Making Money: A Novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett (MOBI)

Description

Amazingly, former arch-swindler-turned-Postmaster General Moist von Lipwig has somehow managed to get the woefully inefficient Ankh-Morpork Post Office running like . . . well, not like a government office at all. Now the supreme despot Lord Vetinari is asking Moist if he’d like to make some real money. Vetinari wants Moist to resuscitate the venerable Royal Mint—so that perhaps it will no longer cost considerably more than a penny to make a penny.Moist doesn’t want the job. However, a request from Ankh-Morpork’s current ruling tyrant isn’t a “request” per se, more like a “once-in-a-lifetime-offer-you-can-certainly-refuse-if-you-feel-you’ve-lived-quite-long-enough.” So Moist will just have to learn to deal with elderly Royal Bank chairman Topsy (née Turvy) Lavish and her two loaded crossbows, a face-lapping Mint manager, and a chief clerk who’s probably a vampire. But he’ll soon be making lethal enemies as well as money, especially if he can’t figure out where all the gold has gone.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐A few years back I wondered if Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series might perhaps be running out of steam, whether the turtle might be slowing to a halt. But then came the excellent novel “Going Postal” and then the even more excellent “Thud!”, not to mention the “Tiffany” youth novels. (Oops, wait a minute, I just mentioned them. No, no, you don’t have to wait a minute to continue reading on. I was being literary, not literal.) And now comes “Making Money”, another strong addition to the Discworld series. This one is pretty much a straight-on sequel to “Going Postal” which really should be read beforehand to fully appreciate the new novel. For that matter, a decent familiarity with Discworld and its inhabitants is also advisable before tackling the new book. (No, no, not wrestling it down to the ground …) Otherwise, consider the following incident when Moist von Lipwig and his chain-smoking fiancee Spike visit a nonsmoking section of the library of Unseen University: “He felt the swish of the air and got a whiff of rain forest as something heavy swung overhead and disappeared upward into the gloom, now trailing a stream of blue smoke. “‘Hey, someone took my —‘ Adora Belle began, but Moist pushed her out of the way as the thing swung back again and a banana knocked his hat off. “‘They are a bit more definite about things here,’ he said, picking up his hat. ‘If it’s any comfort, the Librarian probably intended to hit me. He can be quite gallant.'” What would a reader make of that scene if he/she did not already know that the Librarian is a 300-pound orangutan? And it is even important for a reader to know something of the nature of golems, as from “Feet of Clay”.The Discworld novels are conventionally grouped into various subseries, depending mostly on who are the central characters: the Witches books, the Wizard (or Rincewind) novels, the Death books, the City Watch books. And there are a number of other Discworld novels (such as “Moving Pictures” and “Small Gods”) that do not fit those easy categories. It may be that “Making Money” and its predecessor “Going Postal”, both of which feature former conman Moist von Lipwig (it could be argued that there is nothing “former” about it), are the start of yet another subseries, sort of an offshoot of the City Watch books (Sam Vimes and other Watch members make appearances but are not at the heart of the stories), but it might equally well be said that these two books and the earlier, pre-Moist “The Truth” and “The Monstrous Regiment” form another group — tales of Ankh-Morpork which Pratchett uses to examine and satirize various social and cultural phenomenon such as journalism, the military, communications media, and — now — financial institutions and monetary theory (Moist von Lipwig is appointed Master of the Royal Mint and de facto chairman of the largest bank in the city).Fans of Lord Vetenari, a tyrant who makes Machiavelli seem like a marshmallow, will be happy to know that “Making Money” presents him front and center perhaps more than any earlier novel. Will there be more Moist von Lipwig books? I don’t think I am giving away anything by saying that Pratchett leaves the door open (no, no, not the door that Lord Vetenari offered to Moist in “Going Postal”) for the future and provides a hint as to what new position he might occupy in the Ankh-Morporkian city administration.

⭐It seems, after reading Terry Pratchett’s latest Discworld novel “Making Money”, that money does make the world go `round, even if that world is flat and balanced on the backs of four elephants standing on the back of a giant turtle.In “Making Money”, Terry Pratchett and his `hero’ Moist von Lipwig do for and to the monetary system exactly what they did for and to the post office in “Going Postal”. The result is the same – – – – a Buster Keaton-like romp through the strange and wonderful world of Discworld.It is impossible to detail the plot of this book without giving away spoilers so I think it best just to say that Lord Vetinari has determined that Ankh-Morpork’s monetary system is in dire straits and in need of improvement. Vetinari picks, in his inimitable way, Moist von Lipwig to lead the way. In essence, Moist is set-up by Vetinari to become Ankh-Morpork’s Alan Greenspan. Unlike Greenspan, however, Moist must deal with a cast of characters that have no idea as to what Moist is up to or trying to achieve. (Well, maybe that isn’t so unlike Greenspan!).”Making Money” feature a cast of old but mostly new characters. As to established characters, Vetinari is featured and his is as delightfully Machiavellian as ever. There are cameo appearances by DEATH, the Watch, and CMOT Dibbler. However, new or newer characters play the largest roles. Moist’s second appearance is terrific. Pratchett does a very nice job turning him into what I hope is a regular role. Moist’s girlfriend the chain-smoking Adore Belle Dearheart makes her presence felt. Mr. Bent, the oh-so serious bank manager plays straight man to Moist’s light-hearted con-man character. Bent is tied to the old ways – where money must be based on gold and nothing but gold. There is something very William Jennings Bryan-like about Bent and his straight-laced approach is the perfect foil for Moist’s extraordinarily flexible approach to monetary issues. Moist’s antagonists are the Lavish family, Cosmo Lavish and his rather large sister Pucci (of whom Pratchett says in a great line, “she had no idea how to handle people and she tried to make self-esteem do the work of self-respect, but the girl could flounce better than a fat turkey on a trampoline”.) They make good foils for Moist and Vetinari.As always the plot has many twists and turns and one-liners fly almost as fast as the slings and arrows of the Assassins’ Guild. Pratchett has a great way with humor and manages to combine that humor with a good deal of insight into how `things’ work in the real world. His look at the monetary system in “Making Money” can now stand with Pratchett’s look at rock music

