Making Money: A Novel of Discworld

Another excellent novel by human satirist Terry Pratchett, anyone who likes word play, a rollicking adventure along with a deep insight into what makes humans, and all the species of the world tick. Discworld is a place to got to look back on our own world and laugh!!

Another fine Pratchett story. My only disappointment is that he could have done a bit more with it. The ending did feel a little rushed.
I hope they make a TV movie out of it...Mr Fusspot will be amusing.

This is a sequel to Going Postal, and some exposure to the disk world universe is necessary to fully enjoy the many characters. It is a light hearted romp, that can be consumed in an afternoon of lying by the pool or on the beach.

Whilst I've given this book a 5 star rating, it's more to do with the fact that this is a Pratchett book than the actual merits of the book itself. If you've read every other book by him, you'll read this one... just like I have.

Although the points of view and the tenor of his themes have varied with time, Terry Pratchett is consistently funny. From the earliest slapstick novels dealing with the magic of Discworld through his satiric skewering of the social and commercial analogues of our own society, Pratchett is one of the very few novelists who can make me laugh out loud. "Making Money" points out the absurdities of a monetary system based on faith in institutions rather than an underlying value for that money. And he makes this arcane stuff funny! Thank you, Mr Pratchett.

I love the Discworld series, all of it, but the Moist books are probably the very top of my list. If you liked Going Postal, you'll almost certainly like this one; if you haven't READ Going Postal, go get that first.

Trust me.

Funny as hell. This is one of his best stories, with a cast of characters I would love to see immortalized in film. Moist Lipwig, a reformed thief(!) is now a bored civil servant, needing a new challenge, tempting fate in dangerous ways. Then, Vetinari..............

Read it and weep with laughter.

Second Book following the adventures of Moist Von Lipvig (first is "Going Postal"). Builds on the story of the first, but easily read as a stand alone. Didn't think that Terry could come up with another character that I enjoy as much as Sam Vines, but he has done so with these two books. Enjoy!

I love Pratchett. And the characters are really great. I recommend reading Going Postal first to really get the characters and background but this is a great read. Everything he has written is good. I loved Going Postal so much I'm glad that he wrote about them again.

The second in the Moist von Lipwig storyline in the Discworld series. It follows Moist as he revives the Royal Bank, and comes out a conman crook! Awesome, well-written, an excellent addition to a TP collection

You'd think by now that Terry Pratchett would run out of jokes and wry observations, but there is no sign of it in "Making Money." Wonderful characters, laugh-out-loud yet sophisticated humor (as far as I can tell...how does one really know?), and thought provoking situations guarantee you'll be up later than you planned, reading about making money, and annoying your partner with your giggling.

Not my sort of book at all, I read it because my book club chose it, but it was exceedingly clever, witty, sharp, very good allegory & superb dialogue. Whacky, original, fun. It's still not my sort of book, but I enjoyed romping through it.

As an avid fan of Terry Pratchett's work, the run up to the release of a new book is always an exciting time. However, every now and then, Pratchett fails to live up to the high standards he has set in many of the other Discworld novels.

Making Money is by far one of the most disappointing ventures into the satirical fantasy world that Pratchett has so carefully crafted over the last 20 years. As with Hogfather, Eric, and the lamentable Last Regiment, Pratchett proves he can write a bad book.

Making Money is far short of the quality narratives seen in Nightwatch, Thud, and Going Postal. Even the character of Moist Von LipWig, last seen in Going Postal, has lost some of his depth and interest.

What does this all mean? Going by past performance, Pratchett's next novel will be the best ever.

hell's bells. Thud was a Vimes thing; Dwarves vs Trolls.
this one's the book that's sort of after Going Postal; the guy who'd been put in charge of the post office is 'removed' (by Vetinari) and 'given' the
bank job. ('make it a success!')

I'm a huge Discworld fan and enjoyed "Making Money," which is a continuation of "Going Postal," but I couldn't quite shake the feeling that Terry Pratchett wrote this latest installment on automatic, or else got a golem to write it for him. All of the right characters are included---some like Death in cameo roles, and others like Lord Vetinari, almost too visible (a little of Ankh-Morpork's Patrician goes a long way). It's got all of the right standing, falling, and knocking-people-down-with-ladders jokes, plus Punes, or plays on words.

But for a Discworld novel, "Making Money" lacks Pratchett's usual shoot-from-the-hip-and-mouth-and-other-body-parts originality. Maybe Moist von Lipwig, former Postmaster General and current trouble-shooter at the Royal Mint, is too slight a character to have the weight of two Discworld novels resting on his shoulders. Maybe his antics at the Mint are too similar to his antics at the Post Office.

Or maybe it's because I can't stand his girlfriend, Adora Belle---Gladys the Golem has a nicer personality. Heck, the villain, Cosmo Lavish has a nicer personality, which is another one of this book's problems. We don't have a villain we can really hate. I spent the last half of the novel worrying about whether Cosmo's thumb would fall off, not whether he would succeed in replacing the Patrician at Ankh-Morpork's grubby helm.

I'll still grab Pratchett's next fantasy off of the shelf as soon as it appears, but the Moist von Lipwig books are definitely not up to his Night Watch-, Witch-, or Death-standard of Discworld novels.

Having fixed the post office and turned its two arms into a functioning system. Moist's next challenge is to fix the banking system. Can he do it, or will he fall victim to the internecine back stabbing in the banking family.

I've read ALL of the Pratchett Discworld novels to date, and this isn't one of them. I don't know what he thinks he is getting away with, but the characters, jokes, and story flow are not consistent with his previous work. Jokes concerning looking up the Golem's dress and a beard compared to pubic hair are not funny and below the Pratchett good taste standard. If you want to read Pratchett, this novel is not relevant. I want my money back, Terry.

If you are a fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld and love the style they are written in, this book is not for you.

This was the most disappointing book I have ever purchased, mainly because my expectations were that it would be in similar style & tone as all of his other books. I have been a Terry Pratchett fans for many years, eagerly awaiting the next book. I am so sorry that those days appear to be over.

This book - along with Wintersmith - were major let-downs for me. I suspect that someone else has stared writing under Terry Pratchett's name. My sister, also a big fan, has the same suspicions. The humor is flat, the clever, humorous remarks are lacking, and - worst of all - it is as if all new characters have been created & given the same names as those I had come to love!

I forced myself to keep reading, just in case Terry P decided to through in some of the good stuff. Last night, after the hideously long & boring conversation between Moist & Cosmo, I actually had to put the book down.

2 books in a row produced with the same discrepancies - I will not be rushing to the store or the book store to buy the next book. I'll probably go to a bookstore & read a chapter of 2 before I consider another purchase.

I want the best of Pratchett back! I want the Granny Weatherwax & the Vetinari & all the others old & new back the way they were!

This book was so funny, i think everyone should own all of Terry Pratchett books he has such a wonderfull imagination this book is writen to take you on from another book Going postal which i would also recomend they are both Brilliant,funny books that you cant put down.

If you are a fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld and love the style they are written in, this book is not for you.

This was the most disappointing book I have ever purchased, mainly because my expectations were that it would be in similar style & tone as all of his other books. I have been a Terry Pratchett fans for many years, eagerly awaiting the next book. I am so sorry that those days appear to be over.

This book - along with Wintersmith - were major let-downs for me. I suspect that someone else has stared writing under Terry Pratchett's name. My sister, also a big fan, has the same suspicions. The humor is flat, the clever, humorous remarks are lacking, and - worst of all - it is as if all new characters have been created & given the same names as those I had come to love!

I forced myself to keep reading, just in case Terry P decided to through in some of the good stuff. Last night, after the hideously long & boring conversation between Moist & Cosmo, I actually had to put the book down.

2 books in a row produced with the same discrepancies - I will not be rushing to the store or the book store to buy the next book. I'll probably go to a bookstore & read a chapter of 2 before I consider another purchase.

I want the best of Pratchett back! I want the Granny Weatherwax & the Vetinari & all the others old & new back the way they were!

This book was so funny, i think everyone should own all of Terry Pratchett books he has such a wonderfull imagination this book is writen to take you on from another book Going postal which i would also recomend they are both Brilliant,funny books that you cant put down.

Up to his usual ironic obsurdity.A truely enjoyable book.The story follows a line similar to Going Postal[some of the same characters].
If you enjoy Pratchett you wont be dissapointed, if you have never read Pratchett START NOW.

It seems, after reading Terry Pratchett's latest Discworld novel "Making Money", that money does make the world go `round, even if that world is flat and balanced on the backs of four elephants standing on the back of a giant turtle.

In "Making Money", Terry Pratchett and his `hero' Moist von Lipwig do for and to the monetary system exactly what they did for and to the post office in "Going Postal". The result is the same - - - - a Buster Keaton-like romp through the strange and wonderful world of Discworld.

It is impossible to detail the plot of this book without giving away spoilers so I think it best just to say that Lord Vetinari has determined that Ankh-Morpork's monetary system is in dire straits and in need of improvement. Vetinari picks, in his inimitable way, Moist von Lipwig to lead the way. In essence, Moist is set-up by Vetinari to become Ankh-Morpork's Alan Greenspan. Unlike Greenspan, however, Moist must deal with a cast of characters that have no idea as to what Moist is up to or trying to achieve. (Well, maybe that isn't so unlike Greenspan!).

"Making Money" feature a cast of old but mostly new characters. As to established characters, Vetinari is featured and his is as delightfully Machiavellian as ever. There are cameo appearances by DEATH, the Watch, and CMOT Dibbler. However, new or newer characters play the largest roles. Moist's second appearance is terrific. Pratchett does a very nice job turning him into what I hope is a regular role. Moist's girlfriend the chain-smoking Adore Belle Dearheart makes her presence felt. Mr. Bent, the oh-so serious bank manager plays straight man to Moist's light-hearted con-man character. Bent is tied to the old ways - where money must be based on gold and nothing but gold. There is something very William Jennings Bryan-like about Bent and his straight-laced approach is the perfect foil for Moist's extraordinarily flexible approach to monetary issues. Moist's antagonists are the Lavish family, Cosmo Lavish and his rather large sister Pucci (of whom Pratchett says in a great line, "she had no idea how to handle people and she tried to make self-esteem do the work of self-respect, but the girl could flounce better than a fat turkey on a trampoline".) They make good foils for Moist and Vetinari.

As always the plot has many twists and turns and one-liners fly almost as fast as the slings and arrows of the Assassins' Guild. Pratchett has a great way with humor and manages to combine that humor with a good deal of insight into how `things' work in the real world. His look at the monetary system in "Making Money" can now stand with Pratchett's look at rock music Soul Music, religion Small Gods, the post office Going Postal, and movies Moving Pictures as some very funny looks at our world through the prism of Discworld.

"Making Money" was a fun book for me to read. It was typical Pratchett (high praise) and I think most Pratchett fans will enjoy it. I certainly did. L. Fleisig

The financial sector of Ankh-Morpork is dire trouble and Lord Vetinari looks to his Postmaster General to solve the problem, however he doesn’t want the opportunity but somethings are out of his hands. Making Money is Terry Pratchett’s 36th Discworld novel and the second to follow the conman-turned-civil servant Moist von Lipwig who is beginning to pine for thrills and suddenly finds himself in the midst of them.

With the Post Office running as smoothly as possible and facing plain paperwork every day, Moist von Lipwig is looking for thrills and excitement in a variety of ways including scaling the outside of the Post Office and breaking into his own office. Lord Vetinari attempts to sell Moist on taking over the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork and the Royal Mint, but Moist is satisfied with his life. However Bank chairwoman Topsy Lavish changes her will to make Moist guardian of her dog, Mr. Fusspot, to whom she leaves her controlling interest in the Bank to. Suddenly Moist is taking care of a dog and running the Bank and Mint much to his annoyance and that of the Lavish family and Mr. Bent, the head cashier. Moist begins thinking about changes to the banking system but then is inundated with numerous challenges first from Mr. Bent, the Lavishes including one that wants to become Lord Vetinari (not Patrician just Vetinari), a former partner blackmailing him about his conman past, missing gold from the bank vault, and finally his fiancée arranging for an army of golems to arrive in Ankh-Morpork. Soon Moist past is exposed, though no one cares, after saving the city from the golems as well as using them to base his new paper currency and is still alive at the end of the book which is the least he wants out of each day.

Moist is one of the most original characters that Pratchett has come up with and like Going Postal, I enjoyed following his story. However, like the previous mentioned book this one is not up to the quality that Pratchett is known for. While Moist, Vetinari, and Adora Belle Dearheart were well written, the overall plot and the numerous subplots just seemed to meander. Pratchett attempted to avoid Moist doing exactly what he did in Going Postal by having him deal with other challenges, but they were a mishmash of ideas that didn’t seem to come together and pages were wasted with the Cosmo Lavish subplot that took up pages without really accomplishing anything.

Honestly, it was hard to rate Making Money because while I enjoyed reading Moist’s point-of-view, the overall plot of the book was just serviceable as it twist and turned based on the questionable subplots intertwined with it. If you are a first time Discworld reader, don’t read this book until you’ve sampled some of Pratchett’s other better quality writing. If you are a veteran Discworld reader then focusing on enjoying the point-of-view of Moist even though the book’s quality is just okay.

Moist von Lipwig has done some wonderful things with the Ankh-Morpork Post Office. However, it bores him which makes him long for his old life as a swindler and con man. Instead of swindling people, Moist has bought a nice set of lock picks and spends his free time attempting to break into the Post Office. His Post Office. Lord Vetinari, not blind to this, summons him to his palace with a new job opportunity. Knowing that Moist needs a new challenge, he has just the thing in mind: running the Royal Mint of Ankh-Morpork. The family that runs the mint is not doing a very good job, it costs more than a penny to make a penny. Vetinari sends Moist to meet the chairman of the bank, Topsy Lavish, an elderly woman who keeps two loaded crossbows at her desk and who dotes on her little dog. Before Moist can make a decision about running the bank, it has been decided for him. Topsy passes away and leaves the dog with majority shares in the bank and Moist as guardian of the dog. Therefore, Moist has become chairman. In his new position, Moist starts to make money for the bank, as well as enemies.

