Bookish Thoughts

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'...

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...

The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret Terry Pratchett writes excellent vacation books. The Discworld novels are fun, funny, and light. They're quick and easy to read, but don't require too much thought. And, since Pratchett puts breaks in the text every few pages instead of dividing the stories into chapters, they're easy to consume in any size chunk you want. So whether I have an hour to hang out on the hammock, or five minutes while we're waiting for everyone to gather in the kitchen, I can dive right into a Discworld novel and not worry too much about getting interrupted in the middle of the action. The Truth  deals with the invention of the newspaper in Ankh-Morpork. William De Worde has been sending out a weekly, handwritten newsletter to a few nobles around the city who are willing to pay $5 an issue to keep up to date on the goings on of Ankh-Morpork. But when the dwarfs invent a printing press, William quickly finds out that he can print his newsletter ...