Raising Steam - A Discworld Novel

People will sometimes ask me who my favorite author is, what my favorite book is, or what my favorite type of book is.  Each time, I have to hold back the urge to immediately spit out "Terry Pratchett and his Discworld novels" because, well, partly I'm worried I'm going to come off as the true nerd that I try to hide behind a suave, debonair attitude belonging to someone who functions well in the real world and doesn't get excited by things like Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion making a series about actors who were in a short-lived science fiction series that gained a cult following and OH MY GOD I CAN'T WAIT.

Obviously, I do this poorly.

Also, while I do love Terry Pratchett's novels, they're remarkably difficult to explain to people without going "okay, take Lord of the Rings, take out the elves (mostly), add in things like vampires and werewolves and ancient barbarians and more wizards and witches and Death himself, and then mix in a lot of Monty Python-esque humor."

But that still doesn't really explain it.

So let's see if I can review his newest book Raising Steam, the fortieth (soon to be forty-one!) book in his series.