Raising Steam

[=Tamar]

I assume everyone's seen this but since it wasn't menioned and there's been debate about the content of the book, the synopsis on Amazon reads as follows:[snip]

Thanks! I hadn't seen that.

"...Moist will have to grapple with gallons of grease, goblins, a fat controller with a history of throwing employees down the stairs and some very angry dwarfs if he's going to stop it all going off the rails ..."

SO it's Moist book (sorry if I'm late to the party with this!). I await with some trepidation. Discworld plus steam trains is the kind of combination almost guaranteed to make me melt with the sheer force of my glee. But though I love Going Postal with a fiery passion, I didn't like Making Money much so I've yet to be convinced Moist can carry another book...

It isn't just Moist, though, it's Moist versus Vetinari, plus whatever other opposition shows up. This being book 3, I have modestly high hopes. I speculate idly that the "fat controller" with the history of violence may be the tax collector whose standard technique is to hold people upside down over a bucket to collect what falls out of their pockets. That is, "Controller" might be equivalent to "Comptroller". Whatever it turns out to be, I'll be going along for the ride.

 

[DreadfulKata]

Now Moist VERSUS Vetinari - that's something I'd pay to see. I've no doubt that Vetinari would ultimately win (and in any case would have engineered the whole thing for his own purposes, but Moist would come so close...

If the fan theory of Moist as next patrician is correct, it would be Vetinari's way of letting Moist know he's still got a lot to learn before inhabiting the Oblong Office...

I've no idea if RS's blurb hints at any of that but fingers crossed!

 

[Penfold]

I speculate idly that the "fat controller" with the history of violence may be the tax collector whose standard technique is to hold people upside down over a bucket to collect what falls out of their pockets. That is, "Controller" might be equivalent to "Comptroller". Whatever it turns out to be, I'll be going along for the ride.

Possible plot spoiler regarding this.

Spoiler

Rob did reveal this afternoon that Harry King is in Raising Steam and looking for a new business venture after his wife accused him of being "The King of Shit". I'm guessing that this might become his role.

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

Spoiler

Maybe Harry is going to fastrack this and become the King of diarrhea :whistle: :whistle: :twisted:

 

[Ziriath]

I've a sun-powered steam engine with a core of many (small and thin) stygium bars or plates in my head. Sun light is distributed into the core by lens, starting the thermic reaction in stygium and bringing the water to boil. It would also have a backup source of sunlight for the night- cages with many salamanders, which systematically beaten with small whips on an arbor, release the accumulated sunlight and makes the engine work even in the night. Such an engine would be, of course, very expensive and maybe not very safe- but let's presume that new deposits of stygium can be found.

 

[JAK]

Just read the extract from Raising Steam and while I’m still doubtful about the cover’s modern looking loco my concerns about the timescale of the development of this Teck-ology have started to diminish.

 

[zero998]

All of the news items about Raising Steam are password protected. Anyone know why this is? Doesn't make sense why they would do that?

 

[pip]

You have to go to the Facebook page for Terry and click the Raising Steam Tab and get the tickets with the codes from the ticket machine. They've gradually released them over the last few weeks.

 

[Sister Jennifer]

Steam is rising over Discworld, driven by Mister Simnel, the man wi' t'flat cap and sliding rule who has an interesting arrangement with the sine and cosine.

Would that be Ned Simnel?? Groovy.

I hadn't read any official type of synopsis for Raising Steam. I don't usually bother with DW novels seeing as though I'll be buying it no matter what it's about.

 

[JAK]

Would that be Ned Simnel?? Groovy.

Spoiler

Close - son of

 

[high eight]

Would that be Ned Simnel?? Groovy.

Spoiler

Close - son of

Who, I suspect, will be very similar to a certain (sadly deceased) flat cap-wearing 'backstreet mechanic' and TV presenter from roundworld.

And I bet he says: "Eee, did you like that?" at least once.

 

[=Tamar]

I speculate idly that the "fat controller" with the history of violence may be the tax collector whose standard technique is to hold people upside down over a bucket to collect what falls out of their pockets. That is, "Controller" might be equivalent to "Comptroller". Whatever it turns out to be, I'll be going along for the ride.

[snip Penfold's possible spoiler]

He's already been specifically noted in Making Money as planning to invest in land for the purpose of making a profit from the Undertaking. He wants to be involved in anything that looks profitable.

 

[JAK]

The alternative cover as advertised at Waterstones – but is it as the goblin and ‘driver’ appear to have been cut and pasted directly from the original cover.

 

[Molokov]

Hmm yes it appears they have been. This alternate cover is much worse that Paul Kidby's original. (I understand that the colours probably don't reflect the final cover of the book, but that cut-n-paste job is not very good)

 

[Tonyblack]

I have to say that I think I will give the special edition a miss. :snooty:

 

[pip]

This is probably a fairer representation of the alternate cover

I'll still stick with the standard edition though.

 

[anapoda]

Well, as Moist Von Lipwig is my favorite Discworld character that's one book i just can't afford to miss.

I, and it's an euphemism, can't freaking wait.

 

[Who's Wee Dug]

I wonder what extra bumf Waterstones will put in the edition. :

 

[Jussi]

You can look inside Raising Steam and read the first 48 pages:

http://rhwidget.randomhouse.co.uk/flash ... wsletter=1

There is a nice map of Sto Plains.

 

[JAK]

Having read the above taster...........…

Spoiler

I’m not so concerned about the condensing of 100+ plus years of industrial development as I was before but we’re now up to 1804 and a comparison with Trevithick’s first locos which weighted around 5-6tons while Simnel’s similar version is around 50 tons. (This was a comment by a bystander so if like me he has trouble estimating weights the story may still be on a believable track (pun intended)

Good map - pity it’s a few mm’s missing in the middle.