Talk:Book:Raising Steam

Simnel, you say... where have I heard that name before? --Old Dickens (talk) 00:21, 2 October 2013 (GMT)

The title (when we were expecting Raising Taxes) suggests that The Author is jerking us around again. It's more evidence of his genius, I guess, that we seem to enjoy it so much: rather like the Patrician, innit? --Old Dickens (talk) 23:58, 14 October 2013 (GMT)

Not even halfway through it yet, but there is a surge of relief that something like the old Terry Pratchett has returned to us. After the God-awful The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day and the dissappointingly lacklustre "Long Earth" books, this was not necessarily a given. It has to be said, though, the jarring, un-Pratchett-like author's voice that so fouled up The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day was not completely absent from Raising Steam. The dialogue between Mustrum Ridcully and Lu-Tze is written in this voice - which felt so utterly wrong for the characters or the usual quality of Discworld writing that you wondered if Rhianna had been given a few pages to write. Or Rob Williams. AgProv (talk) 02:41, 14 November 2013 (GMT)

I had already made a similar note on the Ridcully - Lu-Tze scene: more of the high-quality fanfic feel I noted before. --Old Dickens (talk) 03:59, 16 November 2013 (GMT)

Awdry

I've only just caught notice that this is out (I'm annoyingly out of the country at the moment, and where I am Pratchett has not yet broken ground) -- but I find myself wondering if pTerry is channeling the Reverend W. Awdry in this one ...? --that's wot I sed ... (talk) 03:28, 16 November 2013 (GMT)

Interesting aside, although I don't see a direct connection. Over on this side of the pond, I wasn't familiar with Awdry, but he, in turn, seemed to echo The Little Engine That Could. I recall that from my childhood back in the steam age and it was elderly then. (What remote corner of the world has less access to the works of Pratchett than Canada?) --Old Dickens (talk) 03:55, 16 November 2013 (GMT)

Errr... reference footnote on page 228 (noted on Annotations page). This deals with the spin-off industry of model railway sets. Sir Harry King has not given permission for his likeness to be licenced for marketing as a trackside figure. But he is somewhat chuffed and will not make an issue out if it, even though Lady Effie complained it makes him look too fat....AgProv (talk) 13:23, 16 November 2013 (GMT)

The Fat Controller even features in the blurb, of course. --Old Dickens (talk) 15:54, 16 November 2013 (GMT)

Many questions

As The Author throws more curveballs, screwballs, spitballs and beanballs at us Book Discussion pages may become overworked as we try to work out what's actually going on. More oddities seem to appear lately that cause me, at least, to shake the head and ask: "where did that come from?" We've recently noticed:

• a remarkable turnaround at the Fiddler's Riddle
• the miraculous recovery of Vetinari's gammy leg. He may have noticed and availed himself of Grapeshot's Therapeutic Squeezer, but we're not sure if that works on old injuries.
• Moist von Lipwig becoming middle-aged when we wouldn't have thought him more than thirty-five (and Vimes and Vetinari remain young and spry).
• Margolotta's accent, which had disappeared by the time of the great town-amd-gown football match, has returned.
• magnetism is now fairly well known on the Discworld.
• another change of management at Goatberger publishers.
• "Flash", the Golem horse is only 903 years old, not 60,000.

Working these out may be as difficult as building the Timeline, mind you. --Old Dickens (talk) 16:53, 5 December 2013 (GMT)