This is the first illustrated Terry Pratchett’s novel that I read. According to the legend, the first Hero stole the fire from gods. Now the Silver Horde – a bunch of elderly, but nonetheless lethal, heroes – is committed to bring back the fire to gods with interests – the Discworld equivalent of an atomic bomb. Unfortunately the detonation on the god citadel would cause the dispersion of all the magic bringing Discworld to death.
All the discworld nations ask Ank-Morpork to save the world. So the patrician assigns this mission to Captain Carrot, Rincewind the Wizard and the inventor Leonard of Quirm.
I found Rincewind and Leonard very fit in their part, while I had more surprise with the parts played by Carrot and by the Patrician. I can’t imagine capt Carrot joining the terror hymn that goes like “Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh”. Carrot character has always given the impression of blind faith in the system. Thus he should have a wonderful faith in what the system has produced to save the world. The patrician is a fine connoisseur of human minds, I feel uneasy when he fails to understand Ponder Stibbons. Also very far of the image I have of this character that he propose so plainly to kill the Librarian to save the mission. The patrician is subtle, manipulating, not plain, nor direct. And the story, at a given point, cites a B plan, that is very Patrician, but the topic is not evolved… it seems more of a device to talk briefly about the attempt of ecumenism on Discworld. Also Death, who usually is very attentive to the fate of Discworld was a bit lacking, he just takes a look at the hourglass of the giant A’Tuine (the turtle that floats in the space void carrying four elephants that, in turn, carry the Discworld.
So… this is not one of the best book by Terry Pratchett – it is better than Erik, but worse of the other books. Nonetheless the drawings are gorgeous and the story is entertaining.
Starhunter 2300
My journey in non-subtitled English language TV-series continues. After the first season of Starhunter I went on with the second season that is named “Starhunter 2300”.If you have read my post on the first season you could imagine I was somewhat negatively biased and you would be right. The first season was decidedly slightly more than amateurish level. Anyway 2300 dispelled my bias in a few episodes. But I am running.
The season starts exactly at the point where the first ended – The Tulip emerges from the hyperspace with Percy alone on-board. Because of some non better identified hyperspace effects, not only the Tulip changed look, but also the spaceship computer, Caravaggio, changed his hole-appearance.
Dante the former captain disappeared in hyperspace, while Travis, his son, has basically no memories of the first season, he just recalls a different history and does, surprise, bounty hunting for a living along with his friend Markus. Maybe I lost some explanations because these DVDs have no subtitles and TV-series English sometimes proves to be too hard for my comprehension. Anyway, the Tulip soon finds her crew – Travis and Markus, Callista Larkadia and Rudolpho deLuna (yes the former Tulip owner and Dante’s employer).
This second season is definitely better – stories are somewhat more solid, actors play better, characters are more defined. But this is still Starhunter – the divinity cluster (a section of human DNA implanted by some aliens, that, once activated would give god-like powers) sounds very fake, the Orchard still misses the opportunity to do what any serious secret organization would be able to achieve, and the hyperspace stuff is mostly insane.
I found also that Percy character didn’t fit. I mean Percy is somewhat reborn, there should be some struggle – between the first life and the second, the first world and the second. Maybe again I lost something in the comprehension, but Percy didn’t convince me – beyond the lunatic character there isn’t much.
Episodes are more action oriented than the first season and also scenery and props are more credible. Overall I would rate this season 7/10, you could like it if you like sci-fi themed action episodes and you are not too picky about the science aspect. Anyway if you want to watch this season for free, you find it on youtube.
Altre foto
Altre foto sempre dalla nostra settimana bianca.
Qualche metro sotto al cielo…
…e sopra tanta neve. Anche quest’anno, la settimana bianca è sinonimo di Alpe di Siusi (o Seiser Alm come direbbero i nativi del luogo).
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Eccolo qui, la patria di Re Laurino, il dente dello Sciliar |
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Quest’anno Mariana era decisa a sciare. Determinata a recuperare il tempo perduto l’anno scorso (non c’era stato un grande feeling gli sci) eccola qui pronta per i suoi primi 5-6km. |
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Cugini sulla neve |
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Certo che dopo queste due foto è difficile credere che possano anche solo pensare di litigare… |
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Eccoci qui, davanti al Tirler, dopo una lunghissima discesa in slittino. |
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*slurp* Canederli! |
Rispondo a un paio di commenti lasciati da Ba’ allo scorso post:
> davvero il gatto arriva fino alla punta dell’albero???
Be’ non proprio, ma abbastanza in alto, tanto da piegare la punta. Ogni tanto si vede l’albero scupotersi e dopo un po’ lei si affaccia cercando di far cadere un addobbo.
Oppure si siede nel presepe e fa la statuina (in realtà è in agguato in attesa di una mossa falsa delle pecore… dal momento che le pecore sono bravissime a stare ferme, lei si stufa prima e le fa cadere con un colpo della zampa).
> 7 ore in auto? Coi bimbi? Me e Mu avrebbero sclerato solo con la metà del tempo…io in molto meno!!!
Per fortuna i bimbi erano a casa. Siamo andati a recuperarli verso mezzanotte a casa dei vari cugini (per semplificare le cose si erano divisi… della serie: “ci inseguono: dividiamoci!”).