Moving Pictures

Discworld, Book 10

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Jason Isaacs, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy

Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The audiobook of Moving Pictures is narrated by Jason Isaacs, best known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series, and for his starring roles in The Death of Stalin and Case Histories. BAFTA and Golden Globe award-winning actor Bill Nighy (Love Actually; Pirates of the Caribbean; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) reads the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace; Shaun of the Dead) stars as the voice of Death. Featuring a new theme tune composed by James Hannigan.

'HOLY WOOD IS A DIFFERENT SORT OF PLACE... HERE, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO BE IMPORTANT.'

A new phenomenon is taking over the Discworld: moving pictures. Created by the alchemists of Ankh-Morpork, the growing 'clicks' industry moves to the sandy land of Holy Wood, attracted by the light of the sun and some strange calling no one can quite put their finger on...

Also drawn to Holy Wood are aspiring young stars Victor Tugelbend, a wizarding student dropout, and Theda 'Ginger' Withel, a small-town girl with big dreams.

But behind the glitz and glamour of the clicks, a sinister presence lurks. Because belief is powerful in the Discworld, and sometimes downright dangerous...

The magic of movies might just unravel reality itself.

The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Moving Pictures is a standalone.

The first book in the Discworld series - The Colour of Magic - was published in 1983. Some elements of the Discworld universe may reflect this.

©1990 Terry and Lyn Pratchett (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

'Cracking dialogue, compelling illogic and unchained whimsy' Sunday Times

'A true original among contemporary writers' The Times

'Funny, delightfully inventive, and refuses to lie down in its genre' The Observer

I enjoyed this

I enjoyed this book but I don’t think it is one of the great ones

Yes, yes, yes.

I love the book anyway -- it's a marvelous send-up of the industry and the characters are delightful -- and Jason Isaacs turns out to be one of the best voice actors I've ever heard! While the quizzical part of my mind is delighted to think I'm being read to by Lucius Malfoy or the snottiest possible elf, in fact I'm not: Ruby, Gaspode, Victor, Dibbler, Ginger, and the rest are brought vividly & uniquely to life, by a brilliant actor who is having an absolutely wonderful time!

Impossible to recommend this too highly. It's a joy.

One of the best audio books ever

Jason Isaacs gives an inspired performance making this hilarious and fantastically written book even more oomph. Or “ook”? Bill Nighy’s footnotes are the perfect embellishment. Loved it.

truly excellent

loved it!! am enjoying all the new releases of Pratchett by penguin,thank you so much!

lovely production of a Pratchett classic

What I love about this book is how many of the Discworld's minor characters have origin moments and background context for the ecosystem of relationships between books.

Glorious

A tale I’ve known for a very long time, told in typically wonderful Pratchett fashion. The narration? Perfect? So many chuckles in public places. 😂

Fantastic, as expected

They keep choosing narrators perfectly for the one-offs. I’ve been putting on the Laddie accent to tell the dogs I’m pet sitting this weekend that they are good dogs, because Isaacs cracked me up every single time Laddie spoke.

Still eagerly awaiting the books they’ve already released in the UK that they haven’t been able to release over here due to contract negotiations, because I feel like looking up how to set up a VPN to say I’m in the UK is too much work to give audible money. I’ve already given audible money for all of the Steven Briggs Discworld audiobooks and plan on doing so again for the new recordings, they just aren’t letting me.

Jason Isaac's-Amazing!

I've only recently discovered Discworld and this was a one off decision to stray off the path. Mr. Isaac's performance is hilarious and astounding in his creation of oddball sounds and voices. He made this story a joy to complete.

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Lots of delightful Hollywood inside jokes

First, what I don't like. The "voice" narrators shout. A lot. Enough for other people who were wearing headphones to say that the noise was bothering them. It was definitely bothering me but I like the book enough to listen anyway. I understand they are shouting because characters in the book are yelling, but it's too much. They should redo it and tone it down. This is narration, not a stage or movie performance.

Now, the good stuff. I loved the Hollywood "in jokes." I loved that it was like a long, hilarious parody of the guys who started Hollywood. A lot of them shouted a lot too, but please, not in my face. You can suggest shouting. without actually SHOUTING.

This is a very quirky book and it NOT being abridged changed the book so much it felt as if I'd never read it before. They had cut so much especially Pratchett's irony and dark humor. Were those books intentionally "lightened" so the books would be funnier? Less serious? I'm enjoying all the books in the new series. It was also great to finally hear the two I'd never heard before: "Carpe Jugulum" and "Jingo."

I understand that many people miss the earlier narrators, especially Stephen Briggs who was a great narrator, far better and less of a clown than Nigel Planer. But even the books Briggs read were heavily abridged. I still don't understand why they were abridged except for length or to make them more suitable for kids (?). These new ones are a more adult and if the narrators would please CALM DOWN AND STOP SHOUTING, they would be even better.

A final note: Whoever the guy is who sometimes has an Irish accent and suddenly doesn't at which point he sounds American, should make up his mind and be one thing or the other. A fake Irish accent doesn't even fit. I don't think it matters what his accent is. But please, leave that Irish accent on the curb and go with something sustainable. Some people can do a other accents well. Others can't. Whoever he is? He can't and shouldn't.