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Raising Steam

Raising Steam

FantasyHigh Fantasy
Pages
386
Published
2013
Language
English

Synopsis

Moist von Lipwig has a new assignment: the Disc's first steam engine has arrived, built by the young engineer Dick Simnel, and Lord Vetinari wants the railway. Moist must navigate the opposition of deep dwarfs determined to prevent progress, keep the increasingly volatile political situation in Uberwald from exploding, and build a railway across the continent in time to avert a war. The third and final Moist von Lipwig novel, and the last Discworld novel written before Pratchett's death.

Prose complexity
6/10

Vibe

FunnySatiricalAdventurousThought-Provoking
Reluctant HeroMorally GreyQuestCourt Intrigue

Genres

Fantasy High Fantasy Comic Fiction Humor

About the author

T
Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was an English author best known for the Discworld series, a sequence of forty-one comic fantasy novels set on a flat world carried through space on the backs of four elephants standing on a giant turtle. Across four decades, the Discworld grew from a parody of sword-and-sorcery fantasy into one of the most sustained works of social satire in English literature, examining politics, religion, science, gender, race, capitalism, and the nature of stories themselves. Pra...

Characters

Moist von LipwigProtagonist

Former con man, postmaster, banker — now building a railway and wondering how he keeps ending up in these situations.

Dick SimnelSupporting

The young engineer who built the Disc's first steam engine — earnest, brilliant, and a new kind of Discworld hero: the practical innovator.

Iron GirderSupporting

The first steam engine, which is treated almost as a character in its own right — beloved by its crew, feared by enemies.

Nobby NobbsSupporting
RincewindSupporting
All characters in Raising Steam

Frequently asked questions

  • When was Raising Steam published?

    First published on 7 November 2013 by Doubleday. It is the fortieth Discworld novel and the third Moist von Lipwig book.

  • Is Raising Steam considered one of the stronger Discworld novels?

    It is broadly considered one of the weaker late-era Discworld novels. Pratchett was already dealing with posterior cortical atrophy, and the novel is less tightly plotted and more sprawling than the earlier Moist books. It is still warmly received as a farewell to the Disc's industrial progress.

  • What is the historical parallel for the railway?

    The novel parallels the 19th-century railway boom — specifically the way steam railways transformed existing economies, disrupted established interests, and created new political possibilities. The opposition from 'deep dwarfs' parallels conservative resistance to industrialization.

  • Do I need to read Going Postal and Making Money first?

    Recommended. Moist's character and his relationship with Vetinari and Adora Belle are much richer with the previous two books. Raising Steam is the least independent of the three Moist novels.

  • Is this the last Discworld novel?

    No — The Shepherd's Crown (2015) is the forty-first and final Discworld novel. Raising Steam is the fortieth. However, it is the last Discworld novel featuring Moist von Lipwig.

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