Terry Pratchett: Making Money (EBook, 2008, Random House Publishing Group)
E-book
English language
Published Nov. 11, 2008 by Random House Publishing Group.
The brand new adult Discworld novel sees Pratchett taking on the banking system: 'almost spookily relevant... clever, engaging and laugh-out-loud funny' (The Times).It's an offer you can't refuse.Who would not to wish to be the man in charge of Ankh-Morpork's Royal Mint and the bank next door?It's a job for life. But, as former con-man Moist von Lipwig is learning, the life is not necessarily for long.The Chief Cashier is almost certainly a vampire. There's something nameless in the cellar (and the cellar itself is pretty nameless), it turns out that the Royal Mint runs at a loss. A 300 year old wizard is after his girlfriend, he's about to be exposed as a fraud, but the Assassins Guild might get him first. In fact lot of people want him deadOh. And every day he has to take the Chairman for walkies.Everywhere he looks he's making enemies.What he should be …
The brand new adult Discworld novel sees Pratchett taking on the banking system: 'almost spookily relevant... clever, engaging and laugh-out-loud funny' (The Times).It's an offer you can't refuse.Who would not to wish to be the man in charge of Ankh-Morpork's Royal Mint and the bank next door?It's a job for life. But, as former con-man Moist von Lipwig is learning, the life is not necessarily for long.The Chief Cashier is almost certainly a vampire. There's something nameless in the cellar (and the cellar itself is pretty nameless), it turns out that the Royal Mint runs at a loss. A 300 year old wizard is after his girlfriend, he's about to be exposed as a fraud, but the Assassins Guild might get him first. In fact lot of people want him deadOh. And every day he has to take the Chairman for walkies.Everywhere he looks he's making enemies.What he should be doing is... Making Money!
Unfortunately my audiobook was a US Edition. Really odd changes in the text for no reason that didn't sync up with the ebook.
An enjoyable second romp with Moist von Lipwig. I'm still not completely convinced about the golum parts but it's still good value.
Great follow up to Going Postal, but not as enjoyable as the first one. In this one, the reformed thief/con man/scammer Moist Von Lipwig is put in charge of the Ankh-Morpork Bank.
It is an outrageous and sarcastic commentary on the financial systems and the very meaning of money in our own world. I have grown to love the character of Von Lipwig and the whole world of Discworld.
This instalment is one of the more "mature" ones in terms of content and themes. But it pulls off a stinging critique of our obsession with money and the power it conveys.
Much better than [b:Going Postal|64222|Going Postal (Discworld, #33; Moist von Lipwig, #1)|Terry Pratchett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388236899l/64222.SY75.jpg|1636617], but I guess the Moist series is not for me: I found this one too manic and disjointed for my taste, but thankfully with enough delicious humor and Sir Terry’s trademark decency to make it enjoyable. And even if this wasn’t my cup of tea, I’m just amazed by his versatility and willingness to experiment with different styles.
(Listened to the audiobook. It may have received a different score if I’d read it.)
Still one of the finest, clearest, and funniest explanations of how financial markets work.
reread 6/22/13
Making Money (2007) is the lastest installment of The Discworld Series, and is really a continuation of Going Postal (2004), in which we meet Moist von Lipwig, a man sentenced to hang as a cheat, con, and thief, until Ankh-Morpork's dictator, Lord Vetinari, realizes that his talents could be put to very good use.
Actually, he was hanged. But--that's another tangent of the story for the former Albert Spangler, who survives to have a new lease on life as Moist von Lipwig, a man whose talents include the charm, gift of gab, quick thinking, and outright sneakiness that somehow allow him to mezmorize people--okay, con people--into doing whatever he needs them to do. And Lord Vetinari has a job for him. In Going Postal, the job is to somehow rescue a failing postal system and make it run efficiently, which Lipwig pulls off with ingenuity, luck, and style. (Style …
Making Money (2007) is the lastest installment of The Discworld Series, and is really a continuation of Going Postal (2004), in which we meet Moist von Lipwig, a man sentenced to hang as a cheat, con, and thief, until Ankh-Morpork's dictator, Lord Vetinari, realizes that his talents could be put to very good use.
Actually, he was hanged. But--that's another tangent of the story for the former Albert Spangler, who survives to have a new lease on life as Moist von Lipwig, a man whose talents include the charm, gift of gab, quick thinking, and outright sneakiness that somehow allow him to mezmorize people--okay, con people--into doing whatever he needs them to do. And Lord Vetinari has a job for him. In Going Postal, the job is to somehow rescue a failing postal system and make it run efficiently, which Lipwig pulls off with ingenuity, luck, and style. (Style is important.) This time around, though, Lord Vetinari has another job. "Tell me, Lipwig, how would you like to make some real money?" That is, how would Lipwig like to take over the Bank of Ankh-Morpork and The Royal Mint? At first Lipwig refuses, but of course, we know that he will be forced into the position in the most comically way possible.
Actually, Lipwig's job as Postmaster General has gotten a bit too easy and boring for this former man of danger. In fact, this tale opens with Lipwig trying to break into his own office. He still has a criminal mind, and in his restlessness, he's taken up Edificeering and Extreme Sneezing as leisure pursuits. Well, especially when his fiance, Adora Belle Dearheart, is away for extended lengths of time. Her presence, it seems, provides enough danger for him.
As usual, the variety of characters is not missing--Igors, golems, trolls, vampires, werewolves, and insane rich people populate Discworld, and these books are always fun to read. Actually, the chairman of the bank is Mr. Fusspot, a delightful terrier. Lord Vetinari has the chairman eating out of his hand, by the end of the book.
And Lipwig? Oh, he'll run the mint and the bank for awhile, but--Lord Vetinari knows that one day, Lipwig will again become a danger to himself and the city and--just how old is the taxmaster? .......
I enjoyed Making Money very much (it's not usually this fun), and my only reservation about this novel was that I found myself missing the Watch, or the cops of Ankh-Morpork. I particularly enjoy Commander Vimes, and was a bit disappointed that he was barely in this novel. The Watch is a most diverse group of characters who add splash to any occasion and I think they should always be invited to the story.
..which is still my favorite Discworld novel (so far, of the ones I've read) despite the fact that it's not about the Watch
**Involves scaling the highest, steepest, trickiest and most difficult buildings in the city.
I have no idea, but Lord Vetinari says it's potentially lethal, and I believe him.
It took me much longer to read this book than I anticipated it would. Mostly this is due to circumstances outside of my reading life, but a tad bit of it has to do with my decided lack of interest in money. Seems odd, but I really don't want to be rich, and I don't have an obsession with money. So, it took me a while to get into the book. And it took me a while to appreciate some of the characters that pop up in the book. But once I started thinking of this as less of a story about money and more as a story about the Discworld, that old charm took over and I raced through the rest.
If you enjoy the character of Moist von Lipwig or you just like a story that takes a good jab at banking, you'll enjoy this one.
Terry Pratchett does a wonderful job with another zany adventure with Moist von Lipwig.
