Off the Bookshelf: RAISING STEAM, by Terry Pratchett

And so now we really do bid a fond adieu to Discworld, the incredible, clever, wild, wacky, bulging-at-the-seams brain child of the late Sir Terry Pratchett.

One of the more recent characters to appear in Discworld is Moist Von Lipwig, a con man and crook, who gets pressured into plying his skills in the service of Ankh Morpork and the Patrician, Lord Vetinari, an admitted tyrant and former assassin. Moist previously appeared in GOING POSTAL and MAKING MONEY, where he gets put in charge of Ankh Morpork's post office and then the mint/treasury. This time, Vetinari puts Moist in charge of the blossoming railway system that is greeted with eagerness by some and with loathing and fear by others -- top of the list being a group of extremist isolationist dwarves. The mean, nasty kind who might just frighten the Taliban ...

Then there's the introduction of Iron Girder, the first steam locomotive who seems to take on a personality and a somewhat frightening, possessive relationship with her inventor. You have to love a train that can defend itself against saboteurs. Yeah, steam is dangerous!

RAISING STEAM is a proud entry to the last few visits to Discworld, and I had a strange experience reading it because I wanted to devour every quip and clever aside and historical note and appearance of favorite characters from other books -- but I didn't want it to END!

End it must. Thanks for the wild, fun, incredible ride, Sir Terry Pratchett. You will be sorely missed.