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Making Money by Terry Pratchett Review: Sharp Discworld Satire on Finance and Power
Making Money is the second Discworld novel to feature conman-turned-civil-servant Moist von Lipwig, sending him from the Post Office into the treacherous world of Ankh-Morpork's Royal Bank and Royal Mint. A Locus Award winner for Best Fantasy Novel in 2008 and a New York Times bestseller, it delivers Pratchett's characteristic blend of comic invention and pointed social commentary — this time trained on the nature of money, institutional trust, and economic power. While some critics found it marginally less propulsive than its predecessor Going Postal, the novel stands as a confident, funny, and philosophically ambitious entry in the long-running series.
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Discworld fans who have already read Going Postal and want to follow Moist von Lipwig into a philosophically richer, more ruminative second act — particularly readers with an appetite for satire about money, banking, and institutional power.
Worth it if
You come to it after Going Postal and enjoy Pratchett at his most ideas-driven, willing to trade some forward momentum for a genuinely inventive argument about why money exists and who controls it.
Skip if
You're new to Discworld or expecting the same propulsive pace as Going Postal — both The Guardian and The Observer flagged it as the less driven of the two Moist novels, and it presupposes meaningful familiarity with its predecessor.
What readers & critics say
Critical reception is broadly positive but consistently qualified: The Guardian's Patrick Ness praised the book's humanity and its sharp questions about banking and the nature of money, while noting it lacks some of Going Postal's forward drive; The Observer's Rowland Manthrope was more pointed, writing that "Pratchett has wit here, but has lost his normal cutting edge." Kirkus described it as a "fast-moving novel" that "mixes satire and fantasy with increasingly frantic farce," and Compulsive Reader called it "not Pratchett at his best, but a worthy near miss" that should not be neglected by his fans.
“Praised the book's humanity and its 'sharp questions about why we trust banks as well as the nature of money.'”
— The Guardian (Patrick Ness, via Wikipedia)“Pratchett has wit here, but has lost his normal cutting edge.”
— The Observer (Rowland Manthrope, via Wikipedia)“Fast-moving novel mixes satire and fantasy with increasingly frantic farce as he races to a conclusion.”
— Kirkus Reviews“Not Pratchett at his best, but a worthy near miss and should not be neglected by his fans.”
— Compulsive ReaderLook inside the book
Preview the actual pages, via Google BooksIn This Review
- What Works & What Doesn't
- What the Novel Is and What It Does
- The Satirical and Philosophical Argument at the Book's Heart
- Place in the Discworld Series and Its Recognition
- Where the Book Excels
- Honest Limitations and Who May Find It Frustrating
What Works & What Doesn't
What Works
- Won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2008 and was nominated for the Nebula Award the same year, reflecting strong genre recognition
- Builds a genuinely philosophical argument about the nature of money and institutional trust, grounded in a wildly inventive comic plot
- Features a strong ensemble — Moist von Lipwig, Vetinari, Adora Belle Dearheart, Mr. Bent, and the Lavish family — with distinct, well-defined roles in both the comedy and the satire
- The Golem Trust subplot expands the novel's scope dramatically, culminating in a twist that reframes the book's finale
- Stands as part of the New York Times bestselling Discworld series, with broad critical and reader recognition behind it
What Doesn't
- Both The Guardian and The Observer noted it lacks the forward momentum of Going Postal, making it the less propulsive of the two Moist von Lipwig novels
- Best experienced after reading Going Postal — readers who start here miss the full arc of Moist's character and his established relationships with Vetinari and Adora Belle Dearheart
A Locus Award–winning Discworld fantasy that turns the abstract machinery of money into a playground for Pratchett's sharpest instincts — and occasionally reveals the limits of following a near-perfect predecessor.
