Making Money
Terry Pratchett
349 pages
published in 2007

Making Money is the latest in the Discworld series, a direct sequel to Going Postal, which I've read but not yet reviewed I see and again starring Moist von Lipwig, quite literally born again crook turned postmaster. This time howver it's not the post office Moist has to deal with getting back into shape, but something far more scary: the banks. But when the Patrician asks you to do a little job for him it's usually impolite to refuse and besides, the old job's getting boring anyway and his girlfriend, somewhat misnamed Adora Belle Sweetheart has run off to rescue some more golems.

So Moist goes along with the Patrician's suggest to take a tour of the Mint and meet the current chairperson, Topsy Lavish, of the very rich and not very nice Lavish family, though she herself has only married into the family and does not enjoy the full Lavish family support. Only the fact that she has fifty percent of the bank's shares, with her dog Mr Fusspot owning another one percent, kept her as chair so far. Topsy likes Moist and vice versa, as he could always get on well with her kind of old lady even though she knew immediately he's some kind of grifter, a bit flash. Perhaps that's why when she dies the day after Moist's visit she leaves her dog to him, and her shares to the dog. And just after Moist had decided not to take the Patrician's generous offer of becoming master of the mint too...

Moist has more worries than reforming the banks as well. Somebody is hinting at his criminal past, while Adora Belle is back in Anhk-Morpork with a treasure trove of ancient golems on their way to the city as well, which may bring their own complications. All this and Moist has to make sure the money the mint makes is actually worth more than it takes to make and persuade a skeptical Anhk-Morpork that to trust their money to him rather then their traditional banking partners, ie their old socks and matresses?

As always with a Pratchett, this was entertaining and gripping, enough so to keep me reading until I finished it at 2 AM on Sunday night, or rather Monday morning. It was worth it, though this wasn't his best book. It felt a bit perfunctory in fact, perhaps because it's yet another Discworld novel to take a real world civic institution and re-imagine it in Ankh-Morpork, just like in the Watch novels (police), Masquerade (opera), the Truth (newspapers) and indeed Going Postal (the post). With the end of Making Money hinting that the next Moist von Lipwig novel may just feature tax collecting, it does feel by now as if Pratchett is ticking off some list. Also, this being the 36th Discworld novel, things are not so fresh anymore as they once were.

Nevermind, this is still a good, if not an excellent story, enjoyable in its own right even if the patented Pratchett touch is not as clearly present as in earlier books. If you like Discworld, you'll like this. IF you don't know the series, start somewhere else.

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Terry Pratchett, Making Money, fantasy, book review