Free Kindle Raising Steam (Discworld) ebooks Download
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.
Series: Discworld
Audio CD: 10 pages
Publisher: Random House Audio; Unabridged edition (March 18, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0804164533
ISBN-13: 978-0804164535
Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.1 x 5.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (808 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #1,145,758 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #10 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( P ) > Pratchett, Terry #551 in Books > Books on CD > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction #653 in Books > Books on CD > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy
Like the other reviewers who made this claim, I'll state my bona fides. I've read all the Discworld books. I've read half of them at least six times each. I've read most of Pratchett's other stuff.And like the other people who made this claim, I never imagined I would ever write a bad review for a Terry Pratchett book.But I've come to the conclusion that someone else wrote this book. As soon as this thought struck me (around page 80) I found myself reading on and wondering how I could ever have believed this was Pratchett's voice at all. No, someone else has taken over the shop. His daughter is the most likely suspect, since he said he was handing the Discworld on to her. (By the way, a note for the copyright page detectives: The books have been copyrighted in the names of both Terry and Lyn Pratchett for years... long before his illness. And Lyn is his wife, not his daughter.)Assuming that whoever wrote Raising Steam goes on writing, I want to offer him/her a few tips:- You need to know two things about Vetinari. He's always in control of any situation, and we are never shown what he's thinking. Never.- All right, you need to know a third thing about him. We are constantly told he's ruthless, but he's not. He's got way more ruth than most people.- Oh, and a fourth thing. He's the king of understatement. When Vetinari threatens you, he raises an eyebrow. He may or may not make some comment along the lines of "Indeed?" He does not give detailed, repeated, re-repeated descriptions of what he's going to do to you.- The members of the City Watch call Vimes "Mister Vimes".- The dwarves do not represent Muslims.- Dwarves refer to female dwarves as "he".- Death is a good guy.
Trying to write this review was difficult as it took a while to figure out how to best approach the criticism. It's well-established that Pratchett is suffering from Alzheimer's and as a consequence the caliber of his writing has noticeably diminished. Raising Steam is no exception. It simply does not have the wit, charm or humor of Pratchett's earlier Discworld book (the last "real" Pratchett book was probably Unseen Academicals). Those who claim that Pratchett's back on form, well, go and reread Soul Music or Hogfather or The Truth. They're two different writers now.But I can't really fault Pratchett for the decline in his writing standards due to his health, nor is it fair at all. In fact I'd even say that it's impressive he's still able to put out a fairly decent story. So I gave the book three stars.But I will comment on the following:Goblins: I am not a fan of the goblins. I found them annoying little characters who add little to the story other than their cumbersomely long names. When Pratchett introduced the other sapient creatures of the Discworld - dwarves, vampires, trolls and the living dead, he introduced them with all their cliches and stereotypes and thoroughly poked holes through all of them and still gave them their due flaws, which made these characters so real to the point that I almost expected to run into a dwarf or troll when I stepped outside after reading a Pratchett novel. But the goblins have been given a hands-off treatment in a fairly politically correct manner that makes it difficult to warm up to them. Compared to the trolls and dwarves of earlier books, the goblins remain limited two dimensional characters that add little to the story.
If this is your first venture into the Discworld of Terry Pratchett, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. Start with "§The Color of Magic", "The Light Fantastic", "Going Postal" or almost anything else. If I had started with this one, I would not now own every single Discworld book written by Sir Terry. Not only do I own them all, I have read each one at least 10 times, since I discovered Sir Terry 3 years ago. (Yes, I know - hard to believe, but I do love them.) Presents of choice are Pratchett books for my family and friends.The characters are seriously flawed - pale and very blurred imitations of the real characters - cardboard characters as other reviewers have stated.: Samuel Vimes - acerbic, dour, cynical Mister Vimes, laughs with "so twisty he can slide through a corkscrew sideways" Moist Von Lipwig. WHAT? (And if the author had called him "Commander Vimes" just once more, I would have been screaming at the top of my lungs.): Mustrum Ridcully, Arch Chancellor of Unseen University, never had more than a knowing twinkle in his eye. Now he indulges in laughing.: Adora Belle Dearheart has turned into a non-smoking (from over 100 cigarettes a day) June Cleaver, "puffing" Moist¡Â¦s pillow and serving him a healthy (?) breakfast in bed. This is the woman whose brother called her "Killer" and Moist calls "Spike".: Lady Margolotta who speaks with absolutely no accent, has has had no problem pronouncing a"W" previously. In this book, not only can't she pronounce a "W", she seems to use only sentences that have a forest of those letters in them.: Lord Vetinari: oh lordy. Where to start? Intelligent, taciturn, secretive Vetinari has turned into a verbose, jolly good fellow who laughs with the inestimable Drumknott, his secretary. I could cry.
Raising Steam (Discworld) Raising Steam: Discworld Novel 40 The Folklore of Discworld: Legends, Myths, and Customs from the Discworld with Helpful Hints from Planet Earth I Shall Wear Midnight: A Story of Discworld (Discworld Novel) Witches Abroad (Discworld Series) (Discworld Novel) The Twilight of Steam: Great Photography from the Last Days of Steam Locomotives in America 2014 Calendar: Steam Trains: 12-Month Calendar Featuring Nostalgic Photographs Of Steam Trains From Around The World Steam Locomotive Driver's Manual: The step-by-step guide to preparing, firing and driving a steam locomotive Steam, Steel & Stars: America's Last Steam Railroad Killing the Raising Sun the Raising Sun Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep, 4th Edition: Breeding, Care, Facilities (Storey's Guide to Raising) Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits, 4th Edition: Breeds, Care, Housing (Storey's Guide to Raising) Discworld Diary 2017 The Science of Discworld II: The Globe Discworld (HC) Wintersmith: Discworld Childrens, Book 4 The Fifth Elephant: Discworld #24 Monstrous Regiment: Discworld #31 The Truth: Discworld #25 Unseen Academicals (Discworld)
