{"id":5165,"date":"2020-04-20T05:00:38","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T12:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=5165"},"modified":"2020-04-19T17:36:58","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T00:36:58","slug":"mark-reads-raising-steam-part-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2020\/04\/mark-reads-raising-steam-part-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads &#8216;Raising Steam&#8217;: Part 25"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the twenty-fifth and final part of <i>Raising Steam<\/i>, the railway comes home. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read <i>Discworld<\/i>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><b>Charlie<\/b><\/p>\n<p>WELL, I DID NOT SUSPECT THIS AT ALL. Not even a <i>shred<\/i> of an idea this happened! But holy shit, of <i>course<\/i> Vetinari came along for the ride. It makes so much sense! And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so fascinated by the answer that Vetinari later gives when Moist asks <i>why<\/i>. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the unsaid practical answer: because Vetinari is putting a lot on the line for this railway to happen. So why wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he be there? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure he also wanted to get to Bonk sooner rather than later, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure he knew that bridge wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t last beyond the first trip. Thus, he would have been delayed even longer if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d waited. But in his answer to Moist, we are shown a side to Vetinari that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rare, and I believe that the fact that Vetinari does this is a HUGE gesture of respect. I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say Vetinari has been as subtle in <i>Raising Steam<\/i> as he usually is, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s characteristically so here.<\/p>\n<p>Why do I say that? Because in choosing to go on this journey, Vetinari is quietly telling Moist that he trusts him. That even though Moist is ridiculous and seeks out danger and a scoundrel and finds himself in increasingly bizarre situations <i>on purpose<\/i>, he still gets shit done. He still cares about other people. He will still do what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best to keep other safe. <i>He will get the job done<\/i>. Which isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t to say that this contradicts what he tells Moist, though! I believe that wholeheartedly. Pratchett reminds us that Vetinari trained with the Assassins Guild, but also makes sure we know that Vetinari was not so ordered and organized. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always seemed like he was barely tolerating Drumknott\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obsession with the trains, but in truth, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he <i>completely<\/i> understand it? Was that Drumknott being in touch with <i>his<\/i> youth, with that sense of abandon that tempts each of us from time to time?<\/p>\n<p>Pretending to be Stoker Blake and hiring Charlie to pretend to be him back home&#8230; that feels like the most human thing Vetinari has done in this series. And I, personally, completely love it.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Moist<\/b><\/p>\n<p>I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think this last <i>Discworld<\/i> book is another Moist story, so planned or unplanned, this is most likely the last I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get of this character. His final scenes in this book comprise a few things. He gets some bliss in Adora Belle, and again: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so happy they get to stay together and that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no emotional conflict between them. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all just <i>happiness<\/i>. Actually, in this book, because Moist has been so busy, Adora Belle has become a sign of <i>relief<\/i>. Getting to see her causes a joy to wash over Moist as a weight lifts from his body. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really beautiful that she represents that to him because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never had anyone like that before.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I also like that the scene that summarizes Moist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s journey actually belongs to Vimes. He gets his own form of closure here after a long time away from home. It was nice to see Lady Sybil again, and the idea of her getting to travel on the train to visit all her friends? Oh, I would read a thousand cozy mystery books where Sybil travels and solves crimes. A THOUSAND OF THEM. Anyway, Vimes says this in his scene:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You know, that Lipwig character isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite as bad as I thought. Acts like a scoundrel but reasonably helpful when the chips are down. Mind you, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going to tell him so.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But this is significant, too! Vimes is an excellent judge of character, so for him to give this stamp of approval (of sorts) to Moist is a huge deal. Like Vetinari, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s his way of showing respect for what Moist has done. And what <i>has<\/i> Moist done? I think <i>Raising Steam<\/i> does a fine job of demonstrating how people like Dick Simnel, a tinkerer, brought an idea forth into the world. It showed us how important Harry King\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s support was to the growth of the railway. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen Pratchett address fair and culturally sensitive work ethics and practices. We know the beauty of the railway and the danger present in steam. And through it all, Moist has been there, greasing the wheels and selling the idea of public transportation to people who may have given up on it. Or stopped it from happening! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what he did before, but that was with the aim of scamming and exploiting others. He sold them promises he never intended to fulfill.<\/p>\n<p>He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very much the opposite now, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>As a whole, I found the ending to <i>Raising Steam<\/i> to be very quiet, especially in comparison to other <i>Discworld <\/i>novels. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s necessarily a bad thing, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an interesting choice when this book dealt with such a HUGE thing. Trains! Coming to the Disc! But while this altered the world in a dramatic way, did it alter these <i>people<\/i>? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an interesting thing for discussion. I think Dick Simnel\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life is completely different. Harry King seems richer, but his wife got the fancy life away from garbage that she wanted. I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that Vetinari changed much; he kind of has to stay a static character. Moist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arc has been over three books, so while he may not have changed a whole lot in <i>Raising Steam<\/i>, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a trip to think of where he was in the beginning of <i>Making Money<\/i>. On paper, I should not have liked him, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s grown so much on me over the course of his story. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s truly no one like him in the <i>Discworld<\/i> series. At all! So if this really is it, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad he ends at a <i>happy<\/i> place. That feels&#8230; nice. Comforting.<\/p>\n<p>And with that&#8230; holy shit, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Wednesday, the first review for the <i>last<\/i> book in this series goes up. That is a LOT to think about it. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still in denial about it. See y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all soon for the start of <i>The Shepherd\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Crown<\/i>!<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtu.be\/PCaLhutMTy8<\/p>\n<p><b>Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/us.macmillan.com\/books\/9781250169211\">You can now pre-order my second YA novel, <i>Each of Us a Desert<\/i>, which will be released on September 15, 2020 from Tor Teen!<\/a><br \/>\n&#8211; Not only that, but my very first pre-order campaign is now live for North American readers! <a href=\"http:\/\/bit.ly\/EachOfUsADesertPreorder\">If you submit proof of pre-order, you can get a limited edition print that comes with the book<\/a>.<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>&#8211; If you&#8217;d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, <a href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/ey636\">sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the twenty-fifth and final part of Raising Steam, the railway comes home. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[463,565,248],"class_list":["post-5165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-raising-steam","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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