The tenth Discworld book is something of a disappointment. This doesn't
have to do with the Contemptible Cover[1] of the book, but with the
characters and plot.

The story follows Victor Tugelbend, a rather lackadaisical student
wizard, as he gets swept up in "Holy Wood" fever. Essentially, the book
is a parody of early Hollywood, complete with ersatz versions of Samuel
Goldwyn, Cecil B. DeMille, popcorn, cameramen, and film stars. I
actually think Terry went a little too far with the renaming - no one
would actually call something "banged grains" when "popped corn" is
available.

Although entertaining and fun, with several really cool ideas (such as
what talking animals would *really* be like, or Victor's inspired talent
at *almost* passing his tests), the story falls flat. The book is
probably the straightest parody in the entire series; most bits of the
book are simple references to famous movies or stories about them, and
they seem a little dry. There are also a few running jokes (such as
Dibbler's shameless product placement or Ponder's attempts at sneaking
out) that don't work quite as well as they should.

The thing that really bothered me, though, was the main characters.
Victor is a laid-back, apathetic slacker who floats through life, and
it's hard to identify with him because we never really figure out how he
thinks. Ginger, his counterpart, is an angry, shrewish diva with almost
no redeeming qualities.

Thankfully, Terry introduces two of my favorite Discworld characters
here: Gaspode the Wonder Dog, and Mustrum Ridcully, Archchancellor of
Unseen University. The latter is a bit unfinished; he's busier and
dumber than in later books. Ponder Stibbons is also introduced, but he's
almost a totally different character than later on (this is sort of
explained though).

I'm not going to say _Moving Pictures_ is the worst Discworld book, as
it's hard to pin that down, but it's certainly one of the least original
and inspired. Terry has done better things in the past and will go on to
do better things in the future.