Making Money, by Terry Pratchett, picks up where Going Postal left off; it's the continuing adventures of Moist von Lipwig and quite a few characters from that novel. Like the previous novel, Making Money takes place in a universe similar to our own, but also populated with vampires, werewolves, many large, ancient creatures made of clay, and other assorted fantastical creations. These creatures provide Pratchett with the flexibility for some very good, hilarious scenes while providing biting commentary on our own foibles, societal norms, and human nature. Pratchett's main point is the gold standard and what constitutes money, which usually isn't fodder for a book of this nature, but then he isn't writing a financial book. This is more about greed, comically attacked and skewered by Pratchett.

While the main characters carry over from Going Postal, two secondary characters deserve mention; Mr. Bent, the obsessive bank manager and Cosmo Lavish, a man who comes from the Ankh-Morpork banking family but who also has an unhealthy obsession with Lord Vetinari. The manner in which these two characters are portrayed and used is brilliant.

Making Money is a highly entertaining novel; Pratchett's wordplay, plotting, and amazing situations keep the pages turning, the entertainment level high, and the characterizations spot on.

Disclosure:
Obtained from: Library
Payment: Borrowed

Moist von Lipwig, tired after making the Post Office such as success in "Going Postal", is itching for a new challenge - Vetinari sees this and turns Lipwig onto the banks and currency. Thusly Moist enters into a similar story to his last one where instead of the post, he is tasked with rejuvenating the money. The usual cast of new characters who seem familiarly like some previous new characters are present as are stock favourites, Vetinari, Vimes, Carrot, and a cameo by Death.

As others have pointed out the similarities to "Going Postal" are glaring and this is the problem with "Making Money" in that it has the feeling that we've been here before, not 2 years ago in fact! Sadly, it's very predictable fare. As Nobbs points out to Colon in the first third of the book: "Odds, sarge?" "You're running a book, Nobby. You always run a book" "Can't get any takers, sarge. Foregone conclusion. Everyone thinks he'll win" (p.132). And he does. A foregone conclusion. Yawn.

It wouldn't be so bad if Pratchett had made some interesting villains or obstacles but what we get is a rich guy who wants to be Vetinari, and something ominous but vague about golems which is quickly resolved in a paragraph at the end. Hardly edge of the seat stuff. Even the "secret" of Mr Bent, one of the new characters, is poor stuff. It's built up throughout the book and then revealed in a very weak punchline at the end. Vetinari disappointingly is present through much of the book when before he would have a couple of pages at the beginning and a couple at the end. His menace and mystique goes from interesting and dark to being that of a stern headmaster who is nonetheless approachable.

Also, there isn't much satire here. What exactly is he lampooning? Pratchett's always very sharp on his targets in Discworld but there doesn't seem to be a target here except that he wanted to introduce paper money to the citizens of Ankh Morpork which, really, he could have mentioned in a throwaway line in a better Discworld book ("What's this paper money for? Where's the gold?" "Y'know that Lipwig fellow? Vetinari put him in charge of the banks, so that's what we've got now" "Oh").

Who'd have thought it with Pratchett's ingenuinty - a by-the-numbers Discworld book? And it's hinted at the end that Moist will reappear to re-do the Ankh Morpork tax system! Dear me, I sincerely hope that book never materialises. The character of Moist was good for one book, two is stretching it, three is too much.

I can't bash this too much being a lifelong Discworld fan. It's well written and has enough going on to hold the interest even if you can see what's going to happen a mile off. Still, a visit to Ankh Morpork is always welcome and it's fun to see the familiar characters once again. Ideally a new Death book would be best but hey ho I guess Terry's lost interest in him and is content to churn out Young Adult Discworld like the atrocious Tiffany Aching/Nac Mac Feegle books. I just hope Terry goes with two of his other ideas "Snuff" featuring Vimes, and/or "Scouting for Trolls" a riff on "Scouting for Boys" instead of rounding off the trilogy of Moist (Moist! That name!) books.

This book, along with 'The Truth,' and 'Going Postal,' represent what I call Pratchett's non-standard character non-trilogy. In these books he introduces the inimitable ex-... (well, mostly-ex) con man Moist Von Lipwig, Postmaster General of Ankh Morpork's (nearly defunct) Post Office, and William de Word, editor of Ankh Morpork's only real newspaper (at least the only one that's doesn't make up it's stories out of whole cloth... which makes it rather suspect in the eyes of most of the city's residents). Together, these two young men (with the help, albeit often sub-rosa, of Lord Vetinari) bring Disc World out of the Century of the Fruit Bat and into a (somewhat) modern age (roughly equivalent to the real world's -- i.e. round world's -- mid-19th century). In this third volume of the trilogy, Moist von Lipwig (it has to be his real name... no sane con-man would pick that as an alias) becomes Head of the Royal Mint and the owner of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank of Ankh Morkpork (yes, owner of the chairman... the chairman, due to Ankh Morpork's unique legal precedents is, at least for now, a small dog). This book continues Pratchett's insightful and hilarious dissection of and explication of modern capitalism. This book and 'Going Postal' should be mandatory reading for anyone learning economics or journalism in the real world. Pratchett, through his fantasy, manages to describe the true nature of capitalism in ways today's press fails utterly to do.

Wonderful characters, laugh-out-loud humour, and astonishing insight into the human spirit and psyche, as well as human character, define this book. One of the best from England's greatest modern writer.

At last we come to the end, at least until October when the next volume in the Discworld series comes out. For now though, I've read all of the adult Discworld novels in the series, concluding with "Making Money" the second installment to feature conman Moist von Lipwig.

Last time we saw Moist in "Going Postal" he was charged with resurrecting the post office in the metropolis of Ankh-Morpork and in the process found himself going straight. A little time has gone by since then, with Moist still engaged to golem rights advocate Adora Belle Dearhardt and managing the post office efficiently. A little too efficiently really, as Moist has the itch for his old criminal ways that he scratches by breaking into his office at night and picking every possible lock in the place. Fortunately the city's uncontested tyrant Lord Vetinari has a solution: he wants Moist to take over the Royal Bank and shake up the system to meet modern times.

Now here is where we have to branch out into the hypothetical story on the book jacket and what actually happens.

On the book jacket it sounds like Moist is going to take over the bank and start printing paper money. Until then the city has relied on the gold standard, using a variety of coins for its money. By introducing paper money and taking Ankh-Morpork off the gold standard, he makes new enemies and runs into dangerous situations.

What actually happens is that probably a quarter of the book is spent just getting Moist into the bank and introducing all the key players like Mr. Bent, the manager who can add pages of numbers with only a glance and worships gold like a god, and the Lavish family who run the bank, especially Cosmo, who wants to make himself into Lord Vetinari. At the same time, Adora and her Golem Trust have found some ancient golems, who make things very interesting. The rest of the story involves an audit and recriminations about missing gold--and the golems. As for the paper money, it doesn't come along until the very last chapter of the book.

So like one of Moist's customers for cheap diamond rings, I feel a bit cheated here. This wasn't exactly the book I thought I was going to read. Admittedly it still is a fun read, but I kept thinking, "When are we going to get to the money? WHEN?" The actual running of the bank, the story promised on the jacket, seems like it's going to happen off the pages. No matter how good the rest of the book is, it's hard not to feel disappointed by that. Though I suppose a conman like Moist can't be any more outrageous than the Lavish family who were running the bank.

What saves this book for me, and made me really, REALLY want to give it four stars against all reason, is that I like the Moist character. Having now read the entire series, he reminds me mostly of Rincewind the cowardly wizard. Like Rincewind, Moist is that breed of noble coward who doesn't want to help anyone but seems to end up doing so anyway. Whereas Rincewind achieved this by running away from danger, Moist does it by using his very persuasive mouth. That's what makes them both fun antiheroes, unlike those brave, strapping heroes in most fantasy novels. And for personal reasons the idea of accountants traveling around like gypsies has me laughing so hard I needed an Igor to stitch me back together. So overall it's not a bad addition to the series (and provided Pratchett's health holds up long enough he's already sown the seeds for a third Moist adventure) but there have been better among these 36 volumes.

And that does it. Overall I have greatly enjoyed this series because not only are the books a lot of fun, but there's a lot of wisdom to be garnered from them as well. Even "Making Money" seems ripped from today's headlines with all the trouble in the real banking system. To do smart and funny takes a special talent and Pratchett is indeed very talented.

That is all.

By my count, which is slightly different from the store's, this is the 31st book in Pratchett's Discworld series. With its publication, Going Postal: A Novel of Discworld graduates from a stand-alone book to the first of the "Moist Lipwig" subseries (this book being the second in that subseries). Unfortunately, that graduation does not bear presents. Whereas, "Going Postal" was pretty good, "Making Money" is merely OK. Yes, the parodies are funny. But, unfortunately, the main character, Moist Lipwig, isn't really the driving force behind the plot's progression: he seems to be just along for the ride. The first part of the book is pretty good. Moist is front-and-center and seems to be moving things along. But, shortly after he moves to the bank, he just turns stupid (especially considering what he did for a living prior to becoming the Postmaster General) and the book just drifts. I actually put the book down for a couple of days because I was so upset with this. Finally, near the end, he seems to become himself again. But, the denouement essentially turns into an "A Miracle Occurs" moment. I don't know what happened to Pratchett concerning this book. But, really, I don't see the point in it. He really doesn't seem to have put his usual effort into the plot, the development, or the characters.

If you want to pick the book up from the library, go ahead an do so. But, don't expect prime Pratchett material. The best I can rate it is an OK 3 stars out of 5.

"Making Money" marks the return of reformed confidence trickster extraordinaire, Moist von Lipwig. As Postmaster General, Moist has made the Post Office a roaring success. But this is not enough for Lord Vetinari, ruler of Ankh-Morpork, who thinks that Moist would be the perfect man to take control of the city's ailing banking sytem regardless of the fact (or perhaps because of the fact) that Moist knows nothing about banking and money. "Making Money" is full of Terry Pratchett's irreverent humor but is limited by an uneven plot and too-thin storyline.

As Moist reluctantly and in extraordinary circumstances takes charge of the bank, he has an epiphany. Why should the city rely on gold? He has a plan to introduce paper money into circulation but first he must convince everybody that gold is not necessary. But going against centuries of banking wisdom is easier said than done and Moist finds himself making enemies left and right despite his charm and easy way with words. For while he is beginning to convince people that gold isn't necessary, it is brought to his attention that there is no gold in the bank. And as a former criminal Moist becomes prime suspect number one.

"Making Money" has Pratchett's trademark charm, some rather witty observations, and a few laugh-out-loud moments. As usual, much in Discworld is like life in this world. Yet the plot is very uneven, slow for most of the novel before rapidly speeding to an end. There are a lot of side stories that seem to distract rather than add to Moist's latest highjinks. Overall, for fans of Pratchett's creations, "Making Money" is a sure bet.

Terry Pratchett's first novel, "The Carpet People", appeared in 1971. "Making Money" is the thirty-sixth book in his hugely popular Discworld series and was first published in 2007. It's also the second book, after "Going Postal", to feature Moist van Lipwig.

Moist was once a very gifted con-artist and, understandably, had a number of aliases. Unfortunately, one of his aliases - Albert Spangler - got caught and was sent to the gallows. Luckily, and deliberately, he was only hung to within an inch of his life and came round in Lord Vetinari's office. Vetinari, Ankh-Morpork's Patrician, is incredibly resourceful and fantastically well-informed...and, as a graduate of the Guild of Assassins, not somebody you want to make an enemy of. He knew Moist's real name, his profession and had identified Moist as a fraudster by vocation, a habitual liar and totally untrustworthy. As such, Vetinari knew that Moist was ideally suited for a job in government and offered him the position of Postmaster General. Things have since gone amazingly well : the post office is running smoothly, it no longer has any serious rivals, stamp collecting is hugely popular and Moist is tipped for the top post at the Merchants' Guild. However, there is one small problem...with things running so well, Moist is getting bored. (Old habits die hard : despite the fact he has all the keys, Moist enjoys trying to break into the post office after dark to keep himself entertained. He'd even felt treacherous for testifying against Owlswick Jenkins, a hugely talented forger who'd been making his own stamps. Moist is devastated that Jenkins is now on death row).

Vetinari has obviously spotted Moist twitching, and comes up with a solution : he offers Moist a new position, as Master of the Royal Mint. Moist, claiming that he's happy at the Post Office, initially turns it down - though Vetinari knows that it'll only take a little prodding to make him change his mind. Moist eventually buckles, and agrees to take a look around - though promises nothing. It's Mrs "Topsy" Lavish, the bank's Chairman, who plays the biggest role in persuading Moist to join the financial sector. She also has Moist pegged as a con-artist straight away - which doesn't bother her in the slightest, as she views him as something of a kindred spirit. Topsy's late husband had been the bank's chairman before his death, and had left her 50% of the bank's shares when he died. (He'd also left the bank in a precarious position, financially). Since her dog, Mr Fusspot, had been left a further 1%, she was in total control of the bank. Neither of her stepchildren, Cosmo and Pucci, are even remotely pleased about this and Mrs Lavish suspects they're both trying to have her "permanently removed". It's possible she is just a paranoid old woman, and it may be just a coincidence that she dies shortly after meeting Moist, but there's no doubt that the Vetinari-obsessed Cosmo and the egotistical Pucci are the book's main villains. Unfortunately for Moist, they soon have him in their sights. Topsy changed her will shortly before she died : she left Mr Fusspot her share of the bank...and then left Mr Fusspot to Moist. On other words, whether he likes it or not, Moist is now a banker.

