bookgazing. Entries tagged with authors: terry pratchett

‘Making Money’ is the sequel to Terry Pratchett’s ‘Going Postal’, which followed Moist Lipwig, aka notorious con man Albert Spangler, after his hanging doesn’t quite come off right and he’s offered a new life by the ruler of Ankh Morpork, as long as he agrees to take a job reforming the postal system. I thought ‘Going Postal’ was the freshest Discworld novel for some time, with the addition of a really new set of characters, rather than characters who are slightly different retreads of personalities that Pratchett has written before ( Tiffany Aching, I’m looking at you). I was excited about this book, but also quite afraid of being disappointed. I think every reader has had that terrible moment where a sequel book just doesn’t live up to the first book and as much as you love the characters you can’t continue down the road with them. I was so bedazzled by Moist and his love interest Spike at the end of ‘Going Postal’ that I was getting really keyed up about this book possibly being terrible.

Hurray, hurray this book is fabulous and it made me want to reread ‘Going Postal’ (I thought I’d a had a fit of ‘you can’t keep all the books’ and given it away, but I eventually found it in a trunk). I’ve decided Moist is a combination of early Vimes and Rincewind, but with a special charisma that is all his own. In Spike, Pratchett has created a truly new kind of Discworld woman. At first I thought she was a bit like a less polite Sybil, or like an unrestrained Angua, but she’s none of those, she’s just Spike the woman who’s extremely caring, independent and cynical and goes everywhere in deadly six inch heels.

I liked it very much (and for all those people who said Spider the dog was their favourite character in ‘The Woman in Black’ there is a dog called ‘Mr Fusspot’ who eats sticky toffee pudding in ‘Making Money’). I recommend it to all Pratchett fans and anyone who likes satire, or a book about the grand old fight between good and evil. Usually there’s no need to read Discworld books in order, but I think in this case you need to acquaint yourself with Moist in ‘Going Postal’ before reading ‘Making Money’, otherwise quite a bit won’t make sense.

Hopefully in just a few months a copy of ‘Unseen Academicals’ will appear under the Christmas tree. I’m sort of considering rereading a few Discworld books in the future (for most this will be the fourth of fifth time I’ve read them), but I’m not sure which ones to choose. What are your top three Discworld novels?

Other Reviews

Magical Colloquial

Step back, I’m about to get evangelical here.

After finishing ‘Nation’ I felt like I should be waving it at everyone around me, while shouting ‘Why aren’t you reading? You’re missing it!!” Actually I felt like that all the way through the book, but shouting and waving would have stolen too much reading time. Good job I have a blog, specifically set up for shouting about books!

Mau is paddling back from The Boy’s Island to his home island, The Nation, when an enormous wave capsizes his canoe. He survives and floats back to The Nation, only to find that everyone on the island has been killed by the wave. At the same time an English girl called Ermin…Daphne finds her ship picked up by the wave and tossed on to the island. The crew is killed and Daphne finds herself stranded with only a foul mouthed parrot for company. When the two teenagers find each other they save each other from despair and death by beginning to build a new civilization, where they care for the strays that wash up on the island.

One of the things I love about Pratchett’s books is that his characters are individual creations, not manifestations of parts of his own personality. Both Mau and Daphne are channels that he expresses his ideas through but they each have their own personalities, which never feel as if they can be traced to the author’s voice or biography. Despite the humorous footnotes and the third person narrative Pratchett is probably one of the most absent authors I can think of, giving his characters space to be themselves. At no point did I think Mau or Daphne sounded like characters from his previous books, although sometimes they think about themes that have often been discussed in the Discworld books. Even death, an entity which Pratchett has made into a very solid celebrity in the Discworld books, has been entirely reincarnated in ‘Nation’ as the more ethereal Locaha.

Mau is the most revelatory character in this book. He gives a tangible form to the struggles that all boys face as they grow up. When he is hit by the wave he is in the process of completing the traditional journey that turns a boy’s soul into a man’s soul. His transformation into a man will only be officially completed by meeting his family on the beach and receiving his tribal tattoo. By passing the test of escaping from The Boy’s Island Mau moves from boyhood but with no one left to complete the rituals he is kept from manhood in his own mind and in the minds of people from other islands. His actions in burying his people, battling with pigs to feed a hungry child and restoring the island, shape him into a man in a much more meaningful way, but although the reader sees the change in Mau, he sometimes struggles to see what he has become. Mau’s journey from boy to man is a substantial examination of what really makes a man. Before reading ‘Nation’ I’d never given these ideas proper consideration but Mau’s pain at the bleak discovery he faces on reaching his island made me feel instantly connected to him and his journey.

Now for the bits that any Discworld fan will know to expect. Pratchett’s world building is once again superb. The island traditions are bought in simply, without heavy signaling that ‘LIFE IS DIFFERENT ON THIS ISLAND’. The history is well formed, the creation story is clear and the complex matter of multiple worlds and timelines is dealt with in a way which is easy to understand and promotes hope. ‘Nation’ is funny and contains an extremely odd animal, which I think of as the Pratchett trademark (in this case a swearing parrot who delights in hurting other birds). As in all his books there are lots of deep, important ideas contained in this book, like the problems of believing in gods and the troubles that accompany colonization. Pratchett puts the words of each side succinctly, so they can not be misunderstood or ignored. He also fills this book with light humour, brought about by the confusion of two cultures trying to communicate.

‘Nation’ is, in my opinion, one of the best books Terry Pratchett has ever written. If you want proof that I am the product of uber-exposure to Pratchett please ask to see ‘the shelf’.

Go see what GuysLitWire had to say about 'Nation' , or if you've reviewed it please leave a link in the comments.

Other Reviews

Nymeth
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
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Entries tagged with authors: terry pratchett

Making Money - Terry Pratchett

Nation - Terry Pratchett

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