Teaser Tuesday: Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

We are in the middle of an election campaign at the moment. On August 21 we could have a change of government, or we could have the same government with our first elected female prime minister! Currently, Julia Gillard is our PM and so she is our first female PM, but she got the job by ousting the previous leader of the party.

When I read a section in my current read, Sourcery by Terry Pratchett, on how the Archchancellor of the Unseen University got the job, I thought it might be a fun teaser, given our political environment at the moment. My teaser comes from page 14:

A kind of spring had even come to the ancient University itself. Tonight would be the Eve of Small Gods, and a new Archchancellor would be elected.

Well, not exactly elected, because wizards didn't have any truck with all this undignified voting business, and it was well known that archchancellors were selected by the will of the gods, and this year it was a pretty good bet that the gods would see their way clear to selecting old Virrid Wayzygoose, who was a decent old boy and had patiently waiting his turn for years.

And then again from page 25:

The higher levels of wizardry are a perilous place. Every wizard is trying to dislodge the wizards above him while stamping on the finger of those below; to say that wizards are healthily competitive by nature is like saying that piranhas are naturally a little peckish.

And just because Terry Pratchett makes me laugh, and this isn't a political comment, here is another teaser from page 62:

'Not much call for a barbarian hairdresser, I expect," said Rincewind. "I mean, no-one wants a shampoo-and-beheading."

"It's just that every time I see a manicure set I get this terrible urge to lay about me with a double-handed cuticle knife. I mean sword," said Conina.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. Head on over to find out all about it, and how to join in!