Raising Steam

A Discworld Novel

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Stephen Briggs

Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

The new Discworld novel, the 40th in the series, sees the Disc's first train come steaming into town.

Change is afoot in Ankh-Morpork. Discworld's first steam engine has arrived, and once again Moist von Lipwig finds himself with a new and challenging job.

©2014 Terry Pratchett (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

Advance Praise for Raising Steam

“A spectacular novel, and a gift from a beloved writer to his millions of fans. . . . A tremendous synthesis of everything that makes Pratchett one of the world’s most delightful writers.”
—Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing

“From the first, the novels demonstrated Pratchett's eye for telling detail and the absurdities of the human condition. . . . He remains one of the most consistently funny writers around; a master of the stealth simile, the time-delay pun and the deflationary three-part list. . . . I could tell which of my fellow tube passengers had downloaded it to their e-readers by the bouts of spontaneous laughter.”
—Ben Aaronovitch, The Guardian

"Terry Pratchett’s creation is still going strong after 30 years. . . . Most aficionados, however, will be on the look-out for in-jokes and references from previous novels—of which there is no shortage. Discworld’s success, like that of Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster stories, has never been driven by the plots. . . . It is at the level of the sentence that Pratchett wins his fans.”
—Andrew McKie, The Times (London)

Praise for Terry Pratchett

“Terry Pratchett may still be pegged as a comic novelist, but . . . he’s a lot more. In his range of invented characters, his adroit storytelling, and his clear-eyed acceptance of humankind’s foibles, he reminds me of no one in English literature as much as Geoffrey Chaucer. No kidding.”
—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post Book World

“Given his prolificacy and breezy style, it’s easy to underestimate Pratchett. . . . He’s far more than a talented jokesmith, though. His books are almost always better than they have to be.”
—Michael Berry, San Francisco Chronicle

“Nonstop wit. . . . Pratchett is a master of juggling multiple plotlines and multiplying punchlines.”
—Ken Barnes, USA Today

Good but...

This ought to have been a wonderful read: the fortieth Discworld novel, featuring Moist von Lipwig and Commander Grimes coming to grips with the invention of the steam train and revisionist Dwarf terrorists, challenging the Koom Valley Accord.

Big themes are brought to the table: how subversion whispers in the dark, spreading fear and denying truth; how there is something magical and dangerous about a new technology; how the men who tinker endlessly and obsessively can become a bigger threat to the status quo than any terrorist and how, in the end, love is a greater driving force than steam.

And yet, this wasn’t a great Terry Pratchett book. Something was missing.

Perhaps is was the righteous anger of “Thud” where the only sane way to win the war was to cancel the battle

“What kind of creature defines itself by hatred?”

Or the irrepressible, maniacal optimism of “Going Postal” where a tyrant puts a criminal in charge of the Post Office because of the criminal sees the world differently

“If you kept changing the way people saw the world, you ended up changing the way you saw yourself.”

Or perhaps it was the mysterious absence from the Watch of Captain Carrot, the world’s tallest dwarf.

Or maybe it was just that this is first time I’ve listened to a Discworld book rather than reading it for myself and the flat narration detracted from the experience.

Whatever it was, it left me disappointed.

It also left me determined to go back an re-read the Discworld books that filled me with joy and tears and a practical human politics: “Guards, Guards, Guards,” “Witches Abroad”, “The Night Watch”, “Small Gods”, “Thud”, “Going Postal”, “The Truth”.

Entertaining as always, fun for most ages.

This was a fun and sometimes silly read. I enjoyed it and would recommend it for grade schoolers and up

Real Engineers Can Laugh

Who was your favorite character and why?

Moist is great again. But the lead for me are the Engineers!
Love the way Steam engines are invented on DIsc World. Anyone married to an engineer will better understand and enjoy their ways all the more. Delightful!

Excellent

Excellent, as usual Mr. Pratchett. Fun plot and interesting characters. The train theme added a new variant. We will miss you.

Pratchett's delicious social satire on technology

Technology, innovation, meritocracy all punctuated with Sir Perry's unique and humorous perspectives. As always, masterful characterizations. Mr. Briggs performance is beautifully timed.

loved it

always love these books. Terry Pratchett was the best story teller. There are very few authors I will re-read he is one of them.

Industrial revolution!

Love the industrial revolution books and anything including the City Watch. Stephen Briggs was phenomenal as usual.

Love terry!!!

great story & great reader!!! Helps if you have read or listened to the rest of the disc world books to get the characters mapped out!!!

Never a disappointment

I love Pratchett's novels and Briggs certainly makes them alive. Sadly, we lost a genius.

Vintage Pratchett

What made the experience of listening to Raising Steam the most enjoyable?

The narration was excellent.

What did you like best about this story?

The blend of humor and insight into human nature.

What about Stephen Briggs’s performance did you like?

I loved the way Briggs voiced the various characters. The accents, inflections, everything enhanced the listening experience.

Any additional comments?

For Discworld fans, Raising Steam hits all the right notes.