First Impressions

[tealin]

Just finished Making Money ... that lasted, what, all of two days?


So ... what ... exactly ... was it about?

What do you mean 'what was it about?' Why does it have to be about something?

I dunno, it just kind of feels more ... whole, that way.

All right then, what was Going Postal about?

Um ... the Post Office? And the internet, kind of. Um ...

And wasn't this one about economics and banks and ... and golems?

I ... suppose ...
Wait, no, GP was really about Moist, because we spent most of it in his head, and it was his character arc that really sold the story as a whole.

You've already said you couldn't expect MM to be as good because there was no way it could have that sort of character arc again. So what were you hoping for?

I don't know, really. Something with one central plotline? Or for them all to meet up by the end?

Look, how often have you liked a new Discworld book the moment you put it down? You didn't much like The Truth when you finished it, and actually disliked Monstrous Regiment, but now you love both. You weren't even nuts about Going Postal until a few days after reading it! What makes you think this one will be any different?

Well ... nothing ... I suppose I just need to let my brain envelop this piece of grit with some mother-of-pearl before I judge it against the others which have had several years' accretion. I just ... something about where it's going, just doesn't feel right ...

You disliked the clacks until GP...

Touché. But ... in this ... the lighting was off, somehow. It was too stark.

You are a loony.

It was!

Just wait and see. You laughed uproariously several times, including when you were all alone in your apartment with no radio or TV on, which must have made the neighbours wonder; that must be worth something.

Right ... I just wish my occipital lobe was more ticklish, lately. And I can't help thinking it would all have been better if Moist had walked off with Drumknott's pencil one more time at the end.

Comments

[niteflite.livejournal.com]

You know, after a quick rereading, I get the feeling that Vetinari is grooming Moist to be the next Patrician. And this transformation is nicely offset by Cosmo's attempt to become his own version of Vetinari.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Oh, probably ... I remember the theory being floated after Going Postal. Another underline is how Vetinari seems to be described as tired occasionaly (what's up with that?). And he actually takes time out for Moist ... one would almost suspect he thought of him as a friend, which is just .... weird.

[brendanm720.livejournal.com]

I rather liked the book, but thought it wasn't one of his better ones.

I also got the impression that the book was more about Vetinari than Moist. He may even be grooming moist for the patricianship later on... but he's certainly going to be Vetinari's troubleshooter for the near future.

[karwei.livejournal.com]

I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I was sort of hoping for a Going Postal type scenario, 'cept with the bank. There wasn't as much bank as I would have hoped. I was also hoping Mr. Gilt would come back. If he was mentioned, I missed it.

[karwei.livejournal.com]

P.S. I know he died...but Diskworld has room for the not quite alive type folks.

[forvrin.livejournal.com]

I really think that Vetinari is going to give Moist the Patricianship. I truly do. I would not be suprised later to find out that Moist and Vetinari have a relationship that goes back to Uberwald. That's where Vetinari spent a wild time in his youf, if you remember.

Moreover, I imagine the next NOT-Tiffany book to be the Tax book, but focus on the closing of the Vetinari arc.

AM is Pratchett's vision of the City, and the one thing that AM has yet to have is a successful and bloodless transfer of power. I imagine that is what he's going to be addressing soon.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

From what I hear (not much), the next book he's working on is an entirely non-Discworld book ... perhaps something like Johnny Maxwell?

I really, really want Vetinari to retire to the outskirts of Quirm and keep bees.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

True, but ... that would make for one gruesome zombie.

There wasn't as much anything as I had expected, which is part of what makes me wonder what it was about. There was almost nothing about the banknotes in practicality, or about the bank, or about Moist really (the story was mostly told from outside of his head), and for being about Vetinari there wasn't really much of him either. There wasn't even very much Ankh-Morpork in it. Tis a puzzle.

hehe

[lyraelson.livejournal.com]

i know this is completely off topic to what your journal is about.. and also that you don't know me ^^;
but i was looking through your artses on nocturnalsoldure.org and i noticed one of your pratchett piks which you said was very similar to something but you didn't know what (*breathes and winces at bad grammar*) was similar to this http://acciobrain.ligermagic.com/ch1.php
hmm.
i think that your Dr Lawn looks like Rufus Scrimjour in the above link.

tell me what you think :)

xxxx

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I think that I drew Dr Lawn before HBP came out. Someday I'll screencap that guy from M&C so people can see who I'm talking about.

But really, something like this ought to be an email. My email address is plastered all over my site, it's a lot harder to find than my journal, and I am really working on my replying speed. Seriously.

[phonixa.livejournal.com]

I just finished it last night as well, and i pretty much agree with you.

The moments that I laughed at weren't about Moist's cunning, or sillyness, but mostly about the actions and situations that he was placed in. It didn't really go anywhere, and the climax was quite anti-climatic. Although, Mr. Fusspot and the discovery of the secret cupboard was hilarious.

I wish there was more about the economy, and what it was doing to AM as a community. Changing money over should have been a central theme, and I guess I was expecting something like the stamp scenes that Pratchett had created in GP.

