SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: September 2021] Faust Eric
Eric has always been a bit of a puzzle to me (until I recently used the internet to clarify things). The title has always been listed as Faust Eric, which I always thought was funny (ha ha funny). But it was really short and some people didn’t seem to consider it a proper Discworld book. Or something.
So it turns out it was originally a “Discworld story,” published in a larger format than the other novels and illustrated by Josh Kirby. So it was sort of like a storybook rather than a novel.
And obviously, it’s a play on the Faust story, which if you’ve forgotten: Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures.
It’s also the fourth Rincewind story. I guess leaving him in the Dungeon Dimensions wasn’t cool for Terry.
The titular Eric is Eric Thursley, a 13 year old boy who practices demonology and has tried to summon a demon in his bedroom. Eric looks the part of a master summoner, but he doesn’t quite have the skill. Or maybe he does and Rincewind just got in the way (hey, it happens).
So instead of a fierce demon, Eric gets Rincewind. At first he believes that Rincewind is just pretending to be a hapless human. But soon enough it’s quite apparent that Rincewind will not be able to give Eric what he wants: to be the master of all kingdoms, to meet the most beautiful woman who ever existed, and to live forever.
It’s actually Eric’s parrot who seems to understand what’s going on more than anyone else. He tells Rincewind that since he appeared when a demon was summoned that all rules and restrictions about demons apply to him as well.
Things are about to move on when suddenly The Luggage appears in the bedroom as well. Clearly, THIS is the demon the boy was looking for. Plus, it seems that whenever Rincewind snaps his fingers, something happens.
So Eric renews his interest in his three wishes and he story now has three mini adventures.
In the first, there is a parody of the Aztec Empire in which Eric is taken to be the ruler of the world. And any good ruler must be sacrificed to their god Quezovercoatl. However, when you’ve got The Luggage with you, all bets are off.
With a snap of his fingers, the trio find themselves in “Ancient Greece” instead a wooden horse. Obviously they are going to meet the most beautiful woman in the word (Helen of Troy, right?). Except that the war has been going on for a long time and Elenor (Helen) is now a plump mother of several children. They also meet a hapless sailor known as Lavaeolus and they try to discourage him from taking a long sea voyage (referencing The Odyssey).
All wishes are taken literally of course, so when Rincewind snaps his fingers he and Eric are ready to live forever. Which means going to the beginning of time (where god is trying to invent animals) and living until the end of time.
So where did Rincewind get all of his magic from? Not from being a wizard, that’s for sure. Turns out there’s a demon who is looking to take over Hell and he was using Rincewind as a distraction.
This story is short but it doesn’t feel slight. Pratchett makes the most out of the adventures, and it’s really only short because there are no other stories accompanying it like most of his novels have.
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