Essential for fans, but not the best of Discworld

If you're thinking of reading this book, you're almost certainly already a Terry Pratchett fan. (If you're not, don't even think of starting with this one - start with "Guards! Guards!", "Going Postal" or "Mort").

Raising Steam is a crossover of the Watch Sequence (Guards Guards, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay etc) and the Industrial Revolution Sequence (Moving Pictures, Going Postal, Making Money). Whilst most of the watch have only cameo roles, the book is closely tied to recent events in the Discworld, so don't skip ahead if you haven't read The Fifth Elephant, Thud!, and Making Money.

I felt the book didn't have the roller-coaster-to-the-end feel of the better Discworld novels. I'm not giving any of the plot away to say that the story builds towards a train journey from Ankh-Morpork to Uberveld against Dwarvish Grag opposition. This journey takes up a fairly long portion of the book, and just isn't that exciting. Amidst the ineffective Grag attacks it is interrupted by fairly pointless and anvilicious scenes with Gnome cobblers and child saboteurs. The end of the journey, when it eventually chugs into sight, brings no surprises. It's more disappointing than exciting to have dramatic revelations of details that have already been heavily foreshadowed.

This isn't a bad book, it just has nothing new or special to recommend it above the other Discworld novels. If you've got several unread Pratchetts and are trying to decide which one to enjoy next, go for a different one. If you've read everything Discworld has to offer, and are wondering whether to continue, it's a good listen. In particular it moves the Discworld technology and race-relations forward, so Raising Steam will be necessary to make sense of future books.

The novel contains cameos from the Wizards, most of the Watch, the reporters, and of course, Death.

I miss Nigel Planer as the voice of Discworld, but Stephen Briggs has read all of the more recent Discworld books and does a splendid job.

20 people found this helpful

Slightly going off the boil

Would you consider the audio edition of Raising Steam to be better than the print version?

In both Snuff & now Raising Steam, it seems that Pratchett is using a seasoned cast of characters - the only new character is Dick Simnel, a plain-speaking northerner (north of the UK). The storyline is as funny as we would expect from Pratchett, but it seems an increasing sense of 'edit to size' is being carried out by his publishers. I've noticed, particularly on Audible, that some books have minor elements with a tacked-on feel to make the magic 400-page mark.
It was rather depressing to hear Pratchett talk In Ely (he clearly wasn't up to it) and I'm beginning to think his helper, Rod Wilkins(?) may be doing more than just copying down Pratchett's word.
Still better than 95% of books in an average bookshop would be considered a great achievement to most authors, but to Pratchett, that's sadly down a couple of %.

Buy it, read it, enjoy it - it may be the last; sadly.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Raising Steam?

The whole Goblin sections

What does Stephen Briggs bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Gives the voices a nuance rarely found in audiobooks - an amazing feat for someone reading Pratchett - he doesn't just put everything at 11 and played it for cheap laughs.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not a moment, but the first time I felt that maybe not all of the words were Pratchett's own.

Any additional comments?

You WILL listen to it again, and again so a bargain. Ausible is MY future to audiobooks.

10 people found this helpful

Excellent!!

What did you like most about Raising Steam?

I'm a huge Pratchett fan and a huge fan of Stephen Briggs. Raising Steam did not disappoint. One of the things I liked the most about it was that, as so many Pratchett books, I got to catch up on what my old friends were up to. Having read or listened to everything I really do feel like I know these characters and this book as many of my favorites including Moist, Vimes, Vetinari, Adora Belle, Harry King, The Librarian....

I'm also a fan of the Goblins and the way Pratchett uses them to touch on issues of race and immigration.

What other book might you compare Raising Steam to, and why?

I really love this series of books: Going Postal, Making Money, Raising Steam and there parallels with our own Industrial Revolution...though I probably know more about Ankh-Morpork's than ours. Definitely read the books in order.

Stephen Briggs' reading is, as always, superb and funny and spot on. (Though if you've listened to as many as I have you might find there are one or two characters that have the same voice but to be fair Stephen as voice many many hundreds of different characters.) Whilst Tony Robinsons readings are equally brilliant, I just love unabridged audiobooks.

Younger listens should try Truckers, Diggers and Wings. That's where it all started for me.

Any additional comments?

Terry Pratchett never ceases to amaze, enthrall and entertain me.

4 people found this helpful

The history of the railway - Discworld style!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to any fan of the Discworld (who will probably already have bought it) but I wouldn't suggest starting with this book if you haven't read any of the Discworld before. This book refers to a lot of past events and includes cameos from a lot of familiar characters that would be lost on anyone who had not read any of the Discworld series before.
The book itself is entertaining and follows on with the theme of the integration of different species into Ankh Morpork and how they adapt to the changes and challenges of the 'modern' world - in particular the dwarfs. This story strand has been tackled before by Pratchett and Raising Steam develops some of the ideas that first appeared in The Fifth Elephant and Thud! It also recounts the gradual acceptance of goblins into a role in the city, following on from their initial 'emancipation' in Snuff. Each of these races has a very different reaction to the arrival of the railway on the Disc.
The book is nominally a Moist von Lipwig story, but actually is quite different to Going Postal and Making Money since it contains so many other characters too.
This isn't a five star novel for me, mainly because it feels like Pratchett is trying to pack too much information into the first section and it takes a while for the novel to develop into the familiar style of a Discworld novel.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Raising Steam?

Probably Moist's fight alongside the Goblins with the delvers who have crossed the line - there is a new edge of brutality in this novel which I don't think is present in some of Pratchett's earlier novels. Pratchett is definitely exploring a darker side to the Disc in recent novels.