What the Novel Is and What It Does
Making Money, first published in the UK on 20 September 2007, is the thirty-sixth Discworld novel and the second to feature Moist von Lipwig, the reformed conman and smooth-talking showman introduced in Going Postal. Where that book placed Moist in charge of a failing postal service, this one throws him — under considerable duress — into the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork and the Royal Mint. The mechanism of his conscription is gloriously Pratchettian: the bank's chairwoman, Topsy Lavish, dies and bequeaths 50% of the bank's shares to her dog, Mr Fusspot, who already holds one share and thereby becomes the majority shareholder and chairman. She then leaves Mr Fusspot to Moist — and arranges, via the Assassins' Guild, that something very unfortunate will happen to Moist if anything unnatural befalls the dog or if he fails to honour her wishes. With a contract on his life as motivation, Moist takes over an institution that the public distrusts, that produces currency at a loss, and in which citizens have taken to using postage stamps as the de facto money supply. His central gambit — decoupling Ankh-Morpork's currency from a gold standard and backing it instead by the city itself — drives the plot's economic and political stakes.
The Satirical and Philosophical Argument at the Book's Heart
Pratchett himself described Making Money as simultaneously fantasy and non-fantasy, on the grounds that money is itself a collective fantasy: in his words, "we've agreed that these numbers of conceptual things like dollars have a value." That thesis runs through the entire novel. The book asks, in the words The Guardian's Patrick Ness identified, "sharp questions about why we trust banks as well as the nature of money" — questions that sit just as comfortably in a discussion of real-world economic history as in a Discworld adventure. The Lavish family's hostility to Moist and Cosmo Lavish's deranged attempt to impersonate Lord Vetinari — the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork — give these ideas dramatic shape: the struggle over the bank is, at its core, a struggle over who controls the city's economic reality and, by extension, its power. Meanwhile, Moist's fiancée Adora Belle Dearheart pursues a parallel thread through the Golem Trust, excavating golems from the ancient civilisation of Um — a dig that yields not the expected four golden golems but four thousand, with consequences that reframe the novel's closing act entirely.
Place in the Discworld Series and Its Recognition
The Discworld series had, by the time Making Money appeared, long since evolved from comic fantasy parody into what The Guardian described as "the finest satirical series running," having engaged with racism, journalism, war, death, and the corrupting logic of large institutions. The Moist von Lipwig strand represented a deliberate expansion: a fresh character used to examine Ankh-Morpork's civic machinery from the inside. Making Money won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2008 and was nominated for the Nebula Award the same year — recognitions that reflect its standing among genre readers and critics. It is also part of the New York Times bestselling Discworld canon. Pratchett's publisher notes that while the Discworld novels can be read in any order, Making Money is the second book in the Moist von Lipwig sequence, and reading Going Postal first provides meaningful context for Moist's character arc and his relationship with Vetinari.
Where the Book Excels
The novel's greatest strength, as The Guardian's Patrick Ness identified, is its humanity. Pratchett consistently orients his satire around ordinary people — those "jogging along, doing their best," as the novel itself puts it — who are perpetually taken advantage of by banks, corporations, and bad government. Chief cashier Mr. Bent, rumoured to be a vampire but revealed to be something far more socially devastating in Ankh-Morpork terms (a clown), exemplifies Pratchett's gift for building comic conceits that carry genuine emotional weight. The novel also continues to develop Vetinari as one of fiction's most entertaining depictions of intelligent, self-aware authoritarianism — his line to Moist, "The city bleeds, Mr Lipwig, and you are the clot," is the kind of remark that is simultaneously absurd, accurate, and oddly moving. The official Terry Pratchett website notes that Moist "begins making some ambitious changes… and some dangerous enemies," a summary that understates how inventively Pratchett engineers the collision between financial reform and entrenched power.