There is a fairly large supporting cast - Moist's girlfriend, Adora Belle Dearheart, also returns. She's still working with the Golem Trust, though spends the early part of the book running a mining operation close to Chimeria. Nobody's too sure what she's up to, least of all the dwarves who own the land she's working on...but it presumably has something to do with golems. In her absence, the closest thing to female company Moist has is Gladys. Unfortunately, she happens a 7ft golem. (Gladys is a little unusual...golems have no actual 'bits' carved, and had always defaulted to 'male'. However, Gladys had started wearing dresses when objections were raised to a 'male' Golem cleaning the ladies' privvy and she now quotes religiously from various ladies' magazines). Mr Bent, the bank's Chief Cashier, is possibly even more off-putting. He is devoted to gold, particularly the 10 tonnes that rest in the bank's vaults, and his powers of mental arithmetic are absolutely amazing. However, he is somewhat lacking in the charm department and there is something worryingly vampire-esque about him. Then there's Hubert and his Igor, a pair of scientists who live in the cellar with a Glooper. (The Glooper is, apparently, an accurate model of the city's economy).

Pratchett's books are always excellent - he's one of the few authors out there that can practically guarantee laughs. This one is no different, and he has set up a possible third book featuring Moist. However, I'd prefer to see him turn his attentions elsewhere in the short-term - another book about the City Guard or Death would be ideal. (While he "aten't dead yet", the short term is a little more important for Pratchett than it is for many others). Even so, much funnier than your average bear.

Let's get it out of the way - this is not the best Pratchett book.

It its well-written and funny, with the return of many great characters, and a few new somewhat interesting ones. It's snappily paced. It's witty.

It also has a plot that isn't very fulfilling, some strange and optional loose ends, and a very annoying deus ex machina ending. It feels like it's made of spare parts, no offense to the Igors.

Essentially, Moist Von Lipwig, everyone's favorite postmortem postmaster, is bored. The Patrician, of course knows this, and gives Moist a chance to do something else - running the Bank and Mint of Ankh-Morpork. After all, Moist was used to stealing from banks, he just has to reverse his thinking.

However, interested or not, events conspire to put Moist in charge, thanks to a series of events, a clever lady, and a dog. Moist does love a challenge, and he rises to the occasion in some well-written and interesting looks at just what finance and money is.

But despite the best efforts, there's not much plot here, there's not much going on. There's sort of an antagonist, but not much of one. There's some interesting characters introduced that aren't realized quite as fully as they could be. It's really a plot beneath anyone of Pratchett's caliber - it is his talent that keeps it from being a total mess to one that's not fulfilling.

My take is the book is meant to bridge onward to the next novels, as I feel Pratchett is building up towards some big changes in his world. But it's a rickety bridge, even if the company is pleasant. I'd give it 2 stars, but some of the writing and characterization, plus some twists that set things up for the future, are interesting.

Moist von Lipwig (pronounced 'Lip-vig'), the Postmaster of Ankh-Morpork, is offered the post of Master of the Royal Mint, and manager of the Royal Bank. Much like his previous career as a scam artist, except he is trying to get money into the bank. Herein are explored gender issues of golems, the nature of an insorcism, the mania that produces competent artists, the Lavish family in all their splendor, Lord Vetinari's sense of humor, hydrolic economics, splot, a curiosity cabinet that was not made by a girl, the impact of a risk-free life on an inveterate risk-taker, and other themes. And Death has a role.

The insanity that passes for economic practice in the twenty-first century is actually far weirder than Pratchett's vision, for a change. On the other hand, the reality of the 2008 financial crisis would be as self-evident and ridiculous as democracy to a citizen of Ankh-Morpork. Never the less, the Disc World places many of the mundane practices in context and holds them up for the ridicule they deserve.

I was particularly fond of two new characters; Owlswick and Herbert. Men of genius and passion with the same grasp of reality and people skills usually demonstrated by people of their caliber.

I was morbidly facinated by the Lavish clan who, collectively, could be based on any number of families or groups. Regardless, the characterization was brilliant, and their employment of lawyers was hilarious.

And let us not forget the lesson about studying Lord Vetinari too closely...

All in all, readable, brilliant, enjoyable, and thoroughly up to Terry Pratchett's usual standards.

This one couldn't have been more timely or better.

E. M. Van Court

A year or so before, Moist von Lipwig was up to his eyeballs in trouble, saddled with the job of re-creating Ankh-Morpork's post office. But the thrill goes out of a job when it goes from adventure to, well, work. Now, Moist is entertaining himself by breaking into his own post office and risking mob death. All that changes when Patrician Vetinary calls him back to the palace. Vetinary has a new job for him, running the royal bank of Ankh-Morpork. Vetinary has ideas of city improvement and will need a loan. Which may be a challenge considering that the bank manages to lose money on most of the coins it mints.

With his experience in the post office and with stamps, Moist knows that value doesn't come from gold buried in the cellar. It comes from the flow of commerce through a city. Knowing this, and communicating it to the rest of the city, though, is likely to be a challenge. Fortunately, there are a lot of people who remember the post office and who think Moist can work miracles. Unfortunately, the family of the former chairman will do just about anything to get rid of Moist. Keeping Vetinary happy is important--indeed, failing to keep him happy is likely to be fatal. In this case, though, keeping him happy may also be fatal for Moist.

Author Terry Pratchett continues his wonderful Discworld series with a thoughtful and often hilariously funny novel about the way the world works. Discworld happens to be a world in the shape of a disc that sits on the back of a bunch of elephants, so it definitely works differently than other worlds, but at the bottom, wealth flows from work and output. As Moist soon realizes, the value of Ankh-Morpork has nothing to do with the gold in the bank's vaults and everything to do with the flow of commerce. Incredibly, Pratchett manages to give a bit of an economics lesson in an enjoyable format. Money, it turns out, really does create value from nothing.

Fans of the Discworld series will be happy to see the return of favorite characters from the Watch, Igors, golems (and their liberation) Vetinary, and Moist himself (see also our review of Going Postal). Of course, Pratchett keeps a running line of jokes throughout. There is a deeper message to the story, one that comes out when Vetinary considers the problems of too many golems and remembers the adage that 'if you want war prepare for war.'

For the most part, the story works. Pratchett escalates the danger, lets us see the absurdity of digging gold from holes in the ground only to put it in other holes in the ground, manages some in-group jokes that are likely to be mostly funny to economists and computer historians, and delivers an entertaining read. I couldn't put it down.

In "Going Postal", Pratchett introduced Moist von Lipwig, a condemned confidence trickster, at his "end", hanged at the order of Ankh-Morpork's Patrician, Havelock Vetinari. It wasn't Moist who was executed, however, but Albert Spangler, his most frequently used alias. That identity was swept away to enable Lord Vetinari's wish to rejuvenate the City's postal system. Moist was up to the task, transforming an ancient, creaking and nearly obsolete civil service into a humming success. The rejuvenation kept the post office a City institution instead of divested into greedy, private hands.

But success isn't Moist's desired state. He craves danger, illicit activity, deception and the thrill of the chase. To keep his hand in, he must break into his own post office! Vetinari didn't spare Moist on a whim. He knows his man and his methods, deftly manoeuvring the talented thief for his own ends. "Tyrant" or no, Vetinari lives for the City of Ankh-Morpork, using whatever means available to keep it going effectively. With no other vested interest and lacking anything like an army for enforcing his aims, Vetinari relies on guile and one of the most devious personalities in literature. He uses that talent to manoeuvre Moist's taking over the Royal Bank and Mint. Moist will be "making money" in a new way.

"Ankh-Morpork" of course, won't be found in any Rand McNally [in case you were thinking of looking]. That's because Vetinari's City is the largest on the Discworld. Pratchett has produced over three dozen books on this world, which is only partly imaginary. His slogan for the series: "Discworld is a world, and a mirror of worlds" reveals the reflection there is us. There are a few exotic characters residing on the Discworld. The City Watch hires trolls, dwarves and even promoted a werewolf to Sergeant, for example. These are minor characters here, although golems move to near-centre stage in this tale. One of them, who's discovered "ladies' magazines" and books on deportment, has donned a blue dress and dubbed herself "Gladys". She is Moist's personal maid, demurely turning her back when he dresses.

Golems are seen as a threat by many in Ankh-Morpork. They do the repetitive, mindless tasks without murmur or complaint. If they cause job loss with such behaviour, however, the economy will suffer - as will the Bank. Run by the Chief Cashier, Malvolio Bent, who staunchly defends traditional standards, innovation has little place in the Bank. A nephew of the former Chairman has introduced speculative forecasting on the City's economy, including what might transpire in conditions of mass unemployment. Scorning anything as crude as an abacus, Hubert has expanded on the ancient water clock to create The Glooper, a maze of glass pipes, valves and buckets to trace the impact of small changes in the flow of money. Hubert calls it his "analogy machine". Silicon being the basis for glass and computers is a point to remember.

Hubert is a Lavish, the family that has run and controlled the Royal Bank for generations. The Lavishes, are, well, lavish. They are Old Money, which means they know how to save, spend, and use it for their own ambitions. One Lavish, Cosmo, has even more grandiose plans - take over the management of the Bank, and depose Vetinari in the process. Moist, as the new Master of the Royal Mint, and keeper of the present Chairman, a multi-breed dog named Mr Fusspot, stands in Cosmo's path. Moist seems immune from Cosmo's machinations, until a figure from the past arrives. Cribbins knows Albert Spangler from old and intends to benefit from the knowledge. Only Vetinari is aware of who Moist actually is, keeping that secret for his own purposes. Now, Moist's past is rising up like a restless shade. How will Ankh-Morpork respond when it learns their admired Postmaster and Master of the Royal Mint is a former crook? Especially when it's discovered that the gold reserve keeping the economy ticking over and backing up Moist's innovation of paper money has mysteriously disappeared?

To those who've read Pratchett, extolling his style and wit will be redundant. He's a master at word bending, double meaning and adapting. The Bank's cellar, a huge vault, was excavated by a former Chairman on speculation that it would attract a beneficent god. "If we build it, wilt thou comest?" is a typical Pratchett tossed-off line. Yet, as any fan will testify, he's not limited to petty wit. He understands issues confronting us all, conveying them with panache. He does this through his characters, at whose creation Pratchett is a master. Moist is one of his finer efforts, but his on-going depiction of Vetinari through the Discworld series has made him a favoured character: "Do I need to wear a badge that says tyrant?" Pratchett's characterisations, and the twists and arabesques of his plots, spiced with an accomplished knowledge of his topic, keeps his books not only on the "Must Read" list, but rewards those who pick them up again and again. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Terry Pratchett has slowly but surely been bringing Discworld in general and Ankh-Morpork in particular up to the "real" world (or at least a Victorian equivalent) and in Making Money takes on one of the few remaining barriers: the economic system. Since most cynics will agree that money-driven economy is a scam, who better to do this than one of Discworld's premier con artists, Moist Von Lipwig (previously seen in the excellent 'Going Postal')?

Alas, something doesn't quite click in this book, which may make it a disappointment to hardcore Pratchett fans: the ending is especially contrived, and rather than Moist using one of his ingenious schemes to get uot of the conundrum he's in, the book pulls a loose deux ex machina.

As usual, there's lots of sarcastic social commentary, and some wry dialogue and narrative snarking -- we expect no less from Pratchett. Probably my favorite aspect of this was one of the villains. My favorite character in the series is Lord Vetinari, and the villain of this is blatantly (and literally) a Vetinari "wanna-be" so it was fun to see someone trying to emulate my hero so BADLY.

Others might not be as forgiving as I am with this, and there's every chance that they will be disappointed if they go into this expecting the 5-star quality of many of his other, better works. Keep your expectations reasonable, though, and it's worth reading once.

When I read Going Postal I was being introduced to a tortured soul who had to keep running, because someone was probably catching up to him. He was interesting. He was so very human. He *had* to do the things he did. His highs and lows (bipolar?) were something to see. The story of money and greed and the soul of business was interesting too. I couldn't put it down. I nearly wept when I read about Sending Home and the last message on the clacks.

This time out, I never got close.

Oh, don't get me wrong, Making Money is still one hell of a good story. Pratchett can hardly not write one anymore. But that spark that made it all work and made it great, Moist fighting for something he believed in (for a change) and the tragedy of the clacksmen (and women), was stirring. Banks just don't have the same effect on me, I guess.

We find Moist von Lipwig still at the Post Office, eminently respectable, in fact about to be made actually Respectable (it includes an almost gold watch) by the local Chamber of Commerce. The Post Office is now an unqualified success, to the point that stamps are now a de facto currency. A de facto currency, in fact, because no one has any trust in the banking system anymore. The banks have not moved with the times (it is the Year of the Prawn, or something) and need some shaking up.

Enter Moist von Lipwig. Well, maybe not by choice, but he definitively enters.

Watch him struggle with the Mint, banking, temperamental artists of debatable sanity, an Igor, Ventinari, conservative lending practices, invading golems, small dogs and, um, mechanical sausages, all the while trying to move banking into modern times and dodging a probable contract put out on him by the Guild of Assassins.

It's still one hell of a good story, it's just not as human as I've come to see Moist.

Making Money is the second Discworld book featuring Moist von Lipwig, the conman-turned-postmaster general from Going Postal. Here he's put in charge of the mint, and so we get a great many adventures in banking.

I am a huge fan of the Discworld novels; I have read them all, and variously enjoyed each of them, although I have not much gotten into the rapidly growing periphery, which includes books on the science, geography and art of Discworld.

