{"id":5132,"date":"2020-02-28T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=5132"},"modified":"2020-02-24T07:32:27","modified_gmt":"2020-02-24T15:32:27","slug":"mark-reads-raising-steam-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2020\/02\/mark-reads-raising-steam-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Raising Steam’: Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the third part of Raising Steam<\/i>, a lawyer is attained; Vetinari tries to get ahead; the grags arrive in Llamedos. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For violence, bigotry<\/b><\/p>\n

This is going to be a much bigger mess than I anticipated, and from these opening scenes, I am expecting a LOT. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sense here that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very reminiscent of the tension in Thud! <\/i>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like Pratchett has created the literary equivalent of dry tinder in the various factors at work, and soon enough, the steam engine will provide the necessary spark to set it all aflame. But for now, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still in the set-up. To use another metaphor: Pratchett is putting the dominoes in place, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only a matter of time before they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re knocked over. Then<\/i> they will be set on fire.<\/p>\n

Mr. Thunderbolt<\/b><\/p>\n

I am unapologetically a fan of Mr. Thunderbolt. I want fanart. Fic. I want everything under the sun for this character. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s astounding to me that FORTY books in, Pratchett can still craft a character that both delights me and surprises me. I certainly did not expect Harry and Dick to meet with a troll when they went to the Lawyers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Guild, but even without knowing the shape of the story in this book, I can already appreciate how genius this is. Mr. Thunderbolt is made of diamonds, which means he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lie. And this is a situation where both Harry and Dick are going to need<\/i> someone like Mr. Thunderbolt on their side. New metaphor: this is all a ticking time bomb. How much longer until some nasty parties get wind of the Iron Girder and try to control it for their own use? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect that Mr. Thunderbolt will have to intervene between<\/i> Harry and Dick, as they both have a vested interest in not cheating the other person out of what they deserve or will earn. Harry needs Dick\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s expertise; Dick needs Harry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s resources.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I say that, and watch me be totally wrong. OH WELL.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Goblins<\/b><\/p>\n

YES. MORE OF THEM. I still really enjoy the introduction of the goblins into the Discworld<\/i> series, and I have faith that Pratchett is going to do something deeply interesting and revealing with them here. The goblins are not truly accepted by everyone in Ankh-Morpork society at this point, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re tolerated<\/i>. Which is not the same as acceptance and certainly<\/i> not the same as equity. But as we saw in the last split, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve taken to the clacks system as if it is the greatest single thing that has ever happened to them.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6until the steam engine. So, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got an innate desire in the goblins to know how things work, so much so that we know they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re gonna obsess over what Dick Simnel has created. I suggested on video that Dick involve the goblins in what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing because I imagine he can benefit from their brilliance while also giving them something that will please them immensely. Well, and hopefully he pays them, but I think Adora Belle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s concern over the goblins not really caring for payment is going to pop up again. Anyway: I see the goblins being very<\/i> involved in the future of the rail way as it comes to Ankh-Morpork.<\/p>\n

A Summoning<\/b><\/p>\n

I KNEW IT. I mean\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 it was pretty obvious? Like I said, this book does not open with frustrating mysteries or tender subtlety, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m super into it. Why? Because there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an undeniable energy to the text right off the bat. We know some of the pieces\u00e2\u20ac\u201dlike Harry King, Vetinari, Margolotta, Moist, Adora Belle, all of the species and their complicated histories\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand thus can start to assemble an exciting puzzle. (Which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure Pratchett will sweep off the table because he always does.) So, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not exactly an impressive thing that I figured out Vetinari\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions. As soon as Moist was in this book and the rail way became real, I knew Vetinari would enlist Moist to be a part of the next advancement in the city. I did find it interesting that this is one of the immensely rare occasions in which Vetinari is genuinely caught off guard. Despite talking about the steam engine with Lady Margolotta, he assumed it was still a ways off. But you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t control ideas of this sort. What we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re seeing is Vetinari in crisis mode, which is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only initially<\/i> unlike anything we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen. Then he snaps back to attention, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Vetinari we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve come to know over the course of these books.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, what exactly<\/i> is he going to want Moist to do?<\/p>\n

Llamedos<\/b><\/p>\n

HI, THIS WAS SHOCKING? And I did not expect this to escalate so violently and<\/i> so quickly? So, these grags are not fucking around, especially since they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re now accompanied by \u00e2\u20ac\u0153delvers,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which are explained as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the shock troops of the grags.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Yeah, if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re bringing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153troops\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (SHOCK TROOPS!!!) to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153preach the truth of pure dwarfishness,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not preaching. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s straight up murderous intent. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nightmarish! That means that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no domino waiting to be tipped over; there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no tinder waiting to catch fire. This is happening now<\/i>. How many other people are going to be murdered by fundamentalists? (I use that word only because it seems to evoke the closest thing to what these grags actually are.) And how is this plot going to intersect with the steam engine one?<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3ZsIuUfCmsU<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– You can now pre-order my second YA novel, Each of Us a Desert<\/i>, which will be released on September 15, 2020 from Tor Teen!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>
\n– If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"