Review of Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett

Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett is a humorous tale about what happens when alchemists learn to make film and subsequently movies or "moving pictures". Then suddenly lots of people feel compelled to travel to the small town of Holy Wood and become a part of the moving pictures business. I'm sure it goes without saying what Holy Wood is a satire of. A sort of strange magic is involved with the moving pictures though that not only compels people to get into the business, but that also seems to make the actors go into trances while making the films and be able to do things that they have no experience with. However this magical force is not benevolent and it feeds off the moving pictures growing stronger and more powerful with disastrous results. I would not count this book among my favorite Discworld novels, but it's definitely good for a laugh in places and I'd recommend it to fans of the series.

Review of Eric by Terry Pratchett

Eric by Terry Pratchett is about a young boy who attempts to summon a demon to grant him wishes, but instead of a demon, Rincewind, an inept wizard shows up inside the magic circle. Much to Rincewind's surprise he finds that even though he is not a demon, because he was summoned as one, he has the power to grant wishes. Hilarity then ensues because as the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for. This book was a short but fun read and I'd definitely recommend it to fans of the Discworld series or just if you enjoy British humor.

Review of Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett is about secret order that decides to summon a dragon with magic to terrorize the city of Ankh-Morpork in order to stage their own hero to defeat it and become the next ruler of the city. However their plans go terribly wrong and it's up to the night watch to defeat the dragon and apprehend those responsible for summoning it. I found the book to be rather amusing even if it's not one of my favorites in the Discworld series. I particularly enjoyed the humorous portrayal of secret societies and the larger than life character of Lady Ramkin, noblewoman and dragon expert.

Review of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword of Avalon by Diana L. Paxson

Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword of Avalon by Diana L. Paxson is the tale of how the Sword from the Stars(Excalibur) was first created long before it ever came into the hands of King Arthur, and the life and ordeals of the man destined to wield the sword as he unites the tribes of ancient Britain against an evil warlord. This story takes place about a thousand years after Ancestors of Avalon and two of the characters are specified as being reincarnations of characters from the previous book, though it is indicated that they had reincarnated multiple times in the intervening years. It's not necessary to read The Fall of Atlantis and Ancestors of Avalon before reading this book, but it will help in understanding the history of these characters.

While I did enjoy reading this book, it was unfortunately not as good as Ancestors of Avalon and I only rated it three stars. It was slow paced like the previous two books that I had read, but in this case the slow paced bits were rather tedious and at times I wasn't sure what they added to the story. After reading The Fall of Atlantis and Ancestors of Avalon I had this strong craving to read more and I just didn't get that feeling with the Sword of Avalon. It's really a shame because the story idea is an excellent one and could have been done so much better. I would still recommend this book to fans of the series, but just don't expect it to be quite as good as the previous books mentioned.

Why Reading Fiction is Important

This is a lecture given by Neil Gaiman about why reading and specifically reading fiction is so important. I found it to be quite moving and profound.

This site has the lecture both in text and in video.