This is a typical Discworld book: the plot moves along leisurely while innumerable supporting characters wander in and out of the story as we approach an ending that is partly random and partly predictable. But that's never been a problem with Discworld novels; the plot is secondary to the characters, and all the fun is getting there.

This isn't the greatest Discworld book (I think most of the Vimes-centered ones tend to be the best), perhaps because Moist has the Midas touch where the plot is concerned - everything he does works out conveniently for his success (although perhaps in unexpected ways). Nevertheless the book is entertaining, because Pratchett's writing is good enough to overcome a deficit of plot.

The series is getting close to forty novels, but the charm is still there. Pratchett's writing is clever and amusing, as always, and one can't help but learn a few new words. And the man can still hit you with the most delightful sentences every now and again. Which is good, because Pratchett keeps cranking them out. Carry on, sir.

RECOMMENDED

Welcome to Disc World! A complete flat world that is held up by four elephants, all of whom are standing on a turtle that is swimming through space. Disc world is the brain child of Terry Pratchett. Terry Pratchett is to the comedy genre what Stephen King is to the horror genre. Both authors start with ordinary things done by ordinary people in ordinary towns. Ordinary people under Stephen King's imagination are heralds of horrifying experiences. Terry Pratchett on the other hand, starts with an imaginary world of vampires, Igors, witches, guilds (thieves, assassins, etc), wizards with their Unseen University, imps, golems, trolls, dwarfs, werewolves, and humans, living in a city named Ankh-Morpork and managed to make them seem like any ordinary city on earth. It is their ordinariness of the various denizens of Ankh-Morpork which makes them so captivating and funny. Pratchett has made Disc World a mirror of ours and make our darkest ambitions look funny when exposed to the light of his imaginary world.

Making Money (2007) is the latest in a series of Disc world books. My favourites are The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, The Last Continent, and Reaper Man. In Making Money, con-man Moist von Lipwig was offered the job of being Master of Ankh-Morpork's Royal Mint and be in charge of the Bank of Ankh-Morpork. The chairman of the bank is a dog! This is any con-man's dream. It is being given the key to the bank vault legally. However there a few complications. Throw into the mix, the bank's conniving family, the invention of paper money, the discovery of `golden golem' and the manipulation of the master con-man of them all, you have a story worthy of Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen (the movies). A good 4 star read.

My first Terry Pratchett, and there were definitely elements of this that I very much enjoyed-- probably because they reminded me a lot of a Christopher Moore book (in terms of all the randomness and unique characters) maybe crossed with Christopher Buckley (the social commentary parts). I also really enjoyed Pratchett's world-building. Because of those things, I feel like I would like to try another Pratchett. This one just didn't really connect with me. It started out very slowly for me, and I couldn't get into it. There was a collection of characters that I found very dull and really shouldn't have been in the book. Things would be picking up, and then bam-- enter so-and-so and I'd be uninterested again. The general plot is fun, and I liked thinking in a completely unique way about the manipulation of currency, banking crises, and golems (feel like I've been reading a lot of golem books lately). I just don't think I'd necessarily recommend this book to anyone else, though I do need to try another Pratchett (I'm thinking I need to go earlier).

Making Money is a Discworld novel and features the Man in the Golden Suit, Ankh-Morpork's Postmaster Moist von Lipwig.

Moist is bored. He misses his old, more adventurous life, back when he was Albert Spangler the con artist. So when he's not running the Post Office, he likes climbing to its roof at night, and has already picked all its locks.

But when Mrs Topsy Lavish, chairwoman and owner of 50% of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork, but owner also of Mr. Fusspot the dog who owns 1%, dies and leaves her shares to her dog and bequeaths Mr. Fusspot to Moist... he has no choice but try and make it work again.

It starts with the Mint, which actually runs at a loss. Since making coins costs too much and people are already using stamps as currency, Moist devises the first bank notes, which soon have the same success as his stamps.

In the meantime, Cosmo Lavish tries to take Vetinari's identity and Moist's girlfriend Adora Belle Dearheart uncovers ancient golems buried in the desert. And all the while the Glooper gloops.

I really like the character of Moist von Lipwig and was glad to read about him again. The book is of course filled with references that make you chuckle twice: when you get them, and when you find yourself clever because to got them... it's the Discworld double effect!

Mr. Lipwig did so well with that last dirty thankless job, repairing the moribund mail system, that Lord Vetinari has another for him: repairing the moribund banking system. When he interviews with the soon-to-be-late head of the bank, Mrs. Lavish, she declares him a thief, trickster, bunco artist, and liar. The perceptive old lady understands that these traits qualify him perfectly to create an economy from essentially nothing - which is what generations of self-serving bank directors have left in the coffers.

It all rolls forward from there. In the usual Pratchettic logic, engaging an Assassin's guild contract on someone turns out to be a great kindness, a dog finds a remarkable chew-toy, and the bank takes on the best forger around. The reasoning for that last seems to be that, if he's the best, then none of the others will be able to forge his banknotes.

This book's energy comes from Lipwig thinking mostly with his adrenal glands and Vetinari thinking with everyone else's - plenty to ensure lots of engaging action with lopsided logic.

-- wiredweird

I'm not in line with the other reviewers here as I think, compared with the others in the series, this is a disappointment. I got the impression that he'd written it in his sleep ... where were the wonderful intermeshed plots you see in so many of the other books? The same old characters were rehashed but in such a watered down fashion that they were mere shadows of their former selves from other books. It feels more like an attempt at a tribute novel than an original by the master storyteller. If this is to be your first Disc World novel, then pause, rewind and choose almost any one of the others first, otherwise you just might never read another. If you are a hardcore fan, at least this book allows you back into Ankh Morpork for a short while - but that's the best that can be said about it. I hope Terry gets back on track with the next one. Also, if you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, go and read it. While I'm near the end, I'm reading it at a rapid pace because it's so addictive. There is something about his books that bring you in and get you hooked. I'm loving this one and with only 40 pages to go until the end.

I love Pratchett's books, and Going Postal may be my all-time fave, but this book pales in comparison to his other Discworld novels. Many people here have suggested that it may be ghost-written, and Pratchett has recently admitted he's in the early stages of Alzheimer's (warmest regards to him and his family)...whatever the reason, this book suffers. As I was reading it I kept wondering where the story was going, it didn't seem to have a cohesive focus. Characters are introduced and they seem to have potential, but then have little to do with the story. Old familiar faces appear but then they either are not used, or they're portrayed out of character; it doesn't feel like the same person you've known in earlier books.

What has always made Pratchett so great is the satire, but unless the satire here is poking fun at oldie Hollywood movie scripts, I'm missing the jokes.

I love Pratchett and strongly encourage people to read his earlier books, but don't let be the first one you pick up.

Making Money is the second Discworld book featuring Moist von Lipwig, the conman-turned-postmaster general from Going Postal. Here he's put in charge of the mint, and so we get a great many adventures in banking.

I am a huge fan of the Discworld novels; I have read them all, and variously enjoyed each of them, although I have not much gotten into the rapidly growing periphery, which includes books on the science, geography and art of Discworld.

This is a typical Discworld book: the plot moves along leisurely while innumerable supporting characters wander in and out of the story as we approach an ending that is partly random and partly predictable. But that's never been a problem with Discworld novels; the plot is secondary to the characters, and all the fun is getting there.

This isn't the greatest Discworld book (I think most of the Vimes-centered ones tend to be the best), perhaps because Moist has the Midas touch where the plot is concerned - everything he does works out conveniently for his success (although perhaps in unexpected ways). Nevertheless the book is entertaining, because Pratchett's writing is good enough to overcome a deficit of plot.

The series is getting close to forty novels, but the charm is still there. Pratchett's writing is clever and amusing, as always, and one can't help but learn a few new words. And the man can still hit you with the most delightful sentences every now and again. Which is good, because Pratchett keeps cranking them out. Carry on, sir.

RECOMMENDED

Welcome to Disc World! A complete flat world that is held up by four elephants, all of whom are standing on a turtle that is swimming through space. Disc world is the brain child of Terry Pratchett. Terry Pratchett is to the comedy genre what Stephen King is to the horror genre. Both authors start with ordinary things done by ordinary people in ordinary towns. Ordinary people under Stephen King's imagination are heralds of horrifying experiences. Terry Pratchett on the other hand, starts with an imaginary world of vampires, Igors, witches, guilds (thieves, assassins, etc), wizards with their Unseen University, imps, golems, trolls, dwarfs, werewolves, and humans, living in a city named Ankh-Morpork and managed to make them seem like any ordinary city on earth. It is their ordinariness of the various denizens of Ankh-Morpork which makes them so captivating and funny. Pratchett has made Disc World a mirror of ours and make our darkest ambitions look funny when exposed to the light of his imaginary world.

Making Money (2007) is the latest in a series of Disc world books. My favourites are The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, The Last Continent, and Reaper Man. In Making Money, con-man Moist von Lipwig was offered the job of being Master of Ankh-Morpork's Royal Mint and be in charge of the Bank of Ankh-Morpork. The chairman of the bank is a dog! This is any con-man's dream. It is being given the key to the bank vault legally. However there a few complications. Throw into the mix, the bank's conniving family, the invention of paper money, the discovery of `golden golem' and the manipulation of the master con-man of them all, you have a story worthy of Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen (the movies). A good 4 star read.

My first Terry Pratchett, and there were definitely elements of this that I very much enjoyed-- probably because they reminded me a lot of a Christopher Moore book (in terms of all the randomness and unique characters) maybe crossed with Christopher Buckley (the social commentary parts). I also really enjoyed Pratchett's world-building. Because of those things, I feel like I would like to try another Pratchett. This one just didn't really connect with me. It started out very slowly for me, and I couldn't get into it. There was a collection of characters that I found very dull and really shouldn't have been in the book. Things would be picking up, and then bam-- enter so-and-so and I'd be uninterested again. The general plot is fun, and I liked thinking in a completely unique way about the manipulation of currency, banking crises, and golems (feel like I've been reading a lot of golem books lately). I just don't think I'd necessarily recommend this book to anyone else, though I do need to try another Pratchett (I'm thinking I need to go earlier).

Making Money is a Discworld novel and features the Man in the Golden Suit, Ankh-Morpork's Postmaster Moist von Lipwig.

Moist is bored. He misses his old, more adventurous life, back when he was Albert Spangler the con artist. So when he's not running the Post Office, he likes climbing to its roof at night, and has already picked all its locks.

But when Mrs Topsy Lavish, chairwoman and owner of 50% of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork, but owner also of Mr. Fusspot the dog who owns 1%, dies and leaves her shares to her dog and bequeaths Mr. Fusspot to Moist... he has no choice but try and make it work again.

It starts with the Mint, which actually runs at a loss. Since making coins costs too much and people are already using stamps as currency, Moist devises the first bank notes, which soon have the same success as his stamps.

In the meantime, Cosmo Lavish tries to take Vetinari's identity and Moist's girlfriend Adora Belle Dearheart uncovers ancient golems buried in the desert. And all the while the Glooper gloops.

I really like the character of Moist von Lipwig and was glad to read about him again. The book is of course filled with references that make you chuckle twice: when you get them, and when you find yourself clever because to got them... it's the Discworld double effect!

Mr. Lipwig did so well with that last dirty thankless job, repairing the moribund mail system, that Lord Vetinari has another for him: repairing the moribund banking system. When he interviews with the soon-to-be-late head of the bank, Mrs. Lavish, she declares him a thief, trickster, bunco artist, and liar. The perceptive old lady understands that these traits qualify him perfectly to create an economy from essentially nothing - which is what generations of self-serving bank directors have left in the coffers.

It all rolls forward from there. In the usual Pratchettic logic, engaging an Assassin's guild contract on someone turns out to be a great kindness, a dog finds a remarkable chew-toy, and the bank takes on the best forger around. The reasoning for that last seems to be that, if he's the best, then none of the others will be able to forge his banknotes.

This book's energy comes from Lipwig thinking mostly with his adrenal glands and Vetinari thinking with everyone else's - plenty to ensure lots of engaging action with lopsided logic.

-- wiredweird

I'm not in line with the other reviewers here as I think, compared with the others in the series, this is a disappointment. I got the impression that he'd written it in his sleep ... where were the wonderful intermeshed plots you see in so many of the other books? The same old characters were rehashed but in such a watered down fashion that they were mere shadows of their former selves from other books. It feels more like an attempt at a tribute novel than an original by the master storyteller. If this is to be your first Disc World novel, then pause, rewind and choose almost any one of the others first, otherwise you just might never read another. If you are a hardcore fan, at least this book allows you back into Ankh Morpork for a short while - but that's the best that can be said about it. I hope Terry gets back on track with the next one. Also, if you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, go and read it. While I'm near the end, I'm reading it at a rapid pace because it's so addictive. There is something about his books that bring you in and get you hooked. I'm loving this one and with only 40 pages to go until the end.

I love Pratchett's books, and Going Postal may be my all-time fave, but this book pales in comparison to his other Discworld novels. Many people here have suggested that it may be ghost-written, and Pratchett has recently admitted he's in the early stages of Alzheimer's (warmest regards to him and his family)...whatever the reason, this book suffers. As I was reading it I kept wondering where the story was going, it didn't seem to have a cohesive focus. Characters are introduced and they seem to have potential, but then have little to do with the story. Old familiar faces appear but then they either are not used, or they're portrayed out of character; it doesn't feel like the same person you've known in earlier books.

What has always made Pratchett so great is the satire, but unless the satire here is poking fun at oldie Hollywood movie scripts, I'm missing the jokes.

I love Pratchett and strongly encourage people to read his earlier books, but don't let be the first one you pick up.

Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series need no introduction. Indeed, given the fact that the series has sold over 45 million copies worldwide, Pratchett's latest requires very little in the way of hype. By now, when one purchases a Disworld novel, one should know what to expect. And though making people laugh is not an easy gig, the author, somehow, always rises up to the challenge and delivers a book that lives up to the high expectations which are inherent to any Pratchett new release.

Following up on Going Postal, Terry Pratchett lets Moist Von Lipwig, he of the golden suit and new Postmaster General, the man notorious for introducing the commemorative cabbage stamp with the cabbage-flavored glue, once again shine in the spotlight. Naturally, familiar faces from various Discworld novels make appearances throughout Making Money.

When Lord Vetinari informs the Postmaster General that he plans to put him in charge of the Royal Mint, Lipwig is acutely aware that this is a man he can't say no to, and thus his life becomes more complicated. As if this predicament wasn't enough, to his dismay he suddenly finds himself running the bank next door. He soon realizes that the mint runs at a loss. He also discovers that a panoply of people want him dead. And, to add to his woes, he must take the Chairman of the bank, a dog named Mr Fusspot, for walks. But Moist Von Lipwig is always up for a challenge, even though he is about to be exposed as a fraud.

Witty humor permeates the narrative and the dialogues, of course. Which is not surprising, for this aspect has become Pratchett's trademark. Like a majority of the Discworld novels, Making Money is, in light of the current market, "light" fantasy fare. Still, after plowing through Thiong'o's Wizard of the Crow and then reading the first half of Donaldson's Fatal Revenant, I found Pratchett's latest to be oh so satisfying! You will find yourself smirking and chuckling in every single chapter, and there is not a boring moment in this one.

Watching Moist Von Lipwig trying to dig himself out of this hole makes for an enjoyable reading experience. In addition, it was interesting to witness Pratchett's introduction of the paper denominations instead of gold, as well as the parallel between the repercussions this causes on Ankh-Morpork's national economy and our own, if only from an historical standpoint. Though the Discworld installments can at times feel a little absurd, there is an underlying intelligence which pervades every page. This, in my humble opinion, is nothing short of brilliant.

The timing for Making Money's release is perfect. Summer is all but over, and everyone is back in school or at work. Hence, we could all use a few laughs, something that Making Money provides in industrial quantity.

This book should please Terry Pratchett's legions of fans and anyone looking for a light fantasy offering. As is the case with most Discworld books, you can enjoy this one even if you're not familiar with the entire saga.

Making Money appears to contain all the necessary ingredients to make it yet another memorable Discworld novel! It will be released in just a few days, so keep an eye out for that book.

When Moist von Lipwig became postmaster of Ankh Morpork, he was hired not on his merits, but because he had survived hanging for general thievery and skullduggery. It is customary in Ankh Morpork, the largest city on the mythical planet of Discworld, that if you survive execution you have certain options. A - you can do the bidding of the ruler, who is a Machiavellian despot name Lord Vetineari, or B - you can open Door Number Two. Somehow, Moist --- who faced execution because he lived by his wits --- was smart enough to know that going with option A was his best choice.

He soon learned that Ankh Morpork was in need of a new Postmaster. Postmastering was apparently a hazardous profession, given the number of chalk mark outlines of the previous postmasters drawn on the main floor of the grimy post office. Moist's special talents as a con artist suited him perfectly for the job. He was so good at it, in fact, that over nearly insurmountable odds, he had sorted out the quagmire left behind and the postal service now was running like a well-oiled machine.

Moist is now bored. Sitting at a desk and watching people perform their duties is precisely what he had sought to avoid in his prior life. So, while his girlfriend is out of town, he has taken to unsavory extracurricular activities to keep himself entertained. Not what you might think, given his questionable moral character, however. No, Moist is scaling walls under cover of darkness, breaking and entering, committing petty thieveries, all in an effort to keep up his old skills. Unfortunately, Lord Vetinari, whose secret service is unmatched in surveillance, catches up with him as he is breaking into his own apartment --- a nonenviable state to find himself in.

Ah, time for the old option game again. Would it be option A or option B? This time option A involves taking over the city's treasury. This sounds even drearier than being postmaster, but given Moist's experience with Lord Vetinari's rules, he is inclined to explore the possibilities. He also has witnessed what happened to another culprit who picked option B, so dreary banking it would be. One murder, inheritance of controlling interest in the bank and a small dog who is designated chairman of the board, an entirely new take on the gold standard and forgery on a scale more grand than even Moist could ever have imagined --- all come into play as Moist works his beguiling ways on an unsuspecting populace.

Terry Pratchett's whimsical novels of Discworld, inhabited by citizens who may be human or otherwise, have never poked more fun at human foibles than in MAKING MONEY. Fans will enjoy meeting new players and revisiting old favorites. Moist von Lipwig seems destined to join the permanent rogue's gallery of unforgettable characters who have entertained readers through 31 adventures.

--- Reviewed by Roz Shea

Ah, Discworld - how I missed you guys. The follow-up to Going Postal finds our shady hero, Moist van Lipwig, getting a little bored in his duties as Post Office head and looking for some new thrills. Finding himself appointed to lead the national banks, Moist finds himself involved with a canine chairman, a series of tubes that do more than reflect the market, an increasingly delusional foe, a golem straight out of Fatal Attraction, and more of Pratchett's usual insanity. It's a testament to the man's skill that, as usual, all of this somehow manages to work out and come together, and the book never feels as though it's out of control. Full of Pratchett's usual great humor, clever plotting, keen social satire, and great character work, it reminded me of why I loved these books so much in the first place, and how eager I am to pick up more of them. It may not be up with his absolute best, but it's high up there, and a complete treat of a read.

I've recently been re-reading a lot of the earlier Discworld novels, so coming now to this brand new one makes apparent Pratchett's ever-upward development as a wryly funny and extremely enjoyable writer. When last we saw Moist von Lipwig, highly talented ex-con-man (forcibly reformed by Lord Vetinari, the Patrician), he had turned his considerable ingenuity to reforming Ankh-Morpork's moribund post office, which had been put out of business by the invention of the Grand Trunk semaphore network of high-speed, day-and-night semaphore towers that could transmit messages across the disc in a matter of hours. Having succeeded beyond anyone's expectations -- and inventing philately while he was at it -- Moist is put in charge of the Royal Bank, which also houses the Royal Mint. The Patrician has great plans for the city ("the Undertaking") and he's going to need a reformed system of finance to pay for it. Lipwig conceives the idea of replacing the gold standard with paper money -- especially since the ten tons of gold that is supposed to be in the Bank's vault, and for which he signed a receipt -- has gone missing. Then there's his fiancée, Adora Belle Dearheart, champion smoker and tireless worker on behalf of the Golem Trust, whose quest for unfreed golems has unanticipated consequences. And the mutually litigious Lavish family, whose bank it used to be and who want it back. The pacing seems a bit off this time, moving rather too slowly in the first three-quarters of the story, as if the book should have been twice as long -- but the author makes up for that in the last few chapters. On the other hand, Pratchett has never been more quotable, scattering gems like "the girl could flounce better than a fat turkey on a trampoline," and "he'd reached the point where he was so wet that he should be approaching dryness from the other end." Who else would describe dark organ music as "Cantata and Fugue for Someone Who Has Trouble with the Pedals"? Regarding the Patrician, one of the characters muses that one cannot plan the future. "Only presumptuous fools plan. The wise man STEERS." Marvelous stuff. Oh, and there are hints about what Vetinari has in mind for Lipwig's future, so one hopes there will be a third installment to look forward to.

It seems everything is tied down, one way or another. Some are captivated by the species they belong to, as the secret werewolf everyone knows works in the guards (and that most people are sure is Nobby, 'cause of his smell). Or golems - because clearly there can't be he or she golems which clearly signals a lack of choice for the whole of golem-dom.

Or people are tied down by their nature. Once a criminal, always a criminal. Although it has to be argued, as Lord Vetinari does, that a sound criminal mind is worth quite a bit of money in the bank.

Or people can be captivated by words. Clearly when you tell them you are going to take their money and they insist on willingly giving it to you, interesting strings are at work.

Moist gets tied by gold-ish looking errrr ties to his new job as baby- errrr dog-sitter of the chairman of The Bank. He has no idea what banking is about, but clearly it can't be about gold. The point of having useless gold sitting in your vault is quite ridiculous. But convincing people that a piece of paper is worth a dollar - actually is the dollar - that, well... maybe... there's something to that notion (of course the paper should look rather important). The only problem appears to be that people really do insist there should be something of substance in some vaults somewhere to give all that paper the appropriate weight. Turns out that's a problem, when all the gold appears to be gone.

This Pratchett, I believe, is a rather uncharacteristic one. It's deep. Miles deep (which occasionally is where golems tend to be found). Also slightly less funny, except for the occasional belly-buster ('old necromancers never die').

If there is a price to freedom, if there is a currency of the chains that define value, clearly this Pratchett narrates that certainly it doesn't exist in numbers (which, to some, is a profound neo-Weberian sociological statement errr perhaps better just left aside). Maybe what counts in the end, when it comes to the gold-ish chains freedom seems to come wrapped in, is how to get things moving. We eagerly await Lord Vetinari's version of The Art of War ('Don't Let Me Detain You'?).

Moist von Lipwig has returned, and he's as extravagent and funny as ever.

Terry Pratchett's wild and wonderful Discworld is home to many outrageous characters, but none has more energy, enthusiasm, and pure charm that our reluctant hero, Moist. When Vetinari sets Moist in line to head the city's largest bank, neither the bank staff nor Moist eagerly embrace the idea. But Moist is irrepressable, and the musty and fusty financial institution gradually gets a much-needed shake-up.

I love the character of Moist -- I think it's his basically sunny nature and sly wit that appeal to me. So I'm naturally inclined to love the book. In many ways it's similar to Going Postal, but it's no less lovable for being a tad familiar.

Any Discworld reader will enjoy Making Money. However, for a first-time Discworld reader, I'd suggest starting with Going Postal first; Making Money will be more enjoyable to readers with some knowledge of the cast.

When Terry Pratchet creates great characters, he...well, creates great characters. He found a winning one in Moist von Lipwig, the hero of Going Postal and this, the sequel. Most character-driven stories don't have a complex plot, as the story is mostly derived from the characters.

Making Money is no different. As a story, it's pretty standard affair. Moist is pulled by the always magnaminous patrician Vetinari to spruce up the Royal Mint. Unlike in Going Postal, Moist has a choice (or so he thinks) and decides against it. However, fate has more to say about it and he, in turn, ends up having to watch over the bank (and the bank's chair...um...dog) or get killed by the Assassin's Guild. Then there's the fact that the bank's council doesn't like what Moist is doing (also with villainous intent) and you basically have the plot.

But what raises this story above average (but not quite further) is the fact that it rests squarely on a cast of terrific and zany characters. From the always entertaining Moist to Cosmo, a man trying desperately to actually become Vetinari, to Ms. Dearheart, Moist's fiance, Making Money is filled to the brim with great moments.

Unfortunately, one too many plots are introduced later in the novel, weighing it down and dragging the pacing. In fact, one such addition had me wondering how the hell it fit in and became a sort-of deus ex machina, making the particular plot point feel tacked on to solve the problem. Overall, though, it's an enjoyable read (or listen).

Speaking of listen, I actually listened to this particular novel on a 16 hour car ride and I have to say, Pratchet was meant to be heard. I found myself laughing in spite of myself a lot more than when I normally read his books. If you have an opportunity, I'd definitely recommend giving the audio book a go.

The deus ex machina was a device in ancient Greek theater that would allow an actor to appear above the stage, usually in the form of a god. The character of the god would then solve all the character's problems by telling them what to do and ending any conflicts. The play would then end. This seemed to have been an acceptable way for the Greeks to end plays, because several plays that ended with a deus ex machina won the prize at ancient festivals. Unfortunately for Terry Pratchett, he will not be winning any prizes for "Making Money" with this ending attached to it.

I, like so many others who posted "eh" reviews for this book, am a big fan of Pratchett's. I am also a big fan of the main character, Moist, who is a very likable con man and anti-hero. I honestly enjoyed this book right up until its 'whoops, how do I end this?' finish. Without going into plot details, Vetinari is simply too powerful a character to be a major player in a book. He knows all. He sees all. He is extremely clever, manipulative, and as tyrant, he can do almost anything he wants. He even, in "Going Postal," brings Moist back from the dead. He works best when he instigates a conflict, throws additional problems at characters along the way, and other minor tool-of-the-author actions. Anything more involved than that and he becomes a god floating via machine above the stage.

In short, this was a disappointing read. Fans of Pratchett's may enjoy the bulk of this book, but I wouldn't recommend it to first-time Pratchett readers because in the end it leaves you feeling confused and cheated as to where the proper finish went.

While I enjoyed reading Making Money I found it inferior to it's predecessor Going Postal. I felt that this book was more of an episode Moist's life than a full fledged Discworld novel. I think it really boils down to two reasons.

One:
Making Money lacks the wonderful character arcs that Going Postal had. In Going Postal Moist, Mr. Groat, Stanley, Miss Dearheart, and even the villain Mr. Gilt all have wonderful arc to their characters that added a great pleasure to the over all plot. Both Miss Dearheart and Moist do not really change in Making Money and the only characters that do, don't change in satisfying ways. Cosmo Lavish, for want of a better word the villain, just continues down the path of madness with out any great surprises along the way and Mr. Bent, the Bank's chief cashier, undergoes his change overnight and Pratchett doesn't allow the reader all that much in on what is going on at the time, so when we see Mr. Bent changed, it comes as more of an absurdity than an interesting and logical character arc.

