Every now and then you run across a book series that makes you want to go right out and buy all the other books in that series. Some times you want to go out and buy everything else that author has ever written. When I first ran across Terry Pratchett's Discworld series I fell in love. I adored the characters, I dug the dry jokes, and I was endlessly amused by the footnotes. Like Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett is one of those tasty mental treats that comes out of England and it shows in his writing style.
For the few innocents who have no idea what I'm talking about with Discworld, I have taken the liberty of linking you to Mr. Pratchett's official website. As far as I can tell he has written a set of books where the only consistent character is the world itself. Inside the main series, he has written several mini-series' that keep the focus on one particular part of this very unusual world and set of people. Most fans tend to prefer one set of characters over another, but you really have to try them all on for size.
The newest mini-series in the Discworld universe that I've started is based around a guy with the pleasant name of Moist von Lipwig. Aside from his name, Moist is also unlucky enough to be a very good confidence man who has just been caught and is on his way to hung by the neck until dead. Removed at just past the last moment from the gallows by the ruler of the city, Lord Vetinari, Moist is given the job of resuscitating the local Post Office. He manages to pull this off with a huge bag of tricks, some left-over loot, and the help of a bunch of giant clay golems. He is ably assisted by a girlfriend nicknamed Spike, a strange cross between a Postal Workers Union and a Masonic Lodge, and the tendency of his own mouth to run away with him. Moist has to fend off a hostile semaphore monopoly trying to shut him down while still clearing out decades of undelivered mail from the Post Office building itself.The fact that he not only does it, but does it while telling people to their faces that he's a fraud makes Going Postal a really fun book to read.
When the next book in the set came up, I was very anxious to read it. In Making Money we find out that Moist is getting sort of twitchy. He's been a good honest citizen for awhile now and it's starting to wear on him. When Lord Veninari offers him a job in charge of the Royal Mint and Royal Bank he's not really eager to jump in. However, he inherits the position of Bank Manager and gets into the swing of things. And that's when this book started to fall apart for me. You see, in Going Postal, there's a certain amount of frantic mental flapping, some twists and a few surprise loop-de-loops that make a reader want to stand up and cheer. But in Making Money the same flapping occurs. There's the same kind of plot twists and you can see the loop a mile away. Even though our hero has been put into a remarkable similar position to last time, he pretty much the same things over again. The shenanigans are terribly predictable. I kept reading to see if there were some new ones, but I was disappointed.
Am I saying if you read one, don't read the other? NO!! What I saw as a predictable plot point came totally out of left field for a few of the other people I know who read Discworld. I'm a real pain in the butt when it comes to guessing the murderer during the first 15 min. of the film and figuring out my birthday presents too, so please don't go on only my experience. However, if you're just getting into Discworld, save one of them to be read after you've looked at a few other things. I find that I like Making Money quite a bit more if I don't read Going Postal just before hand. Try Small Gods or Equal Rites or any of the other equally wonderful books.
I do hope you pick up and read some Terry Pratchett this summer. He writes excellent books to take on trips unless, like me, you're the sort who likes to snicker and snort out loud at your reading material. In that case save it for someplace private, because you will be laughing a lot at these books.
Pratchett, Terry. Going Postal
HarperTorch, New York, 2004
Pratchett, Terry. Making Money
Harper, New York, 2007
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