Eric

Eric is explicitly a parody of the Faust legend — a boy who bargains for worldly power, beauty, and immortality. The novel's title is a play on Faust's first name in many German retellings. The Trojan War sequence also parodies Homer's Iliad.

Eric was first published in 1990 by Gollancz as a large-format fully illustrated book with artwork by Josh Kirby. At roughly novella length, it was shorter and more expensive than standard Discworld novels. A plain text edition was published later.

Eric picks up immediately after the end of Sourcery (1988), in which Rincewind was trapped in the Dungeon Dimensions. It is the fourth Rincewind novel and Discworld #9.

Astfgl is the Duke of Hell — the senior demon administrator who has modernized Hell by making it a place of endless forms, hold music, and bureaucratic tedium rather than fire and pitchforks. He is a sharp parody of middle management.

The visit to Hell establishes lore about Azrael — the Great Death who oversees all Deaths in all universes — which connects to the Death sub-series. The Trojan War parody also informs Pratchett's ongoing interest in myth and heroic narrative.