Two:
I really did not get any sense at all that Moist was in danger in Making Money. Sure there were plenty of dangers for Moist, but none materialized in any major way. There were no moments in the book as intense or heart stopping as Moist's encounter with Mr. Grial (I'm not sure if I got the spelling right) in Going Postal. And the Lavish family only seemed to pose the threat of long trials and paperwork rather than the tangibly imminent danger posed by Mr. Gilt's presence in Going Postal.

As I said before I did enjoy Making Money a lot, but it doesn't feel like a true sequel to the excellent Going Postal.

I own all of the Discworld series novels, both the young adult books and the adult ones.
I guess you could say that this is my favorite book series.
There are so many memorable characters, so many twists and turns to the plots, and everything always works in the end.
Besides a few initial novels, the books are very well written, extremely witty, and worth rereading especially during a finals week when your brain needs some relaxation time.
HOWEVER, throughout this series there have been two books that I have NOT enjoyed, one was "Eric" (in which I never laughed once) and the other was "Making Money."

As I read "Making Money," the book felt like a rough draft not a completed work.
Story tellers have to capture their audience's attention and weave a tale that keeps them spellbound and wanting more.
The flow of the story, the drive to the end that keeps you unable to set a book down, and (when you did put the book down) the excitement of hardly being able to wait for the ending - all that was missing from "Making Money."
All the pieces for a great plot were there, and there were glimpses of greatness in it (like Cosmo's ending), but somehow it all fell flat.

Many of the jokes, gags, and supposed silliness in Making Money, were just not that funny.
It felt like the author was looking for cheap laughs or his humor just failed to be well humerus (which is not something I usually associate with this author)
Old men having as much sex as possible before they died leaving behind closets full of sex toys, or old men without teeth goggling at scantily clad women - that is not funny; its disgusting and sad.
A chain smoking women who puts high heels through peoples feet - not funny.
A wealthy family out to kill each other and sue each other at the drop of a hat - how is that funny?
The man slowly dying from an infection in his finger spreading all over his body, was frankly gross.
Eating sheep a sheep's head - yuck.
A man who was frequently attacked by his dentures and killed by them - was gross.
In fact, the number of times I thought "gross" or "sad" in this book was pretty high.
Not at all what I was hoping to read when i picked up this book.
A clown does show up and throw pies in people's faces - but so what? It was not enough to save the book.

I know this review seems pretty harsh, but come on, this author can write so much better than this and this book was not worth my time or my money.

Average Terry Pratchett is better than 90% of everything else. _Making Money_ isn't outstanding, by Pratchett standards, but it's funny, absorbing, and thought-provoking. Its flaw is, perhaps, that it tries to be a few too many other things besides.

_Making Money_ has a lot of plot elements, not all of which connect up. We get *two* villains AND a henchman AND Moist's search for a master engraver AND the Glooper AND missing gold AND Miss Dearheart's golems AND the mint employees AND ... These conflicts are mostly resolved individually, rather than coming together in the climax. Indeed, the good guys finally win because of a last-minute _deus ex machina_ combined with an awfully convenient set of incriminating documents--not, really, because of anything Moist does.

But, to tell the truth, I didn't much care. _Making Money_ is a journey, rather than a destination, but what a journey it is! There are several laugh-out-loud moments, and there are some really interesting asides on what exactly money *is*. If the book is something of a series of vignettes, at least they're fabulous vignettes.

Terry Pratchett is a great author. You don't need me to tell you this. You already know it. He's funny, wry, with the sort of biting insight into the human character that, told with a different hand, would be unbearable. His lightness and affection for his subjects makes his wit and wisdom go down smooth. Reading a Terry Pratchett book is one of the most pleasurable activities one can do curled up under a blanket in a quiet evening...

Well anyway...

This book, however, does not meet his usual standard, and I was disappointed as I have looked very much forward to it. That said, it's worth a read, but I couldn't recommend it as one's first introduction to Pratchett. It's a book his hard core fans (like me!) will read and enjoy, because all things DiscWorld amuse and entertain us, but not one that will bring a lot of new readers into the fold. Quite frankly, the humour seems a bit forced. Even glib. His usual light touch is missing, and the book suffers from its absence.

I've been sick the past few days--sick enough that I greeted the long-awaited new Discworld novel with languid indifference. But when I did get around to opening it, I expected the indifference to lift.

Umm. Well. There were some good sex-toy jokes, and a wonderful explanation of how some people turn kinky by way of an analogy with horseradish on a roast-beef sandwich progressing to a sandwich that's all horseradish and no beef.

The problem isn't the direction the series is taking. I'm fascinated by the civic changes Pterry's charting, from sewers to newspapers, stamps to paper money. I'm just not engaged by Moist von Lipwig, and not because he's named after a wet moustache.

He's a con man/entrepreneur. And I have very little sympathy for people like that. (Which means that yes, I should be examining my own issues around glibness and moneymaking.) Well, actually -- maybe sympathy isn't the problem. I love a lot of Eddie Murphy's work. The pleasure of a classic Eddie Murphy movie is watching him talk his way into or out of trouble. Murphy is full Trickster mode is hilarious, and he is also a glib con man.

Maybe Pratchett is just not putting Moist into enough different varieties of trouble. Maybe I'm not coming to these books with the appropriate attitude. I know what to expect with a Murphy movie, and it isn't what I look for in Pratchett.

On one level, the Discworld books are amusing, do-anything-for-a-joke pastiches that draw from high and low culture, mythology and TV ads and Shakespeare. But they are simultaneously several other things: powerful satires that skewer human foibles; warm, humane, and loving comedies; moral battlegrounds in which Right and Wrong are never quite where you last saw them. And I miss the moral outrage, the class awareness, the temptations and complexities of the great Discworld books. And, frankly, the laughs, because the laughs very often arise from the satire and the situation, not just from Pterry's famous wordplay. Making Money was just not that funny -- although that may be an artifact of my having read it while I was sick.

Time to re-read The Wee Free Men or Guards! Guards!

This review was written before the announcement of Pterry's Alzheimers' disease. But that might explain something.

Some plot SPOILERS here.

"It was a dream, but Moist was good at selling dreams. And if you could sell the dream to enough people, no one dared to wake up."

Moist von Lipwig, fresh from his heroic connivings in Going Postal, is back for more altruistic shady dealings. MAKING MONEY finds our con man running a successful, bustling Ankh-Morpork post office and clacks system. But the relish in the job has evaporated. Well on his way to becoming a *gasp* staid pillar of the community, the bored to tears Moist is at wits' end. To stave off ennui, he's even resorted to engaging in nighttime climbing activities (there's a fraternity for it).

Then Lord Vetinari, the city's benevolent tyrant, extends a dangerous offer: would Moist be willing to take over the hapless Royal Mint? This offer, of course, does come with worrisome caveats: difficult challenges, new "dangerous and powerful enemies," and possible attempts on his life. A hat comes with the job. Moist does feebly protest that he's robbed banks, but the Patrician responds with: "Capital! Just reverse your thinking. The money should be on the Inside." Moist sensibly turns down the offer.

He gets the job anyway and also gains custody of Mr. Fusspot, an amiable mongrel dog who has just been bequeathed with 51% share of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork and by virtue has become its new Chairman. The pressure is on to make instant profits as Moist learns that the Patrician has plans to comprehensively renovate the city and thus requires immediate finances. But true to Lord Vetinari's cautionary words, Moist is beset by the bank's longtime owners the Lavish family, whose members have long been notoriously covetous and treacherous. Perhaps the most disturbing and determined of these is Cosmo Lavish, who not only seeks to emulate the Patrician in all ways but to eventually take his place. Too, from Moist's unmentionable past skulks Mr. Cribbins, a geriatric who on the side skirmishes with his ill-tempered dentures but on the whole is a blackguard who envisions plum street with just a bit of blackmail. With incidentals such as a golem with a crush, an enigmatic device in the bank cellar, and lovely chimneystacks Miss Dearheart who's steeped in covert golem activity, can the casually reformed con man win out and also find time to take the Chairman out for walkies?

MAKING MONEY is another great read by Terry Pratchett, bald and bearded dispenser of the witty word and master of the sly observation. Given, I didn't blaze thru it as rapidly and blissfully as I did GOING POSTAL. Whereas GOING POSTAL began and maintained a breakneck pace, this one started out more sedately. So it took me a moment to be fully immersed in the pages. But things pick up when Moist officially takes over the mint and typical Discworldlike zaniness soon transpires, eventually snowballing to a climax which holds repercussions for Ankh-Morpork and Discworld's other cities and kingdoms. Incidentally, I must say that, for deeper appreciation and greater enjoyment, a familiarity with GOING POSTAL is encouraged as various references are made toward events in that volume. As for Moist Von Lipwig, he continues to be an engrossing character, a man trying to do right but still very much entrenched in his criminal leanings. How he (again!) cleverly pulls the fat out of the fire makes for very good entertainment. I wouldn't mind at all reading Moist's further exploits in the realm of civil service.

Pratchett isn't shy about peppering in his recurring cast of primary and peripheral characters. We catch glimpses of, among others, members of the Watch and the Unseen University, the clever newspaperwoman Sacharissa Cripslock, trash magnate Harry King, and CMOT Dibbler. We also meet for the first time Moist's banking staff, peopled by perhaps inappropriately named folks such as the fastidious Mr. Bent and Mr. Shady the Eighteenth. Lord Vetinari, the wonderfully labyrinthine Patrician, continues to engage in acts of omnisciency and subtle intimidation. And, hooray, there's even a new Igor.

MAKING MONEY, no, it doesn't quite resonate as deeply or insinuate into the brain as meaningfully as, say, The Fifth Elephant,The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents,Men at Arms or even its predecessor GOING POSTAL. But, even if it makes for lighter reading, it's still Terry Pratchett doing the writing and Quality will out as he injects into MAKING MONEY just enough satire, humor, pathos, and wisdom to make eyeballing these pages worthwhile. Plus, he delves into the ways of currency and its true worth, and he also drops in some lawyery jokes. Ach, crivens (Ach, Cribbins?), I liked the book very much.

Our family loves Disc world. Terry Pratchett's innovative and boundless imagination is ever present here in another tale of Moist lipwig. Having resurrected the postal service, he is now tasked with saving the banking system. Perfect political satire, nor to be missed. But be sure to first read Going Postal, to meet the principal players and learn the significance of angels

Economics was a dry, dead subject. The zombie of required texts. Groaning our way through explanations and examples....
Pratchett puts the life back into How It All Works, although fictionally.
With the air of a bewildered genius in an unfamiliar country, Moist Von Lipwig must quickly understand how banks do not work and persuade an entire entrenched industry that gold as a standard is not better than a hard face.

Convicted con man Moist von Luwig was punished by being named the Ankh Morpork Postmaster General. To the shock of the stakeholders, he successfully reengineered the Ankh-Morpork Post Office from running like another government agency into an efficient effective customer oriented business. Shockingly mail is delivered on time to the right address at a phenomenal rate of accuracy.

He is so successful his superior Lord Vetinari offers Moist a new position that combines his experience as the head of a government bureaucracy with his money making skills as the head of the Royal Mint. Apparently hereditary and incest employment practices over hundreds of years has led to a situation in which the cost to make the money exceeds the value of the money made. However, if he accepts the position he will have an angry staff made up of inefficient, unproductive and mostly idle workers. However after GOING POSTAL, royally MAKING MONEY seems easy until someone steals the gold from the impenetrable vault of the Royal Bank.

This zany entertaining satirical sequel continues to lampoon the government bureaucracy, the executive branch leadership up to the White House, and Congressional fiefdom rulers. The story line spoofs the efficiency experts who insist on cutting employee waste while demanding more pork for their districts or promulgating the enforcement of the President's Management Agenda except for DOD and Homeland Security. The Royal Bank's Glooper Machine understands the global economy tenet is there is never enough money for the ultra wealthy whose taxes must be zero so that they can trickle down trickles to the working class to pay taxes. Moist is still at his effective best with the con, but his first inclination to make MORE MONEY is not enough as he must investigate who looted the treasury (beyond tax breaks) setting him up to take the fall though he is unsure of which agency.

Harriet Klausner

I'm typically a mystery reader so fantasy novels are the last thing you'd expect to see me reading. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this book. I was looking to read something that was funny and not too heavy - so a book making fun of macroeconomics and banking seemed to fit the bill. According to other reviewers, this was not Terry Pratchett's best novel. However, I'm not sure that it's fair to judge this book so harshly simply because the author has written books that are even BETTER than this one. As I've stated in the title, this is the first Disc World novel I've read. I liked it. It's better than 99% of the other books on the market.

It pains me to say this, but this is the first Terry Pratchett in recent memory which I really didn't want to complete. I loved Going Postal which introduced Moist von Lipwig and had high hopes for Making Money. Moist is fine in this book too, but a lot of the magic of Going Postal is missing here, partially because I really can't get behind a story about saving banks, but also because it's missing a lot of quirky, plucky characters often found in Pratchett's works. I sure hope that there's not another Moist book with a Ankh-Morpork IRS. That would be truly tragic.

While not as great as Going Postal, this one is still vintage Pratchett. Witty, funny, hysterical. Moist is one of Pratchett' s best characters. With cameos by Sam Vimes, Carrot, Angua, and most of the Watch, it is a laugh riot.

If Making Money shows anything about Pratchett's work, it shows that his writing style can more or less make anything seem interesting, even among what would be viewed as downright hack-ish done by just about anyone else, such as an overall plot recycling.

I enjoyed going through Making Money. So much so that I did my usual "Must find negative in every positive" glance at it. It was easy to find the the sole glaring flaw of the book. In the most cynical simplification one could make about it, it's a rehash of the first Moist Von Lipwig novel, Going Postal.

