Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett

 

Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The time has arrived for the idea of the Steam Engine to come to fruition on the Discworld (well this is the second time, the first the boat blew up and all involved thought sod this). However armed with cutting edge mathematics Dick Simnel the son of a Smith who died when his steam engine blew up has harnessed the power of Steam and invents the first reliable engine and the first train. Travelling to Ankh-Morpork Dick Simnel makes contact with Harry King for new financing and naturally the Patrician gets involved and he brings in Moist von Lipwig to coordinate matters. The grand undertaking which began with the Clacks, the Post Office, Banking and now transport is well underway mainly it seems to get fresh seafood from Quirm to the city before it turns.
However as with all new ideas there are those who are against them, sometimes their reasons are logical and valid but other times the source of their anger is just a tool to focus range and hatred and the latter is the case as those Deep Down Dwarves who feel betrayed by their King and the Koom Valley Accords attack clacks towers and now the burgeoning rail network.
Once again we have Terry playing heavily into the disenfranchised as the Goblins play a major part in the story, we know they are adept at Clacks technology but they truly come into their own with steam engines and the railways. The building of the railways and associated endeavours as seen through the eyes of many a familiar character is charming and countered by the far darker narrative of the Dwarf political situation again making sure we get to see familiar names alongside those new ones who alas for the obvious reason have only this novel to shine.
Raising Stream was an enjoyable read, the Goblins really come to the fore in this novel with strong support from Moist, Harry and the Patrician although Drumknott was a delight every time he made an appearance but as the final City specific Discworld novel I can't give it five stars, good but not great.

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