Book:Eric

Eric
Cover art by Josh Kirby
Co-author(s)
Illustrator(s)	Josh Kirby
Publisher	Victor Gollancz
Publication date	August 1990
ISBN	0575600012
Pages	160
RRP
Main characters	Rincewind, Eric, Death, The Luggage
Series	Rincewind Series
Annotations	View
Notes
All data relates to the first UK edition.

Blurb

Eric is the 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 Faust.

On a blazingly hot Ankh-Morpork summer afternoon, Rincewind the wizard, trapped in the Dungeon Dimensions after the events of Sourcery, 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 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

Minor characters

Archchancellor Ezrolith Churn
Astfgl, King of Hell
Elenor of Tsort
Lavaeolus
The Librarian
Duke Vassenego
Quezovercoatl, the Feathered Boa, a parody of Quetzalcoatl
Ponce da Quirm, parody of 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 Tityus (whose liver was eaten by two vultures) and/or 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 Sisyphus
Earl Beezlemoth a lord of hell, shocked by the tortures humans can think up

Locations

Sentient Species

Gorgons (mentioned)
Humans

Supernatural Entities

The Creator
Demons
Death
The Gods (mentioned)
Imps
Horrors from the Dungeon Dimensions (mentioned)

Things/People Mentioned

The Joy of Tantric Sex with Illustrations for the Advanced Student, by A.Lady (parodying books like The Story of O and The Joy of Sex and authors with names like "J" (an alias of 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 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 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 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

The original edition of Eric was a large-format paperback published by Gollancz featuring fifteen illustrations by Josh Kirby. Afterwards a standard Corgi paperback of Eric was published without the illustrations, though a detail from one of them was used as the cover. The illustrations were reinstated for a later smaller format edition under the title The Illustrated Eric.

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: 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.
The hardcover and, unusually, paperback rights are held by Victor Gollancz Ltd.
Cover and internal illustrations by Josh Kirby.
Each edition uses a different font for the crossed out “Faust” and handwritten “Eric”.