Both books relatively start with Lord Vetinari threatening Moist with a dreadful thing called opportunity. Both times Moist doesn't really want anything to do with it, but Vetinari... Vetinaris him into compliance. Both times Moist finds a facility in horrible disrepair, poorly managed, and completely ignored by the public. Both times Moist solves the problem set before him with unorthodox methods. Both times Moist deals with someone antagonizing him from completing his plans. Both times Moist is successful and Vetinari plots shoving another public service upon Moist.

Does this mean if you've read Going Postal you should skip Making Money, or you should read Going Postal instead if you haven't? No. Despite a whole paragraph's worth of ideas he has [...] from himself, he still manages to do the most important thing to someone reading a Discworld book. Entertain you. For that alone, I'd suggest you'd get it, for there are so many books out there which fail to do that.

Making Money is a shining example of the journey being so much more than the destination. A bad concept being executed excellently is much more entertaining than a great concept executed poorly(I'm looking at you, Tolkien.) Pratchett's characters, dialogue, and narrative will once again push you to finish the book as they have in the thirty or so books before. The satire is still fresh in spite of the redundant plot, and tosses you some food for thought here and there about how we do things here in reality.

That being said, when he inevitably gets to the next Moist book, which is likely to be on the subject of taxes in Ankh-Morpork, I do hope he doesn't commit the same sin again. Making Money could be compared to a routine episode of a television sitcom- entertaining but formulaic. You enjoy it, but it could be better. It really prevents Making Money from being great, forcing it to instead only be good.

I really like economics. I really like Terry Pratchett.

This was the Discworld book for me.

Pratchett's satire is becoming more visible to me; I don't know if that's because I'm getting older, more experienced, or if it's becoming more obvious. No matter; it's still bitingly funny and spot-on. With charming rogues (Moist, our protagonist) and mechanations galore, the tale itself is a delightful madcap romp through Ankh-Mopork.

Anybody who can make economics funny ("ha-ha" funny, not "that doesn't make sense" funny) is a gifted writer in my book.

Well, seeing as this is a Pratchett, I knew what I was getting myself into. But even I was surprised:
The book contains that special "perfectly logical" philosophy of the Discworld - stating quite simply that a potato is worth more than gold.
This book left me with quite a lot to think about. It makes you just take a moment and think about the last page you read. The reasoning is perfectly sensible, the logic is flawless. So how did we not see this before? And why does it contradict everything we deem "Logical"? In this book more than any other Discworld - Pratchett manages to twist logic into his own beautiful shapes. Making you take an entirely new look on life. Why a single Dollar is worth more that a dollar, for example.

And of course - the book is hilarious. I found myself laughing on the Train. Embarrassing!

Great characters, great build up, and a great climax to the entire story. Like every Discworld novel, I felt a twang of sadness when I closed it.

Terry Pratchett is one of my top favored authors and I love his work. BAnd while this is not his best, maybe it's an 8 or a 9 out of 10, even an 8.5 from Pratchett is still better than most other writers.

Humorous, witty, an excellent mix of the cat burglar-swindler turned Postmaster is offered the job of running the Ankh-Moorpork money mint. it's like giving the fat man the keys to the meat locker and then asking him to go ona diet. fat chance.

This is worth reading. You'll immmediately find all your favorite characters, Lord Vetinari, the Watch, Golems and many many more. Order it, buy it, read it and enjoy. it's Terry prtchett, the Monty Python of Science Fiction. You'll love it. You'll laugh and then you'll get another.

Making Money, is, alas, a rare disappointment from Terry Pratchett. This new tale lacks the emotional depth, thematic complexity, and satiric bite that are characteristic of such a great majority of Pratchett's books.

It can't be denied that it's still entertaining to watch Pratchett's hero, Moist Von Lipwig, returning for a second go-round after Going Postal, try to improvise his way out of the very tight situations he finds himself falling into after he becomes head of one of Ankh-Morpork's banks. For all his antic and often successful stunts, though, Moist isn't really going anywhere in terms of his sense of self or his journey through life. The only character who does achieve this kind of emotional advancement is Moist's new second-in-command, Mr. Bent, and his tale, while certainly odd, isn't particularly entertaining, memorable, or substantial.

The villain of the piece is not just a pale imitation but actually a pale imitator, an aspiring fan of the Patrician whose mania to make himself into Vetinari is neither entertaining nor threatening. He's just not a credible adversary.

Pratchett's critique of the banking system focuses solely and repeatedly on the absurdity of putting one's trust in gold when the hands, hearts, and engines that drive a city's economy are so much more productive. That's a nice enough idea to examine in a short story, but it doesn't really have enough substance to drive an entire novel (or at least, Pratchett can't give it enough substance).

In short, if you're a long-term Pratchett fan, then, yes, by all means, pick this one up. It's not entirely without its merits. But if you're new to Pratchett, please try one of his better books first. Two outstanding volumes of recent vintage are Pratchett's Wintersmith and Thud!

Well, the story is definitely more satirical that Pratchett's early Discworld book. I found it funny, but not nearly as funny as I've come to expect from Pratchett. Still, I loved the concept and all the little jokes.

Pratchett is incredibly clever in all of his books, and this one is not an exception to the rule. Many of the other reviewers seem to think that this is not up to par, but I would argue that it is. If the subtleties of economics are not as engaging as those of postal service, it is not Pratchett's fault. And I think that the job he did with the intricacies of economics was far more difficult than that of the postal service, and in trying harder, he succeeded to a greater degree. This book is amazing.

Terry Pratchett is up to, what, a million and a half stories set on the Discworld? Each one is a fun little romp, although Pratchett's resources and research are consistently obvious.

In Making Money, Pratchett pretty clearly used his crib notes from Economics 101, but for all that, he managed to make the banking industry clearer than any professor ever has. He may not delve into higher level banking terms, but when's the last time anyone has laughed at figuring interest rates and preventing bank runs? Considering the current financial situation, the concepts behind Making Money could come in handy, too.

The idea of amusing banking practices aside, I do feel the need to note the major difference between Pratchett's more recent novels and his oldies-but-goodies that got me hooked originally. It seems like Pratchett picked up a history of the Industrial Revolution one day and ran with it. The jokes are still funny and the plots have more meaning, but I have to say that I miss his older style.

The author's writing style is entertaining. The novel is essentially a discussion of economics topics in the format of a fantasy book that is humorous at times. The narration is excellent and perfectly suited to the work.

A core economic idea of the book is that the value of gold is imaginary. I like this idea because it is true. The value of gold is imaginary and therefore I don't know why humans like to cause environmental destruction to dig it up.

Other ideas went beyond this and I don't know if the author brought these up to be humorous or if he really thinks these things. For example: 100% of rich families got their money by stealing it, if one person does hard work then other people become unemployed, and it is evil for banks to pay interest on deposits and charge interest on loans.

John Christmas, author of "Democracy Society"

Another good read from Sir Terry. Funny, clever and well paced. Interesting characters and well realized setting. Sometimes, I wish he didn't get bogged down in the more abstract fantasy elements-but that's a small complaint.

While this may not be Pratchett's best book, any book featuring a guy named Moist von Lipwig gets my vote. A graduate student introduced me to Pratchett's Disc World novels, and I have read and reread them over and over. That was a bit redundant. Still the Disk World novels are so funny, refreshing and "spot on" (forgive me) that I really owe that student for telling me about them. I always keep a Pratchett book on hand, especially if I'm reading something very literary, for the humor and sheer inventiveness. It amazes me that Pratchett has a "handle" on so many diffuse subjects and can make them so entertaining. Let's face it, economics is fairly boring, but Pratchett can make it interesting and fun. Who else can do that?

Once again, Terry Pratchett has made it completely impossible to read one of his novels without laughing out loud. Moist Von Lipwig returns in this novel to take charge of the bank and mint of Ankh-Morpork since he did such a bang up job with the city's post office in "Going Postal". A host of wonderful characters round out the cast...Mr. Bent, Mr. Fusspot, Adora Belle, Cosmo, Gladys and Ms. Lavish...each one funnier than the next. And in this novel, Pratchett delivers a line that is perhaps my favorite of any of his that I have read: "A smile played around Cosmo's lips, which was a dangerous playground for anything as innocent as a smile."

- Cayr Ariel Wulff,

"Making Money" is a sequel to Pratchett's "Going Postal" and while not bad, it's sloppily written compared to Postal. Early on it copied so many pages and jokes directly from Postal even when they didn't make sense that I almost stopped reading it. I perservered and it kept my interest throughout but most of the plot twists were clumsily telegraphed way in advance. Example: Early on a bad guy goes through a lot of effort to get a ring made out of a special metal. What we learn early on and the baddie never does learn is that this metal explodes in sunlight. At the end of the book, guess what happens to the baddie? Also no explanation as to why anyone would make such a ring. No suspense, no surprises but competently written.

The Post Office is an easy target for a gifted satirist like Pratchett; macroeconomics are much harder. Pratchett manages to bring it all off, but overall "Making Money" ranks in the middle third of Pratchett's writing.

Moist Von Lipwig, confidence man, trickster and Ankh Morpork's Postmaster, is bored. And when he is bored, he will take terrible chances. In many ways, it's how he feels alive. The tyrant of Ankh Morpork, the Patrician, Lord Vetinari,recognizes all this and manipulates people and circumstances so the Moist is made the head of the city's largest bank, with a goal of monetary reform. Well, not the actual chairman; the actual head of the bank is a small dog with a taste for toffee.

Moist must cope with the old family shareholders - the completely dysfunctional Lavish clan - as well as entrenched staff, his checkered past coming back to haunt him and missing gold bullion. Moist copes better than Pratchett does. As a novel, "Making Money" is more episodic than was "Going Postal," and the conclusion is weaker. "Money" has its moments, and you will laugh out loud more than once. But as a story, it's just not as strong as, say, Pratchett's last half dozen. In particular, Pratchett doesn't pull all of the plot threads together with his usual skill.

And it must be unbelievably difficult to make economics amusing. Moist's instructions from Lord Vetinari are to get the suspicious citizens of Ankh Morpork to accept paper currency, to free the City from the gold standard. On one level, it is nearly impossible to make it funny; on another, it is nearly impossible to satirize because its satirizes itself too effectively. Pratchett gets a nod just for making the attempt. The "dismal science," to use Carlyle's phrase, could use some humor.

But even a below-average Pratchett novel is a treat, and "Money" is a delight. It's just not outstanding.

I was really looking forward to this one. I expected a new, gripping adventure in the life of Moist von Lipwig. However, I was quite disappointed. While as far as books go, it's very good, with hilarious plots and story lines, it's not brilliant. Pratchett has begun to reuse many jokes, such as "The leopard can change his shorts". While brilliantly funny at first, when it gets used again and again, it becomes both less funny this time, and takes away the humor from the first time.

It was also quite a slow paced book. I found that actually, nothing really happened until the last quarter or so of the book. And to be honest, the plot line wasn't that much different from Going Postal. A good book, and definitely a good read, there's no doubt about it, but not his finest work.

When Vetinari gets good chaps he tends to keep them. Mr. Vimes is now a Duke! I am sure Lipwig is going to make his way there with the mint! This book is also a brilliant tutorial for those taking Econ101 and trying to understand why Gold is not really a standard worth keeping.
The story is the usual highjinks of Pratchett. Perhaps less humor than the previous Lipwig tale but still more than worth its wieght in Gold...oops, I meant paper!

Moist von Lipwig is back, and life has become boring.
After his exploits in "Going Postal" his life has settled into a steady routine, broken only by midnight saunters across the rooftops of Ankh-Morpork.
This is about to change as he finds himself in charge of the Royal Mint and faces off against the forces of stagnation and intrigue, who are not only trying to kill off Moist, but are also after Vetinari.

Sounds good, but isn't.
Terry Pratchett, and I really hate to say this, has not been able to create an original plot. "Making Money" is an almost exact copy of "Going Postal" and it really shows. If you are a diehard Pratchett fan get the book and enjoy the return of some of your favourite characters. If you are more interrested in an original plot I would strongly recommend you get one of the other Discworld classics.

Too bad I can't give a half star, because this book is more of a 4.5/5. I enjoyed it immensely, and couldn't stop laughing all the way through. The second and third chapter took a little while to set up, which was the only slow part in the book for me, but once the set up was done, the book flew the rest of the way. The ending was one of the best he has done since Night Watch, and reminded me greatly of his lighter-hearted comedies earlier in the series, much better than the ending of Going Postal, in my mind.

Some people may find that the book is too "light" for their tastes, but I enjoy both Pratchett's light and dark books; he's one of the few authors that can do both with equal talent. I find myself wanting to compare this book with books such as Guards! Guards! and Men at Arms, where the insanity of a hundred different story lines converge into a great ending.

Terry Pratchett is one of the finest fiction authors writing today. I enjoy every single one of his books, and this one was no exception. Moist von Lipwig is one of his most likable and compelling characters, and his adventures are hilarious and exciting. I look forward to the rumored 'Raising Taxes', the third book in his series.

Typical (in a good way!) Pratchett, typical Moist, Typical Vetinari, and the people of AM were great. Just felt like the villains weren't as clever or tough as in Going Postal and the bankers were not as interesting and mysterious as the clacksmen or society of the postmen. Also, I was expecting more of a critique on our current banking system, not the pre-paper money era. But still a wonderful read as always! Nice to see the characters AND te citizens of AM evolving!

Like most of the Discworld series this book was pretty much what I expected, but not at all predictable in the details of the plot. Tyrants are interesting in fiction and the Patrician is always fun. If you're a Terry Pratchet fan read this book.

Vetinari is, as usual, on top of things. Moist is one of my favorite characters and continues to astound and amuse. The amount of entertainment that Terry Pratchett has afforded me over the years cannot be measured by anything less complex than Hex or The Glooper. Many, many thanks for Discworld and it's inhabitants.

