Raising Steam (2013)
Raising Steam is a 2013 discworld (imaginary place) book written by Terry Pratchett.
Ankh-Morpork is about to meet the future, and it runs on coal and iron. Dick Simnel has coaxed a working steam engine into life, and Lord Vetinari hands the railway problem to his most reliable con man, Moist von Lipwig. Moist has already tamed the Post Office and the Royal Mint, so a locomotive should be straightforward, except that progress makes enemies and the dwarfs are not all pleased. Terry Pratchett's fortieth Discworld novel lays iron rails across a world that once ran on magic, with the usual crowd of clerks, goblins and reluctant heroes caught up in the change.
Quick answers
What is Raising Steam about?
Ankh-Morpork is about to meet the future, and it runs on coal and iron. Dick Simnel has coaxed a working steam engine into life, and Lord Vetinari hands the railway problem to his most reliable con man, Moist von Lipwig. Moist has already tamed the Post Office and the Royal Mint, so a locomotive should be straightforward, except that progress makes enemies and the dwarfs are not all pleased. Terry Pratchett's fortieth Discworld novel lays iron rails across a world that once ran on magic, with the usual crowd of clerks, goblins and reluctant heroes caught up in the change.
When was Raising Steam published?
Raising Steam was published in 2013.
Who made Raising Steam?
Raising Steam was written by Terry Pratchett.
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Raising Steam in our writing
- Companion guide: Discworld: The Complete Guide to Terry Pratchett's Flat Planet
- Companion guide: Steampunk
A few thoughts on Raising Steam
Terry Pratchett fans chasing the same mix of bureaucracy, invention and dry wit should try Good Omens, adapted from a novel he co-wrote and full of his voice. The 1995 point-and-click game Discworld puts the same city and comic timing into puzzles, with Rincewind stumbling through the plot.
Fantasy stories that would rather make you laugh than shudder
Raising Steam pokes gentle fun at progress even while embracing it, and these picks share that same refusal to take fantasy too seriously. Good Omens comes straight from a novel Pratchett co-wrote with Neil Gaiman, and the Discworld adventure game drops you into Ankh-Morpork's own streets. Shrek turns fairy-tale logic inside out for laughs, and Minions & Monsters keeps the tone light even with monsters roaming around.
Fantasy series so sprawling you basically move in
Raising Steam is book forty of Discworld, arriving decades deep with a cast readers already love, and these series ask for that same long commitment. Brisingr keeps the Inheritance Cycle going through its third volume, Wizard and Glass pulls back to Roland's youth in the middle of the Dark Tower, Oathbringer piles a third Stormlight Archive brick onto the shelf, and Gardens of the Moon opens Malazan's ten-book war.
Fantasy worlds big enough to lose an afternoon in
Discworld balances an entire civilization on the back of four elephants and a turtle, and these games hand you a similarly enormous place to wander. Skyrim and The Witcher 3 both let you ignore the main quest for days, Breath of the Wild turns exploration itself into the whole point, and Elden Ring stacks an entire fractured kingdom on top of that same open horizon.