SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: September 2021] Moving Pictures
For his tenth Discworld novel, Terry Pratchett decided to have fun with Hollywood. Indeed, it is set on a hill called Holy Wood–an abandoned location that seems to suddenly have a magnetic attraction for Disc inhabitants.
This book also introduces Mustrum Ridcully as the new Archchancellor of Unseen University. Ridcully will remain Archchancellor for the rest of the novels. He proves to be unkillable (at least in practice) because he is unlike any Wizard around. He had left the University nearly four decades earlier having become a Seventh Level Wizard at the young age of twenty-seven. He left to look after his family’s land. Over the last forty years he has become quite a fan of the outdoors, of exercise, of rising early and basically everything else that Wizards find revolting. He loves hunting, owns several crossbows and is very hard to surprise–hence, no one has been able to usurp him as Archchancellor.
But this story is more about the alchemists (whom the Wizards hate and whose guild is constantly blowing up). The alchemists have yet to find gold, but they have just invented moving pictures.
Once the filmmakers start filming people, creatures from all over the Disc start making their way to Holy Wood. Pratchett has always been excellent at mocking racism by having all manner of different species welcomed into various societies. Oftentimes it is grudgingly at first, but soon, everyone proves how useful and cool they are to have around. Holy Wood is one of the first instances where tradition enemies such as dwarves and trolls (like Detritus!) can coexist alongside each other as well as demons and even a talking dog.
This book marks the first appearance of Gaspode the Wonder Dog. Gaspode can talk because he has been sleeping outside of Unseen University. He is an ugly mutt, and yet he can talk! But much like with Death, no one can comprehend this so they ignore it. So when Gaspode says, feed the good dog a biscuit, people suddenly feel the urge to do so without realizing why. But since he is not photogenic, it is up to a really dumb dog named Laddie to be the star of the film (while Gaspode becomes his de facto agent).
But the humans become the stars of the films, of course. This is classic Hollywood, so we have a leading hunk Victor Tugelbend, a dropout from Ankh-Morpork’s Unseen University and one of the laziest students ever–he never graduated and never failed, he always maintained grades just enough to stay enrolled (because his parents paid) and Theda “Ginger” Withel, a girl “from a little town you never ever heard of.” Their chemistry of screen is disastrous. But as soon as the camera rolls, they become larger than life and make everyone swoon.
This book also marks the return one of the best recurring characters, Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler. Normally he just sell (questionable) hot sausages onna bun, but, since he’s aware of commerce whenever it can appear, he jumps is to take over production of all of the motion pictures. He knows how to market a movie–even if he promises 1,000 elephants which are never (exactly) delivered.
Obviously all of this movie magic is upsetting the balance of magic on the Disc. The Wizards at Unseen University sense that something is going wrong. But you just have to see Ginger to know that something is very wrong. She keeps going to a hill in her sleep to dig out a hidden gate.
When they finally realize what she’s up to, she has unearthed an ancient cinema.
All of this magic coalesces to create some wonderful on screen parodies of classic movies (Gone with the Wind, King Kong) and allows for Laddie (and Gaspode) to do some impressive rescuing.
This story also brings the Dungeon Dimensions into the picture (literally).
This book is a lot of fun with a great cast and lots of action.
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