As one of the Discworld series, the book follows the continuing adventures of Moist von Lipwig, "reformed" con man, as he takes over Ankh-Morpork's banking industry. With his usual flair for sadistic characters and dry humor, Pratchett has produced another book that makes you laugh out loud!

When he's good, he's great...but even when he's bad, he's still pretty good. That's pretty much how I felt about this book. Moist was one of my favorite new characters when he first appeared in Going Postal. This book was, for me, pretty much a standard sequel: It didn't add too much to the characters' mythos, but it didn't detract from anything for me.

The only major issue for me, andt the luck, I'll have to read it again to make sure, is exactly when Moist made the decision to go ahead and be the chairman...well...to let the chairman bark at him. In fact, it's so perplexing to me that I may just have to read it a THIRD time, after that. :-)

Making Money (2007) is the thirty-third fantasy novel in the Discworld series, following Thud. In the previous volume, Sam Vimes went to Koom Valley for the anniversary celebration, taking Sybil and Young Sam. Vimes was unfortunately delayed in his evening ritual with his son and everybody in the household became anxious. However, Vines recited Where Is My Cow anyway and caused rampant confusion and fear among the nearby dwarves. This lead to urgently needed peace talks between the dwarves and trolls in the Valley.

In this novel, Postmaster General Moist von Lipwig of Going Postal is restive at the absence of his girlfriend. Miss Adora Belle Dearheart is away digging for Golems on dwarf land just this side of Chimeria. Without her, Moist is climbing the exterior of buildings and practicing Extreme Sneezing to settle his need for excitement and risk.

Gladys -- his Golem female servant -- interrupts Moist at breakfast to tell him that he has an appointment with Lord Vetinari. He doesn't remember having such an appointment, but Gladys informs him that two guards are waiting outside to escort him to the palace. Moist finishes dressing and hurries down the back stairs to the coach yard. He catches the Quirm Shuttle and jumps down at the palace's main entrance.

Lord Vetinari greets him and Moist immediately goes on the defensive. After quickly considering recent difficulties, Moist explains the snail problem. When that turns out to not be the reason for the meeting, Moist suggests the cabbage-flavored glue incident and the Second-Issue 50p Stamp affair.

After brushing aside those small issues, the Patrician takes control of the conversation and asks if Moist would like to make some real money. Moist cautiously works his way all-round the subject and is finally released from the office without discovering the reason for his summoning. But he does leave with Drumknott's pencil.

Returning to the Central Post Office, Moist is entertained by several dull meetings and reads some exceedingly correct -- but improbable -- letters. When Gladys brings in the tea, she mentions that the Patrician's coach is waiting outside. Gladys states that the coachman has been told to wait. After reading a few unexciting reports, Moist happens to look out the window and the coachman gives him a friendly wave.

After visiting the sorting rooms, Moist has a cup of tea in the postmen's locker room. Happening to glance out the window, Moist sees that the coachman is eating lunch on a little folding table with a white tablecloth. Moist runs madly down the main entrance and steps into the coach.

In this story, Lord Vetinari takes Moist to the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork, introduces him to Mr. Mavolio Bent -- the chief cashier -- and then departs the building. Mr. Bent takes Moist to see the gold being held in reserve and Moist is not impressed. Then Mr. Bent shows him the Royal Mint, where Moist meets the Men of the Sheds. There he learns the cost of making money.

After that, Mr. Bent takes him to meet the Chairman and Manager of the Bank -- Mrs. Topsy Lavish -- who owns fifty percent of the stock. She also owns Mr. Fusspot -- a small ugly dog of mixed ancestry -- who possesses one percent of the stock. Thus Topsy controls the Bank.

Following a fascinating talk on his morals and knowledge of the banking industry, Mr. Bent takes him to see the counting house. There various necessary calculations are performed by human brains without artificial aids. Although Mr. Bent would like to claim the total lack of errors, he admits that sometimes the clerks do make blunders. However, all calculations have to be approved by Mr. Bent and he never makes mistakes.

Afterward, Mr. Bent takes Moist to meet Hubert, the inventor of an "analogy machine" fondly called the Glooper. This device is capable of simulating various financial situations in its glass maze of flowing water and variable shunts, valves, bottles and springs. Of course, Hubert has an Igor to construct and charge the machine.

This story has Mrs. Lavish change her will just before Death come for her. Mr. Fusspot inherits Topsy's share in the Bank and the title of Chairman. Moist inherits a yearly stipend for taking care of Mr. Fusspot and he is also appointed as Master of the Royal Mint. Topsy has also taken out a contract with the Assassins Guild to terminate Moist if any harm comes to Mr. Fusspot. A couple of black arrows come through his window to remind Moist of his responsibilities.

The Lavish family takes immediate notice of Moist von Lipwig. Cosmo Lavish tries to bribe Moist. Pucci Lavish tries to vamp Moist and blackmail him. The Postmaster General sweats off a few unnecessary pounds and is energized by the attention. Then Adora Belle returns to Ankh-Morpork followed by some ancient golems.

Read this book more than once. You will probably miss many digs and other satirical remarks during the first pass. But don't expect to get all the jokes unless you are British from the Chalk Country.

There are less footnotes and most are less funny than in the early volumes, but the author has to skack off sometimes. Nonetheless, the footnotes are still reasonably funny and irreverent.

Highly recommended for Pratchett fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of financial bureaucracy, aristocratic alienation, and buffoonish antics. If anyone has not previously read this series, the initial volume is The Color of Magic.

-Arthur W. Jordin

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as Going Postal. There were a lot of Moist Von Lipwigs famous moments. He breaks into his Post Office-office, he breaks into his bank vault to save someone, only to realize something shinny is missing and he plays the role of an angel.
All of this is going on while Moist's life is being threatened, by two different parties and his past as a criminal has caught back up with him.
Some of our favorite characters are back. Vetinari, Adora Bella and Stanley. But some of them are missing. Like Mr. Grout for instance. He is mentioned but never comes into the story. He was one of my personal favorites.

I give this book an 8 out of 10.

Moist Von Lipwig, Ankh Morpork's Postmaster General, is tasked by Lord V to take over the Royal Mint. Stand by for chaos, humor, golems, crafty planning, Igors, and unveiled secrets...Very enjoyable entry!

A friend of mine recently suggested to me that maybe Terry Pratchett managed to write so many Discworld books by employing a ghost-writer. As an ardent Pratchett-fan I rejected this idea immediately. Now I'm not so sure. This book reads like a bad imitation of the Pratchett style. All the surface elements are there, but it just doesn't work.

The previous Moist von Lipwig book, Going Postal, is one of my favourite Discworld books. It is tightly plotted and has strong original characters. Making Money, in comparison, is a mess. The plot never really manages to sort itself out. There are too many unrelated things going on - Cosmo, Cribbens, the Glooper, Bent, the cook, the golems - none of which even really presents us with any sense of drama. Moist just meanders from one thing to the next without ever really facing any urgent trouble.

The new characters are disappointing. Cosmo is no Reacher Gilt - his contribution to the story is just gruesome. Bent could have been interesting, but he got lost in the fray. A number of others - Heretofore, the cook, the forger - have an impact which is disproportionately small for the amount of attention they receive.

The ending is the biggest let down - a complete deus ex machina. I was expecting a big "Moist's clever plan" scene, a la Going Postal, but it's just "oh, here's something we didn't tell you before" (Ocean's Twelve, anyone?).

Of course, there's lots of lovely TP wit and cleverness along the way, but it just doesn't make up for a real lack of plot or decent characterisation. If you liked Going Postal, my advice is to leave this one alone.

It's odd to assert I know, but honestly I don't believe this was written by Terry Pratchett. It couldn't have been. The flow is wrong, the jokes seem to be written by committee and are forced jagged into every paragraph, the characters behaviors seem to have been derived from a database of their past behaviors leaving them caricatures of characters we used to love....aaaaargh. I'm so frustrated. Let me be explicit as this could appear to be irony if you weren't actually in person hearing my howls of despair - Much of the writing must have been written by some other person. An assistant? His wife? A very nice person I'm sure, but it's sad to see an old friend turn into an institution or a money making machine.
Do you care? Do you agree? If you don't please tell me the last time any character said, Vetinari "had some explaining to do" or...and this is truly a tragic thing...Vetinari explicitly explained his actual motives.
Sigh, well I'm only 74 pages into the book, perhaps he wrote the second half.

Going Postal is my favorite Pratchett novel, so you'd think it's sequel, Making Money, would go over well. But frankly I just didn't enjoy it as much. I also think for once that the sexual jokes were overly prevalent.

Too much bawdy humor, not enough cleverness.

Terry Pratchett's second book in the continuing saga of Moist Von Lipwig is just as good as the first one. Anyone familiar with Pratchett's books knows you have to have a twisted sense of humor, and this one is no exception. Highly recommended for any Pratchett fan.

I have been a reader of Terry Pratchett since I read the Good Omen a decade ago. I do think he is one of the world's funniest writers, while at the same time one who hits our cultural quirks right on the head. So it was with great anticipation that I waited for this book.

I have to say I am disappointed. I don't know if I've just read him too much, if the subject wasn't interesting, if he'd strayed too far from the original idea for the series, or if my favorite character DEATH was not included. I just couldn't get into this one. I feel horrible for having to write a poor review, but it just didn't strike me as interesting, or even funny. Think I'll go back to a few of his earlier ones to relight my enthusiasm and maybe come back to this again. But I'd suggest other fans not set their bar very high.

I've only read the first 87 pages (after getting the book today) but I'm engaged in the story, amused at the humor, pleased at the quality of writing, and appreciative of the small touches he incorporates. Someone spoke of Pratchett going flat for him. That happened to me half a year ago. But this book is fresh to me and I'm happy.

I have been a loyal fan of the Discworld for many years, but this one just wasn't up to par. There weren't too many funny parts, and Vetinari had too large a role. He's better as an offscreen presence.

Anyone who is a fan of Terry Pratchett will enjoy this book, that having been said I really missed his normal satire in this book. Maybe too many plot lines and characters? Can't quite put it into words but something is missing. If you've read all Pratchett's other books definately read this one but if you havn't I would try "Thud!" instead.

Not as good as "going postal" but there is no such thing as a bad discworld book. I am a huge fan of Pratchett's work and this is a pretty decent read. If you follow the discworld series, this book keeps the fun going but if you are new to the series I would recommend starting with some of his earlier books. For what it's worth - Rick.

I have been reading the Discworld novels since I was nine so you can imagine my excitement when I heard about this book.I was not disappointed , it's the sequel to Going Postal and Moist Von Lipwig is back.This time to save the bank of Ankh Morpork and seriously,there is nothing at all predictable about this book and once you start reading it's impossible to put down. I would recommend this book to anyone with a sense of humour.

The author's writing style is entertaining. The novel is essentially a discussion of economics topics in the format of a fantasy book that is humorous at times. The narration is excellent and perfectly suited to the work.

A core economic idea of the book is that the value of gold is imaginary. I like this idea because it is true. The value of gold is imaginary and therefore I don't know why humans like to cause environmental destruction to dig it up.

Other ideas went beyond this and I don't know if the author brought these up to be humorous or if he really thinks these things. For example: 100% of rich families got their money by stealing it, if one person does hard work then other people become unemployed, and it is evil for banks to pay interest on deposits and charge interest on loans.

John Christmas, author of "Democracy Society"

This is exactly the kind of wonderful novel I have come to expect from Terry Pratchett. Once again he deftly combines very funny comedy with a human touch - characters we really care about and situations that oddly parallel our own experiences. I would not recommend reading this book if you haven't read "Going Postal", because much of the backstory of the characters is glossed over, but it is an excellent read.

Hooray! for the return of Moist van Lipwig!

Fresh from turning around the Ankh Morpork post office in Going Postal, Moist is impressed into service in the Mint - ergo the title, Making Money.

Don't you love it? So literal. . .

Pratchett's on comfortable ground in Discworld, but never allows that to translate to laziness - Making Money delivers at least 50% more than you pay.

Unmissable Discworld action.

another triumph for terry.
all the dicsworld books are good but this one is up there with night watch and going postal.
the characters are normally insane, and the humor is constant.
outstanding!!!!!

This is a wonderful novel. Continuing from where Going Postal left off, after boredom has set in, Moist Von Lipvig is offered a new job: Master of the Royal Mint. But things aren't simple, and continuing development of the idea of paper-based value instead of metal, and ongoing interaction with golems and the Unseen University get even more complicated by the underhanded relations of the crooked old lady responsible for forcing Moist to deal with the bank. Its clever, full of good jokes, and the more you know the more of the jokes you understand.

This is exactly the kind of wonderful novel I have come to expect from Terry Pratchett. Once again he deftly combines very funny comedy with a human touch - characters we really care about and situations that oddly parallel our own experiences. I would not recommend reading this book if you haven't read "Going Postal", because much of the backstory of the characters is glossed over, but it is an excellent read.

Hooray! for the return of Moist van Lipwig!

Fresh from turning around the Ankh Morpork post office in Going Postal, Moist is impressed into service in the Mint - ergo the title, Making Money.

Don't you love it? So literal. . .

Pratchett's on comfortable ground in Discworld, but never allows that to translate to laziness - Making Money delivers at least 50% more than you pay.

Unmissable Discworld action.

another triumph for terry.
all the dicsworld books are good but this one is up there with night watch and going postal.
the characters are normally insane, and the humor is constant.
outstanding!!!!!

THE LATEST DISCWORLD STORY IS ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL AS USUAL.IF YOUR NOT FAMILIAR WITH TERRY PRATCHET'S DISCWORLD STORIES YOUR MISSING SOME GREAT SATIRICAL LITERATURE.TRY SOME SOON ,YOU'LL BE HOOKED.W.U.