⭐, religion

⭐, the post office

⭐, and movies

⭐as some very funny looks at our world through the prism of Discworld.”Making Money” was a fun book for me to read. It was typical Pratchett (high praise) and I think most Pratchett fans will enjoy it. I certainly did. L. Fleisig

⭐After Going Postal I had high expectations for Making Money, but ended up disappointed. Whereas Moist von Lipwig had driven the story in the previous book, in this one he simply gets dragged into one situation after another where he doesn’t really do anything.The first 25% is mainly him being told to run a bank and then touring it. There are also a number of secondary characters who are introduced who don’t actually do anything for the plot. In the end, Lipwig arranges the printing of paper money and that’s it.For me, Going Postal represents Pratchett at his creative peak, but by the time we get to Making Money we’re well on the downslope from that. While it makes for an OK read, it doesn’t make for a particularly great or engaging one.

⭐Having reread Making Money for the sixth or seventh time, it is still astounding how wonderfully Sir Terry captures some of the key truths about modern banking, people and society at large. All whilst being fabulously funny and a genius with words. Some images he draws can make the chair shake as you laugh so much.

⭐I have a hard copy of this book but have enjoyed the story so much that I wanted to have it on my Kindle too. The character of Moist Von Lipwig, an entertaining and likeable rogue, is one that occurs in another of Pratchett’s books ‘Going Postal’ where he restores the Post Office in Ankh Morpork to a competitive role against the cheats and murderers running the klacks towers. In this ‘Making Money’ he sets out in opposition to an overbearing wealthy family who believe they run the city. Pratchett is a superb author. It’s so sad that there will now be no more stories about the Disc World.

⭐I’ve said elsewhere that I think that the opening chapter of “Going Postal” is one of the finest pieces of comic writing I’ve read, on a par with anything P G Wodehouse or Evelyn Waugh wrote (I doubt you’d have read anything by Wodehouse about a hanging, although it might well have fallen within Waugh’s range). So I had high hopes for the second appearance of Moist von Lipwig. My first impression was that this wasn’t really all that good; the golem subplot seemed to sit awkwardly with the rest of the book, the old acquaintance threatening to expose Moist seemed a little superfluous, and I felt sorry for Cosmo rather than seeing him as a threat. It still seems a bit that way after a second reading. But having said that, there are still many parts of this that made me laugh immoderately, especially the scenes involving Mr Fusspot and his new toy. And Vetinari seems to be getting fleshed out nicely as a character nowadays.If you’re a devotee of Discworld, you’ll forgive the flaws and maybe knock off a star. If you’re not, then the best place to start is somewhere in the 20-30 range, where the writing and plotting has matured, and Terry has got into his philosophical and satirical stride. (I’ve never understood those people who want him to return to writing books like “The Colour of Magic”, which has always seemed to me to carry far too much fantasy baggage. It didn’t take long for him to get over this though – Pyramids, Mort, and Wyrd Sisters are all fine pieces of work).

⭐Making Money is a Discworld novel and features the Man in the Golden Suit, Ankh-Morpork’s Postmaster Moist von Lipwig.Moist is bored. He misses his old, more adventurous life, back when he was Albert Spangler the con artist. So when he’s not running the Post Office, he likes climbing to its roof at night, and has already picked all its locks.But when Mrs Topsy Lavish, chairwoman and owner of 50% of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork, but owner also of Mr. Fusspot the dog who owns 1%, dies and leaves her shares to her dog and bequeaths Mr. Fusspot to Moist… he has no choice but try and make it work again.It starts with the Mint, which actually runs at a loss. Since making coins costs too much and people are already using stamps as currency, Moist devises the first bank notes, which soon have the same success as his stamps.In the meantime, Cosmo Lavish tries to take Vetinari’s identity and Moist’s girlfriend Adora Belle Dearheart uncovers ancient golems buried in the desert. And all the while the Glooper gloops.I really like the character of Moist von Lipwig and was glad to read about him again. The book is of course filled with references that make you chuckle twice: when you get them, and when you find yourself clever because to got them… it’s the Discworld double effect!

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