Voll im Bilde (original 1990; edition 1993)

The disc world develops a film industry (once the alchemists work out how to stop the film exploding). All sorts of people are drawn to Holy Wood - including the things from the Dungeon Dimensions that are drawn to any weakness in the fabric of reality - and in the film world that fabric is stretched as thin as it can be.



The book is littered with film references, and half the fun is spotting the reference and how it's been twisted ( )

A young wizard just barely keeping afloat at the Unseen University feels the call of an ancient Holy Wood. He, like a multitude of others, is drawn, seemingly despite his better judgement, to a commune-like affiliation of misfits and outcasts who just want to make click and buck. The magic of Holy Wood is more powerful than anyone imagines, however. So powerful that the Things from the dungeon dimension also feel its siren song. It'll take a swashbuckling hero to save the day in the nick of the time - with a little assist from Uncle Oliver... or was it Oscar?

Compared to the other Discworld books I've read, this one took a very long time to get going. This is part of the reason it took me about two months to finish it. On the plus side, the last 80 pages or so went pretty quickly. That may have had more to do with me being stuck on a train with my wife and children with nothing else to read. So take it for what it's worth. Many of the early film references didn't really resonate with me - either they were so obvious that it was almost expected, or so obtuse that I missed them completely. Towards the end, though, the better references definitely were on display - my favorite being the Attack of the 50 Foot King Kong.

All in all, not bad. But in my opinion, this one was weaker than most of the later volumes. ( )

Imagine living in a world without electricity or modern appliances, imagine a world where magic is an everyday occurrence, but entertainment is limited to theatre, opera, or listening in on the neighbours' fights. Until one day a spark burns in a willing mind and discovers that cinema is an altogether more powerful magic than... magic. This book features the return of Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, as a movie producer, the wizards of the Unseen University, of course, and the obligatory hero and heroine. Throw in a troll or two, a handful of talking animals, and some really nasty monsters . Mix in with a 1000 elephants, and stand back for explosions of laughter and intrigue. Lights! Camera! Action! ( )

I should begin this with a confession: I never really got Discworld. It is not that I actively dislike those novels, I just can’t quite see why almost everyone else is so enthusiastic about them. I started with the first one in the series (as, being somewhat OCD, I tend to do) and was not impressed, but people told me that I should just stick with it as things would get better later on in the series. Well, Moving Pictures is the tenth volume and I can not say that they have, not really. Certainly, this novel moves along smoother than the first few ones, but it still runs basically in the same tracks as previous volumes, they’re just somewhat better greased by the increased number of recurring characters and running gags.

Which does not mean that I did not enjoy reading the novel – quite to the contrary, it was very entertaining and I grinned a lot, even might have laughed out loud a couple of times. If I appear rather more grumpy than the novel justly deserves, it’s mostly because of the hype that would have one expect some trenchant satire, even original and meaningful insights from something that is essentially a fun piece of fluff. Moving Pictures is not a brilliant book, but as a light read that pokes some mild fun at Hollywood and the movie industry, it is fairly solid.

This book didnt have me as rivetted as some of the others in the series, but it was still verry funny and i did enjoy.