Terry Pratchett – VoVatia (original) (raw)

Category Archives: Terry Pratchett

Rakevat’s Rules of Chaos

Pahua and the Dragon’s Secret, by Lori M. Lee – In the second book of this series, Pahua Moua, the reincarnation of the great Hmong warrior Shee Yee, wants to enroll in a school for shamans. In order to do … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Catherynne M. Valente, Discworld, Douglas Adams, Food, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hmong, Humor, Magic, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Names, Philosophy, Relationships, Rick Riordan, Technology, Terry Pratchett, Video Games | Tagged aliens, ankh-morpork, arthur rackham, bad prince charlie, bookshops and bonedust, coffee, dragons, dwarves, elves, eurovision, gnomes, goblins, homunculus, john moore, legends and lattes, lori m. lee, metagalactic grand prix, necromancers, nine goblins, octopath traveler, orcs, pahua and the dragon's secret, rattkins, rick riordan presents, skeletons, space oddity, space opera, succubus, t. kingfisher, tapenti, travis baldree, trolls, unicorns, ursula vernon, wizards |

Some Are More Independent Than Others

I see the Supreme Court has been doing their best to destroy democracy just in time for America’s birthday. There’s been a general trend toward this kind of thing. Back in 2010, the Citizens United decision made a stand against … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Conspiracy Theories, Current Events, Discworld, History, Holidays, Politics, Prejudice, Television, Terry Pratchett | Tagged bob dole, charisma, citizens united, clarence thomas, debates, democracy, democrats, donald trump, elections, independence day, joe biden, michael dukakis, mitt romney, president george w. bush, presidential debates, republicans, supreme court of the united states, walter mondale |

Annoyance Against the Machine

I’ve been meaning to write about a few things I’ve seen mentioned online recently, one of them being artificial intelligence. I guess my main thought is that the name sounds really generous for what’s really just pattern recognition, like someone … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Authors, Capitalism, Corporations, Current Events, Discworld, Economics, Health, Technology, Terry Pratchett | Tagged artificial intelligence, chatbots, coronavirus, disease, diseases, foul ole ron, plagiarism, quarantine, robots, science fiction, social distancing |

The Unreal World

I’d seen this map, created by Dan Meth, a few times before. It just showed up on Tumblr, and I love all the commentary it’s generated. I appreciate that Meth included places from television, movies, and video games (well, one … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Arthurian Legend, Authors, British, C.S. Lewis, Captain N: The Game Master, Cartoons, Castlevania, Chronicles of Narnia, Dick Martin, Discworld, Dr. Seuss, Dreams, Fairy Tales, Greek Mythology, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jonathan Swift, L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, Magic, Maps, Mega Man, Metroid, Mythology, Nursery Rhymes, Once Upon a Time, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Punch-Out, Television, Terry Pratchett, Ursula K. LeGuin, Video Games, Zelda | Tagged alice's adventures in wonderland, avalon, bill willingham, blefuscu, bridge to terabithia, camelot, crossovers, dan meth, dinosaurs, dinotopia, dreamlands, earthsea, emerald city, fables, fritz leiber, game of thrones, george macdonald, gulliver's travels, h.p. lovecraft, heaven, hesperides, horton hatches the egg, horton hears a who, hyrule, jaro hess, jonathan swift, jungle of nool, king arthur, king hippo, king midas, kingdom of dreams, krull, land of the lost, lankhmar, lilliput, michael ende, middle-earth, narnia, nehwon, neverland, once-ler, peter and wendy, peter pan, phantastes, rip van winkle, sir lancelot du lac, sodor, spirit tracks, the dark crystal, the fantasy world map, the land of make-believe, the last battle, the lion the witch and the wardrobe, the lorax, the neverending story, the pied piper of hamelin, the princess bride, the wonderful world of oz, thomas and friends, thra, timelines, tol eressea, tom thumb, videoland, washington irving, westeros, where the wild things are, whoville, wonderland |

Listen to the Banshee

I’m not sure I’ve ever done a post about Banshees, of Inisherin or otherwise. I haven’t seen that movie, but I suspect it doesn’t have any literal Banshees in it. I did write before about the Bean-Nighe, which is sometimes considered a type of … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Authors, Cartoons, Celtic, Characters, Discworld, Etymology, Magic, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Oz, Television, Terry Pratchett | Tagged aiobheall, banshees, bean-nighe, birds, blarney castle, blarney stone, brigid, carrigcleena, cats, ciabhan, cliodhna, cormac maccarthy, crows, dragons, dryads, dwarves, fairies, forest of burzee, funerary rites, gargoyles, gebann the red druid, ghosts, gnomes, going postal, gryle, guards! guards!, hares, keening, leprechauns, leprechauns in oz, manannan mac lir, mark haas, morrigan, moving pictures, mr. ixolite, o'caoimh, ruadan, sean mac seamas, sirens, stoats, the colour of magic, tiny toon adventures, tonn cliodhna, tuatha de danann, weasels |

