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

Engineer as HERO !!!

Terry Pratchett has steam rolled Disc World with a fantastical and farcical tour de force with a talilway discovery that will make you oscillate with laughter.
As an Engineer I find Pratchett ridiculous, hilarious and subtly subversive. It’s all good fun.

The last of the real Pratchett

We saw a slight shift of vocabulary in that one about soccer, then we saw deeper shifts in the one about tobacco. This culminates what my bookish friends say is his change to spoken dictation. This might be regarded as the last proper Discworld story, the next will be co-written with Stephen Baxter. That man is the surest sign an author is about to perish.

RIP Sir Terry

What a fitting finale from such a creative writer! A great finale culmination of several discworld story arcs with all of my favorite Ahnk-Morpork personalities.

Pratchett's last work

Short review: I love always been an avid reader of the author's work. His later work became very formulaic and this book is certainly a good example of that. However it still contains the humor, flair and character he was know for, although in lesser quantity and quality than earlier works. It is still worth a read for fans and newbies alike but don't come expecting this to be Terry Pratchett's best work.

Classic Pratchett with a wave to Dickens

Any additional comments?

The dwarfs are trying to find their place in a rapidly changing world and are afraid they are being influenced by "bad" thoughts and activities from the great city. The deep downers are up in arms and fire and death reins all around. On top of all this steam is either the new savior or ultimate evil, depending on your point of view. Pratchett again delivers a home run with another twist and nod to our own social problems and situations. Like Dickens who wrote on the social issues of his day, Pratchett is not afraid to address issues we see all around us today and every day. Maybe, just maybe we can all be better people and live together with some degree of acceptance and harmony if we try very hard.

Another enjoyable time in Discworld!!!

I really hate that there can not be another book written by the wonderfully imaginative Terry Pratchett! I will especially miss Moist- my favorite TP character. If this is your first time checking out Terry Pratchett, I would suggest you start with Going Postal, then Making money THEN this book. I truly enjoyed watching Moist von Lipwig going through his life and experiences!

Extra Guard book<br />

Wonderful book, could be placed in the guard series with a bonus of Moist von Lipwig

good read for Discworld fans

probably good for just about anyone else, but especially so for anyone who's a fan

Just a great book!

while it is one of Pratchett's last works it is an amazing story. featuring most of your favorite characters and the rise of Goblins!

This could have been a philosophy book

I love this book.It gives you so much to think about. So many underlying truths.