Raising Steam

Terry Pratchett had a way of taking a delightful comic adventure and wrapping it around a vitally important social issue in a way that makes a perfect point. Raising Steam is absolutely no stranger to this and is an almost direct continuation of the plight of the goblins from “Snuff.” In this novel, Pratchett not only looked at how railways altered the culture of continents, but also at terrorism. Of course, Pratchett's terrorists are dwarfs, but a select subset of dwarfs clinging to the ways of the deep down mines. Of course, not all dwarfs clinging to the ways of the deep down mines are terrorists either. Some of them hate modern society and still believe that destroying it is a bad thing. And of course others are feminists who believe dwarf women should be proud of their gender and wear modern fashions. And others are monarchists who believe that what the Low King says goes. And others think that tradition has a great deal of value but that doesn't mean we ignore the present. The list goes on as Pratchett's dwarves fill out a complete culture better than many authors fill out actual human cultures.

Then let's add in our cast of returning favorites. This novel fits into the Moist von Lipwig arc neatly with cameos from Vimes and company. The Moist series is one of the most recents, but also one of my favorites (I say that about every series, yes I know) and I maintain that Nathan Fillion should play him should there ever be a movie adaptation (I say that about every smarmy male character, yes I know). We also learn a lot more about goblin society and spend a good deal more time with the Patrician han usual. If you're a Discworld fan, you won't be disappointed.

I admit I've put off reading this book because there just isn't a lot more Discworld left for me to read, but I'm glad I read it now. It's a good time for people to read this book. It's more enjoyable if you're read Thud, Making Money, and Snuff, but as is usual, it's easy to catch up if you haven't.