Bookish Thoughts

Going Postal  may not be Terry Pratchett at the top of his game, but it's pretty close. This book introduces Moist (who is entertaining in the beginning but, much like Rincewind, quickly wears out his welcome) and focuses on an ever more modern Ankh-Morpork. The clacks have been around for several books now, allowing messages to pass quickly both within the city and between the city and the outlying regions. Communication with Sto Lat is near instantaneous and it's even possible to keep up to date with far-flung Genua. But it's all starting to fail. The system was privatized, maintenance was dropped in the name of profit, and now the clacks is down more often than not, while the fat cats who own it grow ever fatter. So Vetinari enlists Moist von Lipwig, notorious conman, to resurrect the failing postal service. What follows is a rollicking adventure, touching on everything from public service to redemption to freedom. The references to Tump Tower feel even more on the n...

I almost didn't read this book. Raising Steam  is, at this point, the penultimate book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld  series. Though that's perhaps a bit disingenuous with a series like this. Discworld  has a loose continuity, but each book stands on its own. It's possible to skip one and not lose your place. The setting is more important than any singular plot line. So, this is a late Discworld  book. It's about Moist von Lipwig, who has never been one of my favorite characters. Most fans of the series regard this book as dispensable. It's not considered a stellar example of Pratchett's work. He was, after all, nearing the end of both his career and his life when he wrote this. And the series has been declining in quality for a while. But then, as much as I wanted to get to the final book, a Tiffany Aching story, I found myself unable to start it. I'll get in to this in more detail when I do read that book, but the bottom line is that I wasn'...

I'm getting closer and closer to the end of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.  It's a good thing there's another forthcoming book to look forward to. That book is even set to continue to story of Moist von Lipwig, the protagonist of Making Money . Though I think his story may be played out. The problem with Lipwig (and Making Money ) is that's he's a reformed con man, but he's far more interesting when he's conning people. So all of his growth from Going Postal has to be reverted in the first half of this book to make the second half interesting. And even then, things spiral out of his control more than I would have liked. He's ultimately saved by a blindingly obvious Deus Ex Machina (you can see it coming from the first few pages). For all that, the book does tackle some interesting themes, namely banking, and the changover from the gold standard to a much more elusive standard: trust. The book pulls back from really sticking to th...

Discworld was actually on my radar when Going Postal came out. I hadn't started reading the series yet, but I do remember being vaguely aware that this book had been released. It may have even been what prompted me to head to the library and look for the earlier Discworld book. I ended up picking up Good Omens instead, but the thought was there. This really means that I am quickly approaching the end of the series. There are only size more books after this (until Pratchett decides to release another one, anyway). But even this late in the series, Pratchett is able to keep things fresh (in fact a lot of people enjoy his later books much more than his earlier books). Going Postal kicks off the Moist von Lipwig arc, which continues in Making Money and the rumored Raising Taxes . Moist is a conman who finally got caught. But instead of killing him, Ventinari decides to put him in charge of Ankh-Morpork's failing post office. It doesn't take Moist long to re...