Making Money (Discworld) by Terry Pratchett Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Making Money (Discworld)
Book Review: Topical, but weak
Summary: 2 Stars
A very timely and topical book, but flawed in execution.
Although there were a number of excellent scenes and some of that uniquely visual Pratchett imagery we've come to know and love (I challenge you not to laugh at his description of a pug dog eating toffee), "Making Money" felt somewhat disjointed in execution, with a couple of bridging passages that made little grammatical sense. This is not what we have come to expect of TP.
The primary protagonist experienced nothing of the character growth he did in "Going Postal", the discussion of the Mint was much less interesting and engaging than I for one have come to expect from books like "Going Postal" or "The Truth", the woefully dull and unthreatening bad guys felt like re-heated versions of the ones from "Going Postal", and [SPOILER ALERT!] the deus ex machina of the story has rather been seen before (in "Interesting Times").[END SPOILER]
In conclusion: PFP (Poor For Pratchett - which is still better than most humour writers can manage on a good day). Save your money. Go and read *any* of his other recent books instead.
Book Review: Dangerously topical humour
Summary: 5 Stars
With the financial shenanigans of the last month or so in the UK and US, Mr. P. has hit the nail squarely on the head with his latest book. Quite how he has managed the timing I don't know.
His satire on the role of banks, other financial institutions and economics could not be better timed.
Book Review: When the Love starts to die...
Summary: 3 Stars
No one could ever accuse me of being a science fiction or fantasy fan. Dragons, elves, hobbits, wizards and the like leave me cold, whereas reading about how Bill Bryson has yet again got into a scrape in a foreign country provides comfort that I'm not the only one who can get into those types of situations. Get Graeme to tell you about the time our petrol ran out in a Maine forest in the middle of the night one day, or the Tunisian man who forced us into a spooky temple and chanted scary sounding gibberish over us and you'll see what I mean.
Despite that, the one fantasy author that everyone likes is Terry Pratchett who I discovered at 16 and have had a love affair with ever since. You don't read him for the story but more for the fun that he has with the English language and his sharp observations on life. The fact that elves, dwarfs and so on appear is incidental (to me). Unfortunately, like any long term relationship there's a risk of getting too comfortable and no longer making the effort. `Making Money' is one of those sad moments of complacency which if left unchecked can lead to a break up. Pratchett's books have moved from being fun, dynamic lovers whose focus is making you happy, to slightly balding couch potatoes who are more interested in telling you the story of a meeting at work than sweeping you off your feet.
`Making Money' feels like a lazy couch potato and there are many areas that could have benefited from more of the loving attention that Pratchett used to give to characters, background and dialogue. Originally no one cared about a lack of story as such because the fun was in the world and the writing and to read a 5 minutes conversation with an old lady who saw through Moist, after which he somehow saved the bank wouldn't have mattered if the earlier seduction had been there to hide the threadbare nature of the story. Moments such as the female golem with an identity crisis showed an earlier attention to form but the same attempt with the forgettable man in the cellar and his machine that changes reality missed the mark. Who could look at the original descriptions of hero's he gave us and compare them favourably to Moist von Lipwig who has a good name but very little else to recommend him a second time round. Finally the impression was given that Moist von Lipwig would once again be forced to save the day in the next book and would somehow manage it despite the threat of certain death and with little effort. Once that's given away why buy the next book when you can read the earlier ones that still have the power to sparkle and interest?
Who is he trying to attract now that the original commentary on fantasy is increasingly disappearing? Everything is set in a city that increasingly resembles London in the present day and the other races are so well established that they don't really have any impact. It feels that Pratchett has lost interest and is no longer working for the good of the relationship between himself and his original readers.
That may sound bitter but when a love affair comes to an end it's hard not to be upset about the former lover who let you down. I'd rather remember the fun times and it's these memories that will keep me waiting in hope for the magic to return.
Review taken from graemesfantasybookreview.com; the site for all fantasy, sci-fi and horror reviews (You can win stuff there as well!)
Book Review: Enjoyable satire
Summary: 4 Stars
Terry Pratchett, how does he do it? Churning out new and original material on such a regular basis must be very tough going. Making Money is a very witty satire, the timing of which is perfect, what with the current goings on in the financial world.
Told with all his usual panache this (although not one of his finest) is a pretty unique take on the finance industry told as only TP can tell it.
Book Review: It must be the fever
Summary: 3 Stars
God, I dragged myself out of bed to sooth a high fever and a headcold going strong with the new Pratchett. And then it fell flat on its backside. Reading it, I was more busy ticking off anoying weaknesses than with anything resembling my usual dose of Pratchett relish.
One of the biggest problem is, that the weak-as antagonists (see below) cannot even start to balance the combined powers of feisty Moist, superstreetsmart Vimes and brilliant Vetinari. The only time in the book, when Moist is really threatened *SPOiLER START*(people are actually banging on the doors of his bank) Vimes just says one word and all opposition is going under in a sea of coppers. *SPOILER END*
And how can you inject some antagonism into a world that is run between the tree of them if you cannot come up with anymore of the in-your-mind-threats that graced the recent "Wintersmith" and "Thud"? Maybe it is time to send the trio off to BhangBhangDuc and let us see how they cope without the city they rule so completely.