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Don´t play with dark magic, it could be that Rincewind and the notorious pearwood chest return from other dimensions instead of the wished Jinn, fairy, or, in this case, demon or, why not, the dark lord himself.

Pratchett´s second novel with classic novels as inspirations, it´s more dynamic and quicker plotted than Wyrd Sisters, integrating as many innuendos as possible and mixing in historical and mythical elements.

It shows how much potential there is to reinterpret, adapt, satirize, and rewrite the classics or, as there are meanwhile so many new adaptions on the market, modify the modifications. Where will this end? The famous works are just a tiny grain of creativity in the sea of unknown already written and still to write works, especially humor, fantasy, and sci-fi are fertile ground for unique and new ideas. It are the genres in which I´ve read most completely new, groundbreaking ideas, while average literature without fantastic elements or the horror and thriller genre are rotating around the similar few plots and tropes possible in these settings. On the other hand, all of these plots can easily be implemented in the much more manifold fantasy settings.

Prepare for a short trip to hell where good oldfashioned torturing has been replaced by some kind of psychological horror white torture that is even more sinister than the parody of Dante´s inferno surrounding it. I am not sure if the real hell or this ironic version of it might be worse, the best thing might be to combine both to not just crush the body or the mind, but both permanent and efficient.

(view spoiler)[The running gag of Eric wanting and wishing things Rincewind is unable to fulfill because of a mixture of incompetence, the nature of the wishes, and a mystery accelerates the scenes and enables Pratchett to construct a different kind of hero´s journey. The dynamic of this is going something like: Jay, wish fulfilled. Nay, there are severe deficits in how it has been realized., we are all gonna die. (hide spoiler)]

The real, whatever and wherever it was, Troyan war wasn´t fun, but this time it gets hilarious and wait until you see the most beautiful woman (view spoiler)[whose appearance plays with the stereotypicality of beauty standards changing over time and the general sexism and machismo playing into the roles of woman and how they have to look. (hide spoiler)]

Some points:
Puberty with its stereotypical problems is satirized, reappearing in the Tiffany Aching novels, this time with a bit more spoiled teenage dirtbag.
The Azteks are still empiring and have special treatments for their gods.

Both, Goethe, sigh, and Dante maybe, I haven´t read it, but I´ll just say the same about it because I am an irresponsible wastrel, are certainly no entertaining fun reads for most people, but their potential for inspiring new ideas is something that should never be underestimated. In this way, they get a second meaning in their literary lives next to torturing helpless school kids forced to read the, ahem, classics.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:


This one is added to all Pratchettian reviews:

The idea of the dissected motifs rocks, highlighting the main real world inspirational elements of fiction and satire is something usually done with so called higher literature, but a much more interesting field in readable literature, as it offers the joy of reading, subtle criticism, and feeling smart all together.