Horror Book Reviews
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Title: Making Money (Discworld) |
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Review of Making Money (Discworld)
The Ankh-Morpork Post Office is running like . . . well, not at all like a government office. The mail is delivered promptly; meetings start and end on time; five out of six letters relegated to the Blind Letter Office ultimately wend their way to the correct addresses. Postmaster General Moist von Lipwig, former arch-swindler and confidence man, has exceeded all expectationsâincluding his own. So it's somewhat disconcerting when Lord Vetinari summons Moist to the palace and asks, "Tell me, Mr. Lipwig, would you like to make some real money?"
Vetinari isn't talking about wages, of course. He's referring, rather, to the Royal Mint of Ankh-Morpork, a venerable institution that haas run for centuries on the hereditary employment of the Men of the Sheds and their loyal outworkers, who do make money in their spare time. Unfortunately, it costs more than a penny to make a penny, so the whole process seems somewhat counterintuitive.
Next door, at the Royal Bank, the Glooper, an "analogy machine," has scientifically established that one never has quite as much money at the end of the week as one thinks one should, and the bank's chairman, one elderly Topsy (née Turvy) Lavish, keeps two loaded crossbows at her desk. Oh, and the chief clerk is probably a vampire.
But before Moist has time to fully consider Vetinari's question, fate answers it for him. Now he's not only making money, but enemies too; he's got to spring a prisoner from jail, break into his own bank vault, stop the new manager from licking his face, and, above all, find out where all the gold has goneâotherwise, his life in banking, while very exciting, is going to be really, really short. . . .
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Comments for Making Money (Discworld)
- Posted on 2008-05-25
Pratchett just keeps getting better!
A wry and witty commentary on society. Less of the magic and fantasy of earlier books (until you get to the golems), more social satire. A funny, well plotted, enjoyable, meaty read.
Score: 5
- Posted on 2008-05-05
An absurd and hilariously funny story
This is another book in Terry Pratchett's series on the Discworld - a flat world, supported on the backs of four massive elephants riding on the back of a planet-sized turtle, anything hilarious can happen here, and eventually does.
Moist von Lipwig is growing bored. First he had the fun of being a conman and thief, and then, after being hanged, he was made Postmaster General of Ankh-Morpork. But now life has taken on the boredom of routing. That is, until Lord Vetinari makes him an offer he can't refuse - become head of Ankh-Morpork's largest bank and reform the cities banking system...OK, perhaps that's no choice at all. But, this is no small task - he has a dog for a boss, an Assassin's Guild contract hanging over his head, a vicious opponent who is jockeying to become the city's next Patrician, a golem secretary who is becoming distressingly female, a board-stiff head clark, a paranoid engraver, and a whole host of even stranger people to deal with! Oh yes, Moist is the man for the job...if he can just succeed in keeping alive!
I must say that I have been a big fan of Terry Pratchett for a long time, and I really like Going Postal. This book is very much in keeping with that one - parodying the money and banking system, while at the same time telling an absurd and hilariously funny story. I liked seeing some old friends again, including Moist, the Patrician and Ponder Stibbons, and really liked many of the new ones that popped up. (Does an Igor count as an old character or a new one?)
Anyway, if you like Terry Pratchett like I do, then you will like this story. It is quite funny, filled with lots of Terry's quirkiness, and even a little thought provoking (currency based on golems, eh?). I loved this book and highly recommend it!
Score: 5 - Posted on 2008-04-30
Hilarious.
This book is hilarious. I love everything by Terry Pratchett and have amassed quite a collection. I didn't buy this book from Amazon though; I bought it as an eBook at BooksOnBoard (www.booksonboard.com) for $5 less (AND I didn't have to pay shipping!), and read the entire book on my computer at the office while my boss thought I was doing work. Moist von Lipwig would approve.
Score: 5 - Posted on 2008-04-28
I dare you not to laugh...
Once again, Terry Pratchett has made it completely impossible to read one of his novels without laughing out loud. Moist Von Lipwig returns in this novel to take charge of the bank and mint of Ankh-Morpork since he did such a bang up job with the city's post office in "Going Postal". A host of wonderful characters round out the cast...Mr. Bent, Mr. Fusspot, Adora Belle, Cosmo, Gladys and Ms. Lavish...each one funnier than the next. And in this novel, Pratchett delivers a line that is perhaps my favorite of any of his that I have read: "A smile played around Cosmo's lips, which was a dangerous playground for anything as innocent as a smile."
- Cayr Ariel Wulff, author of Born Without a Tail
Score: 5 - Posted on 2008-04-08
Not, I think, his best.
I've been reading Pratchett since before some of you were born. I've followed him from pretty much the beginning. An incredibly talented man, but he has had his ups and downs. If this is your first sojourn into Prachett, you can do better. That said, if you are just starting in on Prachett and, if you enjoy `Making Money' enough to continue, it get's even better. A lot better.
This is one of those which fit in the lower middle. Whereas in `Going Postal', we followed Moist as he progressed from amoral con artist to responsible citizen (in his own way). In this book we followed Moist because that it were the plot (what little there was) was. Generally, in a really good book, the main character develops in some way. In the best of Prachett's books the protagonist changes in a way that surprises him/her and makes us howl. A Postmaster as super-hero? Only Prachett could sell that and make it work (and work extremely well).
Also, in Making Money, he added interesting elements in the plot that just went nowhere; People making money at home, literally (manufacturing coin as a cottage industry); A magical machine, much like `Hex', that tracks the economy; And, of course, anything by B. S. Johnson. In classic Prachett they would have led slowly to a surprising and excellent joke or insight. Here, they just sort of dangle.
This is book was one of those in the middle of the pack as far as plot, character, and quality. If you want side splitting hysterical with quality plot, read 'Going Postal' (with Moist) or, better yet, 'Truth'. There is no funnier written passage in the English language then Captian Vimes describing the mayhem created in a busy city by a bunch of frightened dogs. That was Prachett at his best. This one, not so much. I think it needed more Dwarfs.
A better and far more interesting treaties on the particular subject was P. J. O'Rourke's "On The Wealth of Nations". Much funnier too.
Score: 3