Honest Limitations and Who May Find It Frustrating
The critical consensus carries one consistent qualification: Making Money does not quite match the momentum of Going Postal. The Guardian's Patrick Ness noted that it lacks some of its predecessor's forward drive, and The Observer's Rowland Manthrope was more pointed, writing that "Pratchett has wit here, but has lost his normal cutting edge." These assessments reflect a genuine structural reality — the novel is more ruminative and philosophically exploratory than propulsive. Readers approaching Making Money as a direct follow-up expecting identical pacing may register the difference. Similarly, those new to Discworld who begin here rather than with Going Postal will miss the full context of Moist's reformation and the established dynamics between him, Vetinari, and Adora Belle Dearheart. The novel rewards sequence and prior investment in its world more than some Discworld entries do.
Frequently Asked Questions
is Making Money by Terry Pratchett worth reading if i already loved Going Postal
If Going Postal is your benchmark, be aware that critics including The Guardian's Patrick Ness noted Making Money lacks some of its predecessor's forward drive, and The Observer's Rowland Manthrope wrote that 'Pratchett has wit here, but has lost his normal cutting edge.' That said, it's still a confident, funny, and philosophically ambitious novel — just more ruminative and exploratory in pace than propulsive.
what is Making Money by Terry Pratchett actually about
On the surface it's about Moist von Lipwig — reformed conman and civil servant — being strong-armed into running Ankh-Morpork's Royal Bank and Royal Mint, where he attempts to decouple the city's currency from a gold standard and back it by the city itself instead. But the deeper subject is the nature of money as collective fiction: as Pratchett himself put it, 'we've agreed that these numbers of conceptual things like dollars have a value,' and the novel uses the struggle over the bank to ask sharp questions about institutional trust and who controls economic reality.
do i need to read Going Postal before Making Money by Terry Pratchett
You don't strictly have to, but the review makes clear that reading Going Postal first provides meaningful context for Moist's character arc and his relationships with Vetinari and Adora Belle Dearheart. Readers who start with Making Money will miss the full weight of Moist's reformation, and the novel rewards prior investment in its world more than some Discworld entries do.
who is mr fusspot in Making Money by Terry Pratchett and why does he matter
Mr Fusspot is the dog that bank chairwoman Topsy Lavish bequeaths her shares to upon her death — because he already holds one share, her additional 50% makes him the majority shareholder and chairman of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork. Topsy then leaves Mr Fusspot to Moist, and arranges via the Assassins' Guild that something very unfortunate will happen to Moist if the dog comes to any harm — making the dog simultaneously the comic engine and the literal lever of the entire plot.
is Making Money by Terry Pratchett funny or does it get too serious
It's genuinely funny — the review highlights moments like chief cashier Mr. Bent being revealed not as a vampire but as something far more socially devastating in Ankh-Morpork terms (a clown), and Vetinari's line to Moist, 'The city bleeds, Mr Lipwig, and you are the clot,' which the reviewer calls 'simultaneously absurd, accurate, and oddly moving.' The humour carries real emotional and philosophical weight rather than being purely comedic.
is Making Money by Terry Pratchett good if you don't know much about economics
Yes — Pratchett builds his economic ideas from the ground up through character and plot rather than jargon, and his central thesis (that money is a collective fantasy we all agree to believe in) is explained in plain, witty terms throughout. The Guardian's Patrick Ness praised the novel's humanity and its focus on ordinary people 'jogging along, doing their best' who get taken advantage of by banks and bad government, so the social commentary lands even without a finance background.
what awards did Making Money by Terry Pratchett win
Making Money won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2008 and was also nominated for the Nebula Award the same year — recognitions the review describes as reflecting its strong standing among genre readers and critics. It is also part of the New York Times bestselling Discworld canon.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
- 1
en.wikipedia.org
- 2
bookbrowse.com
- 3
terrypratchettbooks.com
- Further reading
- 4
Terry Pratchett, Wikipedia
- 5
theguardian.com
- 6
patricktreardon.com
- 7
- 8
compulsivereader.com
- 9
zealotscript.co.uk
- 10
fantasybookreview.co.uk
- 11
- 12
wiki.lspace.org
- 13
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