FanFare

The Librarian of Unseen University is sick, and in order to cure him, the Wizards need to know his real name which, uh... none of them do. And he's not telling, because the information could be used to change him back from his preferred form as an orangutan. But an idea! Rincewind might know it! But he accidentally got teleported to the continent of XXXX, and nobody knows where that is. So the Wizards go looking for XXXX, while Rincewind just tries to survive on terra incognita where everything is trying to kill him, well, about the same amount as is usual for Rincewind, really. (Wizards #6, Discworld #22.) By Terry Pratchett. [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer on Sep 27, 2023 - 11 comments

It's beginning to look a lot like Hogswatch! The Disc's midwinter celebration, held on the last day of the year, is a day of many traditions since time immemorial. You hang the mistletoe, you give the staff the day off, you exchange presents, and of course you await a visit from the Hogfather. But when Susan Sto Helit is visited on Hogswatch eve, the Jolly Fat Man is her grandfather in a fake beard and costume. And her grandfather is, of course, Death. Which means Susan has to fix reality again, while dodging the Assassins' Guild's most maladapted member... (Death #4, Discworld #20) By Terry Pratchett [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer on Sep 22, 2023 - 14 comments

Ahh, Midsummer in in the Ramtops, where the Lancre Coven returns from Genua to learn that Magrat is due to marry the King in two weeks' time, and that in their absence a gaggle of young new witches has been consorting with beings that they may not fully understand. Magrat meets the Royal Beekeeper, learns some local history, and chooses a new hat. Nanny Ogg has a hot date, does a little spelunking, and gives out some candy. Nanny's sons shoe a horse for a stranger, put on a play, and defend the castle against an invasion. And Granny Weatherwax stares at the sun, comes to grips with what might have been, and learns to borrow the Swarm... (Discworld #14, Witches #3). By Terry Pratchett. [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer on Sep 12, 2023 - 8 comments

Discworld's Death is forced into retirement, and shortly thereafter a man calling himself "Bill Door" comes a-knocking at elderly Miss Flitworth's farmhouse to work as a farmhand. Windel Poons, oldest of the Wizards of Unseen University, is due to die at half-past nine, and excited to be reincarnated, but that doesn't go quite as expected. And Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler comes across a big case of snowglobes that nobody seems to be claiming... (Discworld #11, Death #2.) By Terry Pratchett. [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer on Sep 9, 2023 - 8 comments

The Agatean Empire, on the Disc's gold-rich Counterweight Continent, is at a crossroads. The Emperor (May He Live for a Thousand Years) is old and mad, and at death's door. The Five Noble Families are positioning themselves for what will come afterwards. A group of revolutionaries called The Red Army are busy sloganeering. A new book called "What I Did on My Holidays" is making tons of waves. Barbarians are within the gates of the Forbidden City. And into all of this, Ankkh-Morpork's Unseen University sends Rincewind, who may not be the "Great Wizzard" the Agateans are expecting. (Discworld #17, Wizards #5.) By Terry Pratchett. [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer on May 17, 2023 - 10 comments

Rincewind returns from hell at the behest of a 13-year-old Demonologist looking to make a deal with a devil, and Rincewind will just have to do. Along the way to seeing about the young man's wishes, they'll visit the Discworld's versions of the Aztec Empire, the Trojan War, and Corporate Bureaucracy. (Discworld #9, Wizards #4.) By Terry Pratchett. [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer on May 1, 2023 - 6 comments

The sorcerer Alder fears sleep. The dead are pulling him to them at night. Through him they may free themselves and invade Earthsea. Alder seeks advice from Ged, once Archmage. Ged tells him to go to Tenar, Tehanu, and the young king at Havnor. They are joined by amber-eyed Irian, a fierce dragon able to assume the shape of a woman. The threat can be confronted only in the Immanent Grove on Roke, the holiest place in the world, and there the king, hero, sage, wizard, and dragon make a last stand. (Book 6 of the Earthsea cycle) [more inside]
posted by Cash4Lead on May 7, 2021 - 2 comments

The tales of this book explore and extend the world established by the Earthsea novels—yet each stands on its own. It contains the novella “The Finder”, and the short stories “The Bones of the Earth”, “Darkrose and Diamond”, “On the High Marsh”, and “Dragonfly”. (Book 5 of the Earthsea cycle) [more inside]
posted by Cash4Lead on Apr 2, 2021 - 5 comments

Years before, they had escaped together from the sinister Tombs of Atuan—Tenar, an isolated young priestess, and Ged, a powerful wizard. Now she is a farmer's widow, having chosen for herself the simple pleasures of an ordinary life. And he is a broken old man, mourning the powers lost to him not by choice. A lifetime ago, they helped each other at a time of darkness and danger. Now they must join forces again, to help another—the physically and emotionally scarred child whose own destiny remains to be revealed. (Book 4 of the Earthsea cycle) [more inside]
posted by Cash4Lead on Mar 5, 2021 - 15 comments

Darkness threatens to overtake Earthsea. As the world and its wizards are losing their magic, Ged—powerful Archmage, wizard, and dragonlord—embarks on a sailing journey with the highborn young prince, Arren. They travel far beyond the realm of death to discover the cause of these evil disturbances and to restore magic to a land desperately thirsty for it. (Book 3 of the Earthsea cycle) [more inside]
posted by Cash4Lead on Feb 5, 2021 - 6 comments

Ged was the greatest sorcerer in Earthsea, but in his youth he was the reckless Sparrowhawk. In his hunger for power and knowledge, he tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tumultuous tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance. (Book 1 of the Earthsea cycle) [more inside]
posted by Cash4Lead on Dec 4, 2020 - 23 comments

The secrets of the multiverse may be may be discovered by reporter Alex Goldman after he places a call to a mysterious green wizard. [more inside]
posted by FallowKing on Mar 12, 2018 - 3 comments

"Across the Sea of Dreams... behind the Curtain of Time... lies the land of ultimate fantasy." I bet you weren't looking forward to another visit to the world of last week's movie. Good news, other than the name and executive producer Roger Corman, this movie has nothing to do with the first one! A shepherd who's also a wizard tries to save the world from bad wizards blah blah Tolkien Eddings Brooks. A lot of people think Part 1 was a highlight of the season, but many also think this is a lowlight, so beware guys. A subplot begins in this episode, with Kinga deciding to marry Jonah. And we have another visit from Pearl! Episode 1111 is available on Netflix. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Jun 21, 2017 - 18 comments

For Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name.
posted by Fizz on Aug 4, 2016 - 10 comments

"SEE the Green Fire Demons! SEE the 25-Foot Tall Ogre! SEE the Beautiful Vampire Woman! SEE the Boiling Crater of Death!" Lodac the Sorcerer has trouble finding a pet store that carries Dragon Chow, so he finds natural prey for it. Young George, a socially-awkward teen who's spent his whole life in a cave taken care of by witch Estelle Winwood, resolves to help protect the local princess population. The general consensus is that this is not a bad movie by MST standards. I concur; it's rather fun in a fairytale kind of way. Director Bert I. Gordon did good this time, and Basil Rathbone as the evil wizard helps to elevate things too. YouTube (1h33m). Premiered September 29, 1992. See comments for new information about our weekly showings.... [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Jan 7, 2016 - 1 comment