#170 Terry Pratchett: Making Money

[bellinghman]

Terry Pratchett: Making Money

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Doubleday (20 Sep 2007)
ISBN-10: 0385611013
ISBN-13: 978-0385611015
Category(ies): Fantasy/Humour

As a long time fan of Master P, I'm almost unable these days to tell you whether his books are still good or not. Certainly, some of the delights of the earliest Discworld books have long since gone, as he's turned into a more deliberate and thoughtful writer - it's difficult to combine the youthful brio of The Colour Of Magic or the inventiveness of The Dark Side of the Sun with the more serious themes he now addresses. On the other hand, he still writes with both humour and humaneness.

This particular volume brings us back to Moist von Lipwig, former conman who ended up after the events in Going Postal running the Ankh Morpork Post Office and making a great success of it. Now Vetinari wants him in charge of the Central Bank and the Mint. But, as the former is owned by the Lavish family, this is not going to be an easy ride. In addition, von Lipwig doesn't really believe in the gold standard.

My main problem is that I really, really don't like von Lipwig's name. It's silly, stupid, and even Dickens would have been embarrassed to use it. However, apart from that, the main themes work pretty well (though some economists may consider the economic theory herein as a bit simplistic). It's not the best of the series, but nor is it as bad as Jingo. In general, I'd have to say it's as reliable as ever.