The Discworld series Terry Pratchett created is, like the reviewer, getting to the stage where it can no longer pass for young and has to face up to the reality of being fully grown. That being the case, does Making Money represent the best this milieu can offer?

On the face of it Making Money is a return to the satirical roots at the heart of the Discworld series as Pratchett pokes fun at the absurdity of the financial system. Taking Ankh-Morpork’s ailing economy and protagonist Moist von Lipvig’s attempts to inject new life into it as means of highlighting the lunacy of our own. A subject that feels all too close to topical at the moment.

Indeed, on this level, the book is a success and can be at times quite cutting in its observations: a wry chuckle here, a despairing nod of recognition there. However, taking the book at that level you’re essentially left with that all too common of SF failings: a book of ideas, albeit with some gags thrown in. You need characters to breathe life into the story.

That Pratchett is adept at characterisation is not really in question, there is plenty of evidence: Granny Weatherwax, Vimes, Rincewind, and Death – the list goes on. Alas, Moist von Lipwig is not amongst them. Moist seems to exist simply as a collection of skills that help move the story along, there is no real depth to him and I found myself unable to really warm to him – I didn’t care whether Moist lived or died. Moist - and by follow on the book - lacked a heartbeat.

The unfortunate side effect of this weak characterisation is that the book is missing some of the fun of earlier offerings, including Moist’s first appearance in Going Postal. And it did leave me wondering if Pratchett actually enjoyed the writing of Making Money as much as he did the first in what I understand is a three-book cycle tracking Moist’s adventures.

In any case, what we have is a reasonably enjoyable satire on the origins of the modern economy that happens to be set in Discworld. Not as good as some that went before and not as bad as some of the worst. Whilst this offering left me a bit disappointed this reviewer notes with something akin to jealousy that Pratchett on an off day is still better than many writers at their apex.

3/5