Raising Steam cover art

Raising Steam

Discworld, Book 40

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Raising Steam

By: Terry Pratchett
Narrated by: Richard Coyle, Bill Nighy, Peter Serafinowicz
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Over 1 million Discworld audiobooks sold – discover the extraordinary universe of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld like never before.

The audiobook of Raising Steam is narrated by Richard Coyle, who starred as Moist von Lipwig in the television adaptation of Going Postal. BAFTA and Golden Globe award-winning actor Bill Nighy (Love Actually; Pirates of the Caribbean; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) reads the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace; Shaun of the Dead) stars as the voice of Death. Featuring a new theme tune composed by James Hannigan.

'THE WORLD LIVES BETWEEN THOSE WHO SAY IT CANNOT BE DONE AND THOSE WHO SAY THAT IT CAN . . . IT'S JUST A MATTER OF THINKING CREATIVELY.'

Moist von Lipwig is a con man turned civil servant. As head of the Royal Bank and Post Office of Ankh-Morpork, he doesn't really want or need another job. But when the Patrician Lord Vetinari gives you a task, you do it or suffer the consequences. In Moist's case, death.

A brand-new invention has come to the city: a steam locomotive named Iron Girder, to be precise. With the railway's introduction and rapid expansion, Vetinari enlists Moist to represent the government and keep things on track.

But as with all new technology, some people have objections, and Moist will have to use every trick in his arsenal to keep the trains running...

The first book in the Discworld series-The Colour of Magic-was published in 1983. Some elements of the Discworld universe may reflect this.

'The most serious of comedies, the most relevant and real of fantasies' Independent

©2011 Terry and Lyn Pratchett (P)2023 Penguin Audio
Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Humorous Fiction Railroad Funny Comedy Technology

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Critic reviews

"I could tell which of my fellow tube passengers had downloaded it to their e-readers by the bouts of spontaneous laughter." (Ben Aaronovitch, Guardian)

All stars
Most relevant  
brilliant story, is like a train pulling from the station, working towards the end of this journey. This makes it hard to put down even after the stories have reached the end of line; here it follows all the lose ends, making friends of characters and leaving you wanting to hear more about them, willing another you to find the next book......

the story

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This is the best voice to listen to when delving into the world of Terry Pratchett! love the multiple accents and the amazing range that you could ever wish for in a good storyteller!

Best reader ever! with a delicious slice of Serafinovich!

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I loved it from start to finish ……. I’m biased I know but you can’t not be ….. being drawn into the lives of the recurring characters and living their journeys by the excellent writing coupled with the narrator (always a subjective argument ) the more you read the more you get the characters little idiosyncrasies from vime’s unwanted elevation in the hierarchy of Ankh morpork preferring a bacon sandwich and cigar to the patrician’s inferred threats of peril and to his omnipresence ……. In short brilliant

Fabulous……,another lipwig classic

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Narrator was good. Much better than some of the others in the new Penguin recordings. Bill nighty was poor. sounded uninterested and the way they announced footnotes was most jarring.

Look at the ciaphus cain series for how to perform footnotes properly.

Story is good but not as good as others, but to be expected perhaps given the embuggerance.

Good book, okay performance.

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For me one of the better books from Terry Pratchett I really enjoyed this narration well worth the cost.

Loved reading it..

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Somewhat difficult one this. Terry clearly still has a lot to say in this book, a lot of human nature to dissect and clearly a passion for trains that he had himself, but sadly, it's very obvious that the embuggerance had him it's sway while writing it.
It's always a joy to spend time on the disc and see such beloved characters as Moist and Vimes again, but all too often the prose feels like an imitation of Terry rather than Terry. That said, I'm still thankful it exists.

Richard Coyle, of course, Nails it. He even becomes the first person to give Vimes a voice I'm happy with.

Richard Coyle is Brilliant

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Great production which really brings the joy of Pratchett to audio. Actors added to the delight.

Great voices

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the title says it all. I love the terry pratchett books can't understand why anyone would want an abridged version. why cut a great book in half. the new versions are so good enjoy

terry pratchett at his best

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Aside from the exceptional, lovingly crafted and enchanting story we expect from Terry Pratchett, the nuanced and deep characters that leap off the pages and into your hearts and minds, the phenomenal performance by the wonderfully talented Richard Coyle (Mr. Slightlydamp himself) bolstered by the equally talented Bill Nighy and Peter Serafinowicz... aside from all that, it is your run of the mill story about the birth of revolutionary technology on a flat planet held in place on the back of four giant elephants, who are transported through space on the back of a turtle... dabbling in some changes to civilisations, addressing gender politics, the development of nations, the importance of education and tolerance and how being kind, honest and brave are what makes people worthy. This may seem like a lot, but to the author and his fans I think we call it Tuesday.

Everything

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Another great Moist adventure, and this time with Goblins. Could have not asked for more.

Finally Goblins Get Some Love

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