Review: Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett (1990 novel)

Alchemists influenced by eldritch forces discover the secret of making movies and this proves popular enough with the public that there are soon multiple movie factories grinding out product in a Holy Wood. Notorious Ank-Morpork sausage vendor Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler manages to take over the management of one of them, called Century of the Fruit Bat Studios.

But there are signs of a hidden menace. A gorgeous blond actress starts having visions of a mysterious figure, a sort of shining knight holding a huge sword (posed like an Oscar, in fact) who might be a threat or might be a guardian. The wizards at Unseen University detect a sudden flood of unreality leaking into the world. Eventually the unreality becomes so powerful that a giant projected image of the actress steps off the screen and is soon climbing the University’s Tower of Art, the tallest building in Ank-Morpork, clutching the University’s Librarian, who happens to be an ape, in one hand.

As usual with Pratchett it’s funny and entertaining, and there are scads of movie references, including some I no doubt didn’t notice. Probably not the best Discworld novel, but fun.

As noted in a post yesterday (link), Terry Pratchett is no longer with us. He died at home in bed with his family around him, as he had wanted to do.



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