With the release of every new
Discworld novel I always want to know two things. One: which set of characters do I get to
read about this time. And Two: What aspect of modern society gets lampooned. In Terry Pratchett''s latest work, "Making Money" the answer to both questions was, frankly, a bit of a let-down: One- Moist von Lipwig and associates; and Two- the switch to paper currency from the gold standard. Possibly not the most comedic of choices, but then I''m neither a novelist nor a book editor.
Now for the ubiquitous "don''t get me wrong." I am a Terry Pratchett fan and since discovering the series a couple years ago, I''ve read all the
discworld books and most of his other works. I''ve heard it said that there are two kinds of Terry Pratchett novels; the good and the very very good, and I tend to agree. This particular book, in my humble opinion, qualifies merely as "good."
The familiar flavors of Ankh-Morpork and it''s slightly skewed citizens are properly represented and the old Pratchett humor is still reliable, but this story just felt like an unnecessary sequel to what should have been left as another good one-shot Discworld tale. The first Moist adventure, "
Going Postal" was actually quite gripping as well as very very funny. There was a real sense of the danger of the situation and, more importantly perhaps, a truly evil and very believable villain to revile. This last book felt more like Pratchett was just going through the motions. The comedy is there and the story is decent enough, but it just doesn''t come together that way his better books do.
So, if you''re a dedicated fan of the series, you can''t really go wrong here. To those less enamored of Pratchett and his flat little planet I''d say wait for the paperback version. As I said before it''s good, but not great.