Eric by Terry Pratchett
Eric is one of the shortest of the Discworld novels, and the fourth to feature the inept Wizard Rincewind. Since the rest of this review has some spoilers for the ending of his previous appearance in Sourcery, the rest of this review is behind a spoiler cut.
[Spoiler (click to open)]
When Rincewind was last seen, he was sucked into a Hell dimension and it seemed like it was the end for him. This story opens with a teenage boy called Eric attempting to summon a demon, only to bring back Rincewind from the Hell dimensions (nevertheless, Eric spends the whole book thinking he has summoned a demon).
The rest of the book is written in an episodic nature similar to the first two Discworld novels, as Rincewind and Eric go from one mishap to another, including almost getting sacrificed to an ancient God, getting caught up in a war, and ending up trapped in Hell. Of course, Rincewind's usual tactic in every situation is to run - and of course, they always get saved by the Luggage.
This is a very simple story to follow after some of the previous books in the series, without the large number of plot strands that are often present in the Discworld novels. There is a lot of humour as usual, with the funniest moment being Eric's reason for wanting to be a Eunuch. Terry Pratchett's main source materials for parodying are ancient Roman and Aztec legends and cultures, and Trojan war and Dante's Divine Comedy.
This is another enjoyable Discworld novel and proves once again why Rincewind is one of the most successful characters.