from the title, _Eric_ is meant to be a parody of the
classic German tale _Faust_, which deals with a doctor's deal with the
devil. In this case, the devil is played by none other than Rincewind,
who finds himself leading the titular Eric (a rather nerdy teenaged
demonologist) around space and time, unwillingly granting his three
wishes. The book parodies, in true Pratchett fashion, such things as the
Trojan Horse, ancient Mayan rituals, and skewers contemporary office
environments a la _Dilbert_.
While the book is witty and entertaining, it's also quite shallow; I
might go so far as to say it has the least amount of character or
serious plot of any other book in the series. Even the original _The
Colour of Magic_, which is a straight-up fantasy pastiche, provides some
food for thought with Rincewind's plaintive desire for the world to all
"make sense" rather than be run by magic.
_Eric_ is a short, enjoyable romp, and a nice read for half the price,
but don't expect to take anything home from it.
--
http://roleplayingjew.blogspot.com/ - An Orthodox Jew who plays Japanese
role-playing games? Strange but true!
Rgemini
>
> -Faust-Eric (which heretorefore I will refer to as _Eric_ to save
> sanity) is a strange creature. It's certainly part of the Discworld
> canon, but isn't really a book; it's more of a novella, clocking in at
> about half the length of a full novel. I understand it was originally
> meant to be a graphic or at least illustrated novel.
Yes it was! It was illustrated by Paul Kidby and works very well in that
format - similar in size to a graphic novel.
Rgemini
Andrew Nevill
It was illustrated by Josh Kirby. You may be getting confused with The
Last Hero, another illustrated novel which Paul did illustrate.
--
Andrew Nevill B.F. D.W. FdV. Reply address: ane...@ntlworld.com
AFPWorshipper to Spooky, AFPfiance to Sarah (Nanny Ogg) pia & Esmeraldus.
AFPUncle to James Vaughan. You cannot value friends as pennies,
nor can you replace them as easily (Spooky in email, Aug 2001.)
Rgemini
> On Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:51:50 +0000, Rgemini
> <roy...@CAPITALayresonline.LETTERS.me.uk> wrote:
>
>> Daniel Orner wrote:
>>
>>> -Faust-Eric (which heretorefore I will refer to as _Eric_ to save
>>> sanity) is a strange creature. It's certainly part of the Discworld
>>> canon, but isn't really a book; it's more of a novella, clocking in at
>>> about half the length of a full novel. I understand it was originally
>>> meant to be a graphic or at least illustrated novel.
>> Yes it was! It was illustrated by Paul Kidby and works very well in that
>> format - similar in size to a graphic novel.
>
> It was illustrated by Josh Kirby. You may be getting confused with The
> Last Hero, another illustrated novel which Paul did illustrate.
You are absolutely right and I can only plead senility!
Rgemini, mortified
Robert Carnegie: Fnord: cc talk-origins@moderators.isc.org
wrote:
Or "second kidbyhood" as it's called.
But really it's too confusing to have Josh Kirby RIP and Paul Kidby
IAD as major Pterryology illustrators, cover and otherwise. We
wouldn't have this trouble if Pterry had gone to Ralph Steadman
after... after. Or if Kidby agreed to use a nom de... it's still
plume, I guess? Such as Paul of Metatarsals. But does that make
Kirby Josh the Baptist?