{"id":5135,"date":"2020-03-06T05:00:35","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T13:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=5135"},"modified":"2020-03-01T07:14:03","modified_gmt":"2020-03-01T15:14:03","slug":"mark-reads-raising-steam-part-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2020\/03\/mark-reads-raising-steam-part-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Raising Steam’: Part 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixth part of Raising Steam<\/i>, Moist comes to an agreement with Harry King and Dick Simnel. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I am loving this book SO MUCH. To use a corny train pun: It is just CHUGGING along. Because of that, it leaves me constantly wondering what twists are coming down the pipeline. If we are barely a fifth of the way through this book and Moist has already brokered an agreement with King and Simnel\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 WHAT THE FUCK ELSE IS GOING TO HAPPEN. I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve commented on this already, but this has really made reading Raising Steam<\/i> such a delight, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thrilled that Pratchett was willing to try something different this time around.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s jump into this meeting, which was SO much fun to read. And I gotta say this, too, right at the start: I think one of the great parts of doing Mark Reads videos over the years has been finding books that are great read aloud<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a completely different context for a narrative work, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had a blast with these first six splits. Part of that is because this book also feels a bit more dialogue heavy at the start, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to suggest another reason. As I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve mentioned, Raising Steam<\/i> is a book that depends a decent amount on previous Discworld<\/i> books. In particulary, Thud!<\/i>, Going Postal<\/i>, and Making Money<\/i> all inform this manuscript a great.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What that means for me, as the reader, is that I can sink into a scene with characters I know fairly well\u00e2\u20ac\u201dlike Harry King and Moist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand just believe<\/i> what is happening. We know that King is a shrewd, that he has become as successful as he has because of how astute and brilliant he is. We also<\/i> know that he once bonded with Moist because he sees the two of them as existing along the same spectrum. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re both criminals\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 but not really. At least not anymore. So what happens when the two of them are in the same room, vying for pieces of the same potential money-maker?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That alone was fascinating, but Pratchett complicates this brilliantly with the presence of Dick Simnel, who is nowhere near as shrewd of a businessman, and Mr. Thunderbolt, the EXTREMELY talented and fair lawyer. Even before these four characters start talking, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re shown that Harry King is leagues ahead of the game, as he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s started charging people a dollar per ride around his compound. WHICH IS A LOT OF MONEY. Not just for the ride alone, but given how many people are in the queue for it, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already going to amass him a small fortune. (As part of his already record-breaking fortune. Seriously, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t doubt that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the richest man in Ankh-Morpork.) So, Harry King has an advantage here, as does Dick Simnel. The tension Pratchett relies on is the unknown: How is Moist going to get what Vetinari wants?<\/p>\n

I loved that Moist opted to be as direct as possible, rather than beat around the bush or passively make reference to his purpose for being there. Because of this, Harry King responds in kind and is very direct about what he<\/i> wants. Earlier in this book, we got to witness Harry realizing what a huge opportunity the steam engine was. Here, its basically the same process, but for something else: How can Harry King benefit from a partnership with the city? How can the act of determining boundaries and regulation help Harry now<\/i>? Well, Harry knew that this step was inevitable, and having Mr. Thunderbolt come up with the fine print allows him to focus on\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, literally anything else. His time isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sucked away by the process of having to figure out all the complicated details of an arrangement with the city of Ankh-Morpork.<\/p>\n

Moist obviously benefits from Thunderbolt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proposed arrangement, too. The postal industry and<\/i> the banking industry could both be revitalized by the further use of stem engines. Seriously, improving mail delivery ALONE would be a huge boon to business, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that you can see these gears clinking in Moist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head. However, the most exciting part of what these men come up with is the HILARIOUS decision (not made by Moist, for the record) that Moist will be the party who handles all of the challenging conversations with landowners. I had asked about this potential problem before, and while I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain that moist is immensely talented in this context, I still worry about how this is actually going to turn out. Is imminent domain a thing on the Disc? What if there is a landowner who refuses to cede over part of their land to construct the railway?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get there, but in the meantime: this is a solid foundation for working together. Mr. Thunderbolt came up with a great agreement; Dick Simnel will get the money, supplies, and labor to help him build better trains; and Moist has made sure that the city\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interests are acknowledged. It looks like the Ankh-Morpork to Sto Lat part of the line will be built first\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 but lemme guess. There will be complications??? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still worried about the grags. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure there are other people or groups who want to get in on this, too. Regardless: I am so, so excited about this, and I wonder if this book is going to bring out the transit infrastructure nerd in me. BECAUSE I HAVE FEELINGS.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/BGqob8ZjHwc<\/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":"