A Perpetual Orgy

Triumph of the Moon

By Ronald Hutton

Holy crap, I finally finished it. Never thought I'd see the day. Now, don't get me wrong: I really like this book. It should be required reading by anyone looking to call themselves Wiccan, maybe even anyone looking to call themselves pagan at all. There's so much misinformation out there about the history of Western Witchcraft that it'd do some real good if more people read this book.

But ye gods, it's dense as all get out. The type is tiny, the paragraphs are long, the language is complex. Hutton has a delightful dry wit, which I quite enjoyed, but this isn't the sort of book you curl up with for a few relaxing hours. It's slow going. Fascinating, but not at all a quick read.

Anyway. Hutton traces the modern pagan movement in the UK back to its roots and examines what, exactly, its actual history is. Lots of good stuff here, though fans of the "OMG, once upon a time, everyone was MATRIARCHAL and it was UTOPIA and then evil MEN came along and wrecked it all, and all the witches went into hiding until Gerald Gardener brought the tradition back into the public eye! NEVER AGAIN THE BURNING TIMES!" history may be rather distressed to find that's a load of hooey.

Interestingly, Hutton's dissection of the actual history behind Wicca and other modern pagan traditions doesn't negate their spiritual validity at all, just the validity of the histories people like telling. Good stuff.

Book 3 in 2009.

The Unseen University Cut-Out Book

By Terry Pratchett

There's not much to read here, just a couple of introductory bits. The art is lovely, and I'm sorely tempted to buy a second copy and cut everything out to build it. So awesome!

Book 1 in 2009.

The Absolute Sandman: Volume 2

By Neil Gaiman, et al

Wow. I loved the first volume, and I loved the second even more. This is pretty much the same setup as the first volume, though apparently the colors weren't fixed as much, if at all. Still, I like it. Great art, great stories (including a long, complicated, political tale about what happens when Lucifer closes up Hell, kicks out all the demons and damned souls, and gives Dream the key), and an interesting look behind the scenes at Neil's script (with lots of comments about what things look like -- interesting reading) with the associated sketches from the artist.

Book 2 in 2009.