Serious About Series

I’ve finished reading the latest issue of The Baum Bugle, which is largely dedicated to Kabumpo in Oz. Editor Sarah Crozter co-wrote a piece with Nick Campbell on the book and Oz as a series in general. I’ve seen a … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Authors, Book Reviews, Cartoons, Characters, Christmas, Cults, Discworld, Dr. Seuss, Families, Games, Holidays, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Plays, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Terry Pratchett, Toys | Tagged allison mcbain, black gold saya, cora-lee marcus, cory in oz, curious cottabus, dinosaurs, edward eager, fabia, fumaro, garrett kilgore, glinda, halloween island, i am jinjur, international wizard of oz club, jinjur, jonathan markoff, kabumpo, kabumpo in oz, kalidahs, kaliko, kuma party, limbo, lin carter, mary austin, nick campbell, nome king, nomes, on beyond zebra, ozma, ozma of oz, ozwold, pigasus, radiation, sarah crozter, teddy bears, the baum bugle, the gnome king of oz, the green glass castle, the man who didn't believe in christmas, the tired tailor of oz, the wonderful wizard of oz, tik-tok of oz, transformation, wizard of oz, writing, wumbo |

Mazes, Memory, and Magic

Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke – This is the first thing I’ve read by this author, and it was pretty fascinating. The protagonist and narrator is called Piranesi after the eighteenth century Italian artist and archaeologist (not that he knows that), … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Discworld, Final Fantasy, Games, Magic, Terry Pratchett, Video Games | Tagged andrew lloyd webber, dungeons and dragons, final fantasy viii, gaston leroux, guyal of sfere, jack vance, les miserables, mazirian the magician, piranesi, rincewind, susanna clarke, the colour of magic, the dying earth, the phantom of the opera, tunnels of doom |

We’re Sunk

The King in Yellow, by Robert Chambers – This Gothic horror story from the 1890s is largely notable for being incorporated into H.P. Lovecraft’s mythology. The title is that of a play that exists within the universe of the book, but … Continue reading →

Posted in African, Authors, Book Reviews, Carribean, Catholicism, Characters, Christianity, Global Warming, Health, Judaism, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Names, Neil Gaiman, Oz, Oz Authors, Plays, Relationships, Religion, Rick Riordan, Santeria, Science, Sesame Street, Television, Terry Pratchett, Voodoo, Yoruba | Tagged ballad and dagger, candide, carcosa, caroll spinney, catherynne valente, demons, dr. pipt, galanika, good omens, h.p. lovecraft, hastur, horror, liquid of petrifaction, orishas, oscar the grouch, outlaw saints, pirates, rick riordan presents, robert chambers, the king in yellow, the past is red, voltaire, ys |

Winners and Choosers

After looking at the notion of people chosen by the gods, I became curious as to how the concept of a specific person being the Chosen One originated. It’s a pretty common trope in fantasy, someone being prophesied to save the world … Continue reading →

Posted in Arthurian Legend, Authors, Babylonian, British, Captain N: The Game Master, Cartoons, Characters, Christianity, Discworld, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Futurama, Greek Mythology, Harry Potter, J.R.R. Tolkien, Magic, Mario, Mythology, Oz, Philosophy, Religion, Semitic, Star Wars, Television, Terry Pratchett, Video Games, Zelda | Tagged anakin skywalker, andrew heller, aragorn, armor, bender's big score, brain spawn, carrot ironfoundersson, chosen ones, chosen people, dark king, darth plagueis, darth vader, donald abbott, dorothy gale, dragon quest iii, dragon quest iv, dragon quest v, emperor palpatine, epic of gilgamesh, erdrick, fate, final fantasy mystic quest, flood, gilgamesh, glinda, gondor, hammurabi, how the wizard came to oz, hyrule, jedi, jesus, king arthur, king david, kylo ren, link, lord of the rings, middle-earth, nibblonians, oedipus, oz: the great and powerful, philip j. fry, professor hubert farnsworth, prophecy, return of the jedi, sith, swords, time travel, utnapishtim, voldemort, weapons, witches, wizard of oz |

The Gods Must Be Choosy

Paul Dana suggested a few weeks ago that I should look into the concept of chosen people in religion, and how common that was. Nowadays, it’s mostly used to refer to the Jewish people, or sometimes to other religions that … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Christianity, Comics, Discworld, Greek Mythology, History, Judaism, Mythology, Neil Gaiman, Religion, Semitic, Terry Pratchett | Tagged 2 kings, american gods, animal sacrifice, athena, bible, chemosh, chosen people, covenant, hogfather, human sacrifice, israel, jesus, john of patmos, judah, maasai, mesha of moab, mesha stele, moab, poseidon, revelation, sacrifice, small gods, spider-man, stan lee, supersessionism, twelve tribes of israel |