I really, really want to see Moist become the tax collector. Because I am SURE that he would find it an interesting situation (NO ONE likes paying taxes)

Since I am new to the discworld series (i've read going postal, monstrous Regiment, the Truth and now Making Money. Still reading guards guards but i am finding it slower than his newer books) I wanted to know more about Vetinari's plan for the city, with his tunnels and so on. Is he putting in a massive sewage system?

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I suspect that he started off meaning to write a book that would make economics as fun and accessible as the postal system but then realised there was nothing fun or accessible about it, or that he had already done the good stuff in Going Postal, and had to find some other way to make up the time...

The Undertaking is all very very new to the series. It's made pretty clear at the end of Thud! that it will, at least, involve a subway system. I'm sure proper sewage would be a part of that, what with the convenient tunnels under the city, though I don't know what Harry King will do if that happens ... oddly enough the thought of that upsets me more than a subway because what is Ankh-Morpork without its Smell? Anyway, I hope he handles it as well as the clacks.

[phonixa.livejournal.com]

on a completely different note, AGGHHHH I CANNOT DRAW MEN.

[my-fox-rocks.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who put down the book at the end and thought.

'Um... what was that actually about?'

I wanted to know more about the banknotes. It kind of felt like little plots like that started but never quite developed and then the book was over. I remember being about three quarters through thinking 'Nothing's actually happened yet... and it's nearly finished O_o'

How odd.

[dried-frog-pill.livejournal.com]

I'm rereading MM for icon-quote-purposes, but I get where you're coming from. The book feels more about Vetinari than about Moist, or I guess Vetinari-through-Moist's-eyes. It's a good book, but it's not one of the best. I dunno, it's niggling in my head too, and I'm hoping the reread will help me make up my mind about it.

Also, I think someone posted to discworld that Pratchett nixed the Moist-for-Patrician idea? Something about him not being cruel enough to kill the people who needed to be killed handle the job? I could be mistaken, though.

[lyraelson.livejournal.com]

O.O
sorry. won't bother in future.

[estas-absentis.livejournal.com]

To me the first three or so chapters of the book really lacked sparkle. There were jokes that I could tell were jokes but that kind of fell flat, like someone trying to write in style of Pratchett rather than Pratchett actually writing it, if you understand what I mean. One of my first thoughts was maybe he's losing his literary touch.
After that though, things felt less flat, when the pace quickened a bit. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed for the next few books...

[thefordmustang.livejournal.com]

'Twas quite okay to me. Worth what I paid for it.

I did enjoy reading it, I admit. It is not as high tense or dark as GP, but Pratchett also indicated he was going to be funnier in MM. The one major complaint I have is that there was no really solid villain or dangerous situations that made GP so thrilling. Moist's character arc is still there, but he is at a different phase in life, the ole What Do You Do When You Have Saved the World Already syndrome. It took a while to get started, but when it did it was fine. Not as good as Going Postal, but quite satisfying.

I will be re-reading it for sure. I usually have to do that to really appreciate the Discworld books.

BTW, this book actually was kind of therapeutic for me, especially regarding Moist's character. He is basically bored and resorts to doing some crazy things, including a rather funny send up on urban climbing as an extreme sport. In many ways he is our world's equivalent of an extreme sports guy. Many of them are succesful professionals, but they crave danger and excitement to balance the mundane every day life. I know I have been dealing with some questions about why people do that, especially when they have family and loved ones. In Aigust our young marketing manager's handsome husband died in a rock climbing accident in South Africa where they were on vacation. It has been so hard for her since she is the one left to go on, but she keeps stressing that rock climbing was his passion and he was loving life up to the end. In many ways, he lived more fully in his life than most people do in 80 years. He was not the type of guy to ever sit still and loved doing adventerous activities and helping people. It was a part of who he is. After reading MM it kind of drove home that some people's passion is living a life of potential danger and excitement. In a sense it is what keeps them alive.

Yes. Or possibly no.

[raisegrate.livejournal.com]

I'm an American, so I got making money 2 weeks early. (Nevermind the uninspiring cover, it's stuff between that counts.) However, I had a very long plane flight looming (Australia) so, I made myself wait to read the book until then (and yes, not reading a book you own is much more strenuous than not reading a book that hasn't come out yet.)

I was dissapointed by Making Money, but not in a bad way, because I liked it very much. I just enjoyed Going Postal more. GP had more... to it. y'know?

You were wondering if MM was actually about anything, and I think it was, just a bit less definable than "The Post Office." Something to do with Worth and Work no doubt.

I would have definately have enjoyed some more Moist Moments, and a bit more action, but I think good ol' TP was trying hard not to do just a retread of GP, and pace things differently. Plus, we have book 3 where Moist is the Tax Man to look forward to!

Re: Yes. Or possibly no.

[raisegrate.livejournal.com]

I wish I could get the special Discworld Banknotes they have in England. Anyone have a picture? Google is being unhelpful...

Re: Yes. Or possibly no.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I believe azvolrien taunted me with them a few posts ago...

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

That was EXACTLY what I thought! It sounded like he was forcing the humor... it didn't feel at all natural the first few chapters, it did seem to smooth out after that.

Re: Yes. Or possibly no.

[azvolrien.livejournal.com]

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l241/azvolrien/DSCN0707.jpg
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l241/azvolrien/DSCN0708.jpg