Raising Steam – Terry Pratchett

Elli Christie, Books Editor, takes a look at the latest novel in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. How does it compare to Pratchett’s other novels? Is it worth making the time to read it in a busy term?

The Discworld novels are one of the few series that I am prepared to buy or preorder the latest book for, since as an English Literature student I rarely have time to read for leisure during term time. However, Raising Steam is the most recent publication in what is increasingly becoming a race against time for Terry Pratchett. Despite, understandably, reducing his public appearances since being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Pratchett still publishes a book a year and the Discworld remains as dynamic and refreshing in Raising Steam as it was when The Colour of Magic was published in 1983.

Following on from the events in Snuff which saw goblins acknowledged as part of society and previous beliefs challenged, Raising Steam explores what the further implications of this emancipation are on Ankh-Morpork and the Discworld. The goblins have discovered that a job at the clacks (a technology which bizarrely is both similar to telegrams and the internet) is perfect for their ability to concentrate for hours and move their fingers incredibly fast. However, not everyone is happy to allow the goblins to integrate so easily into society. Meanwhile Moist von Lipwig, who has previously managed to improve both the postal service in Going Postal and the bank in Making Money, has now been forced to become a railway genius as the Discworld hits its own version of the Industrial Revolution. Slowly train tracks are laid out across the Disc and with them change and aspiration follow.

Whilst this all sounds fantastical, Raising Steam constantly remains surprisingly relevant to not only our world but current day events. There is a thoughtful and subtle exploration of what might cause terrorism and how it can quickly engulf a community through fear and ignorance when certain dwarfs are able to destroy train stations and kill despite being a minority. Moist von Lipwig is also aware that positive media representation is essential for the railway that is so dependent on the goodwill of its customers and Pratchett demonstrates this with an insight into the commercial thinking that is behind his zany schemes.

Raising Steam brings together many characters who have previously coexisted in Ankh-Morpork but have belonged to different story lines. Sam Vimes and the Watch are treated with caution by Moist although the reader has previously experienced Vimes as a family and intensely moral man. Since there is such interweaving of different story lines there is less explanation of each one, perhaps not making it the best book of the series to start with. However, it is an excellent addition to the series which reminds the reader that even a fantasy world can experience political turmoil and change.

Elli Christie, Books Editor

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A Game of Thrones – Not Just For Fantasy Geeks?

Lucy Porter reluctantly gives in to pressure to read A Game of Thrones, only to discover that it might not just be the preserve of fantasy geeks after all…

“After you’ve finished that book, you’ve got to read A Game of Thrones!”

My boyfriend was insistent but I waved him away with a lazy hand.

“Sure, I will.” I promised, knowing full well that there were at least five far more appealing books begging to be read on my shelves before I got around to that sensationalist drivel. Most of my time spent reading was on the commute to work anyway, I reasoned, he’d never find out. However a couple of weeks later, when he noticed that the book I was “still reading” had magically changed cover, he put his foot down.

My lovely, charming (unfinished) book with the American actress, Italian fishermen and lyrical prose was prised from my reluctant hands which soon found themselves carefully turning over an ominously heavy brown tome with some kind of dragon on the front. I weighed it in dismay.

I don’t quite know why I was so sure that it was going to be crap when so many people are utterly enthralled by the entire Game of Thrones universe, although I suspect that a certain Stephenie Meyer and E.L James may have had something to do with my lowered expectations. Plus, even though I end up loving every bandwagon I do eventually jump on, I am incredibly reluctant to do so in the first place. I am nowhere near cool enough to catch these things whilst they’re still hot and seem instead to prefer to wait until it’s all blown over until all that’s left to follow is the receding dust cloud of fading hype.

This series, however, is still enjoying its heyday and whilst the first TV season may have already revealed everything that happens in the first book, writing a review without delivering major spoilers for those losers like me who haven’t quite gotten round to it yet is going to be a little difficult.

But if you are still a Thrones virgin, take my advice: read the book first.

I found the first couple of chapters confusing. Like many fantasy tales, the book contains an intricate world whose workings are absolutely fundamental to the driving of the plot. Although it comes with a handy map and details of the families and houses involved, I still couldn’t quite get my head around it.

However, Martin has a talent for creating not just characters but life on the page. Each one of them becomes a real person and the chaos of names soon melts away. The length of the novel comes from quality as well as quantity with well-designed characters not giving way to an action-packed plot (well, depending on how you look at it).

Don’t give in to temptation – read the book first!

In fact, the depth of the writing gives the reading experience a quality that I feel the series could never quite capture. We pass backwards and forwards through time to fully illustrate each event with the richness it deserves, delving into the thoughts, dreams and plans of a range of characters whose voices are only truly heard in the gap between the page and the mind. Sometimes Martin uses this to build up to a certain event, dropping hints, creating a foreboding atmosphere so that by the time it has slowly, painfully arrived, you can feel the weight of the unstoppable train that brought you here.

At other times, (many, many, many other times) the turn of events is so astounding that you will have to read the lines again and again to make sure you understood correctly. Because this is the trick with Martin; he will never give you what you expect.

If you’re after the blood and boobies of the TV series, you’ll have to use your imagination a little more (although that might leave you feeling a little disturbed – Daenerys is actually meant to be 13, yikes) whereas those looking for an easy ride might find the sheer length of the book off-putting. However I would never want to give away my first understanding of the story to the televised version and am so glad that I was coerced into reading this before I watched the show. Admittedly, I have only seen one episode yet that already gave away so many subtle layers of plot that took me much longer than an hour of reading to absorb – for example, I had absolutely no idea that Sansa was such a snooty bitch until much later than is portrayed in the show which gave me a delicious sense of plot development.

In short, Martin is a genius who has written something that could and should be enjoyed by all. It exists for the gaming nerds, for the book geeks, for the pleasure readers, for the fantasy enthusiasts… as for me, I’ve found my own social psychology twist on it, extracting my old favourite themes of sexism, racism and social ostracism. Can’t just relax and enjoy anything, me.

I put A Game of Thrones down in a very different sentiment to that which I picked it up with. And then I went straight to my boyfriend’s bookcase and picked up the sequel.

Lucy Porter, Senior Reviewer

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