Have you listened to any of Stephen Briggs’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I have several books narrated by Stephen Briggs and for me he is the ultimate Discworld narrator. He voices the characters exactly as I imagine them and brings the story to life - I own this novel both in print and in audio and found that Briggs's performance actually added to the story and made some of the longer passages of character introspection more entertaining.

3 people found this helpful

Brilliant again

another TP joy to listen to. fantastic humour and word play, you have to wonder where he would've taken the Disk if he had not left us too soon

2 people found this helpful

Good, but not the best

I have read all of Terry Pratchetts books. All fan's know the day will come when Terry is too ill to write any more Discworld books, so we absorb every morsel while he is still around to enjoy and thank. Thank You Terry, for devoting your life to giving us such wonderful adventures and making us laugh.
'Raising Steam' is the first of Pratchetts novels where i can sense all is not well. The first half of the book felt disjointed, with too many characters being introduced, and some padding that didn't read like Pratchetts work at all. Like others who have left reviews, I wonder whether Terry's assistant has more of a hand in this book than transcribing.
The second half of the book felt more like a Pratchett novel, with many laugh out loud moments.
I listened to this book after having spent many hours immersed in the epic Patrick Rothfuss novels 'The name of the wind' and 'The wise man's fear' narrated by the stunning Rupert Degas. After the incredible quality of writing and narration in those books, listening to 'Raising Steam' was a bit of a come down. I generally enjoy Stephen Briggs narration but found his diction to be lacking in this reading.
I would recommend 'Raising Steam' to fans, as learning the continuity of the characters is fascinating and fun, but for those choosing their first Pratchett book 'Guards Guards',Feet of clay', 'Night watch' and 'Thud' are hilarious, top class listens.

5 people found this helpful

Another entertaining read from Terry Pratchett

What made the experience of listening to Raising Steam the most enjoyable?

Catching up with the antics of Mr Von Lipwig and friends and seeing Vimes in action again.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Raising Steam?

Vetinari's manipulation of characters into accepting his view of the steam engine. He is definitely one of my favourite characters.

Which character – as performed by Stephen Briggs – was your favourite?

For me Stephen Briggs will always be the voice of Commander Vimes. No other narrator can do Vimes justice.

Any additional comments?

Being an avid Pratchett fan the release of Raising Steam could not come soon enough. I gave it a virtually uninterrupted listen as soon as it was released, and have listened to it subsequently at a more leisurely pace. It is a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining story but for me, unfortunately it doesn't quite hit that five star mark. Although there is still a lot of witty word play I felt that the dialogue between characters just lacked some of it's humour and subtle word play. Also, for the first time ever I felt that Mr. Briggs's reading of some of the characters lacked its usual polish and consistency. I have always thought of Stephen Briggs as the best narrator of Terry Pratchett's books, and have admired his consistency with character voices, however, this does slip a little in Raising Steam, with, for example Adora Bell having rather an accent change. Having said the above. Raising steam as read by Stephen Briggs is still a great book and I would recommend it to anyone.

5 people found this helpful

Pratchett at his best

If you could sum up Raising Steam in three words, what would they be?

Discworld railway trails!

Have you listened to any of Stephen Briggs’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Stephen Briggs narration was excellent as always.

Any additional comments?

This book has had many mixed reviews but I found it as endearing and exciting as any of the previous novels. It develops characters introduced in earlier books to great advantage.
A must listen!

2 people found this helpful

Ride The Rails Through This Discworld Gem!

To begin, I should admit I'm an enormous fan of all of Sir Terry's work and in particular the Discworld novels. That said, this is amongst the best. The Discworld franchise has gone from strength to strength with the last fifteen or so novels in particularly raising the game substantially. 'Raising Steam' is like a Pratchett bumper-pack filled with an astonishing array of fan-favourite characters, yet it doesn't feel as though they've been forced in for the sake of fan approval. The novel flows beautifully and is extremely fast-paced, perhaps even more so than ever before.

Amongst other things we're treated to another Lipwig 'how is he going to get out of this one?' moment with as satisfying solution as the one in 'Going Postal' as well as a good dose of classic Sam Vimes. There are also some fresh characters to meet too!

Stephen Briggs' performance is, as ever, flawlessly engaging and entertaining.

Really, I don't want to give too much away. So suffice to say that Discworld fans will not be disappointed, though those who are new to the franchise should probably read/listen to some of the earlier novels first as the experience of 'Raising Steam' is greatly enriched if you're already familiar with the Ankh-Morpork movers and shakers.

12 people found this helpful

Not Terry's best

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I recommend Terry Pratchett's books to many people but I certainly wouldn't suggest this one as a 'starter' for getting into Discworld. For 'newbies', try 'Guards, guards', 'Going Postal' (my first read which got me hooked), or possibly 'Lords and Ladies' or 'Witches Abroad'.

If you’ve listened to books by Terry Pratchett before, how does this one compare?

This book doesn't live up to the fun of other Discworld novels. It is quite 'flat' and doesn't have a strong, attention grabbing plotline. The characters don't seem to have much spark - particulary Moist, or Vimes.

What three words best describe Stephen Briggs’s performance?

Competent, accomplished, predictable. I know many people prefer Brigg's narration over that of Nigel Planer, and I do prefer one or two of his characters, but overall I find him a little boring at times.

Any additional comments?

I love Terry Pratchett's Discworld books and have read them all multiple times but this one simply isn't as good as some of the others. I was really looking forward to another Moist Von Lipwig book but this was a bit of letdown.

4 people found this helpful