The Last Hero (Written by Terry Pratchett, Illustrated by Paul Kidby)



A short, snacky Discworld full of gorgeous artwork by Paul Kidby that tends to get ruined by the binding and bad resolution.

In Discworld's reimagining of the Prometheus myth, Cohen the Barbarian (who I'm not sure had been seen since all the way back in Light Fantastic but don't quote me on that) and his of aging band heroes figure they're not long for the Discworld, and as the last of their kind (except the titular "Last Hero" turns out to be somebody else) it's time for them to cap off their careers by kidnapping an unnamed bard and making him write the epic to end all epics. Meaning documenting Cohen's Horde blowing up the gods, the Disc, and everyone on it. So the best and brightest... well, the most available of the Disc have to put together a plan to stop him, and that entails of Leonard of Quirm (who I don't believe had a major role in a Discworld before now, he just occasionally chatted with Vetinari) building a rocketship and blasting off with Rincewind, Corporal Carrot, and an unexpected stowaway in hopes of reaching the center of the world before Cohen.

I'm not sure what's up with all the Discworld crossovers of late. Other than Death making an appearance in, if not every Discworld then certainly most of them, the subseries were usually kept to themselves. You had a subseries series with Rincewind and the wizards, another with Weatherwax and the witches, then Vimes and the Night Watch, Death and Ysabelle, and so on. But Nanny Ogg showed up in Thief of Time which was a Death book, The Truth starred a new guy but had him working alongside... well, generally against the Night Watch, and now Rincewind is getting dragged along with Corporal Carrot.

The primary theme is fire blurring the line between man and god. Fire allows man to create and elevate themselves beyond what the gods intended, and the gods may be chilling at the highest peak of the world but fire gets man to the moon. While it's not explicitly stated, you can't help but think of people gathering around campfires or the hearths in a tavern and telling stories of gods and heroes alike. And just as the gods require mortals to remember and shape them, heroes need future generations to remember them and their stories.

Rating:

Sonic the Hedgehog (PG)



My score comes with the caveat that this movie is held up entirely by Jim Carrey's eccentric performance as Dr. Robotnik. Without him this would have been your bog-standard "live human and mouthy CGI animal try to get the latter home by way of car chases and other shit nobody cares about" movie. That might sound like "If it wasn't for Darth Vader, Star Wars would have been just like any other Space Opera of the time" but Star Wars wasn't an adaptation of another medium's property that dropped Luke, Vader, and, uh, lightsabers? into a template family movie. Also, Star Wars didn't drag out its bar scene with a dance number and drunken brawl I couldn't bring myself to care about because of how untouchable one of the participants was (heck, I'm pretty sure prolonging the Jabba Palace dance in Return of the Jedi is one of the biggest complains of the Special Editions).

But hey it's still miles better than that godawful Hop movie.

Rating: