MAKING MONEY By Terry Pratchett

Published : 2007
Pages : 474
Overall Mark : 9/10

Moist von Lipwig, only having just got used to changing from a life of crime to being in charge of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office, now finds himself the inheritor of a controlling claim in the Ankh-Morpork mint. Now, using the popularity of his stamps, and their increased use as legal tender, Moist decides to convert Ankh-Morpork onto paper money, an idea which makes him a target of the Lavish family, who had only recently been expecting to run the mint!

Pratchett does it again with another tightly woven tale about Moist von Lipwig. Every moment in Pratchett’s books are there for a reason, and always lead to a satisfying ending which brings all the trails together and wraps them up into its wonderful completion. I look forward to seeing what Pratchett has in store next with the publication of his first non-Discworld novel in years, Nation.

THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS By Gene Wolfe

Published : 1972
Pages : 252
Overall Mark : 8/10

A young boy, the narrator, whose name is not known has been brought up in relative seclusion with his younger brother David. Together they have been treated to a barrage of psychological tests by their father for reasons they do not know, and the narrator is given the new name of Number 5. He later breaks into a slave trader’s warehouse where he finds a mutated slave who looks like his father, and from there he starts to question his very existence.

This is a fascinating story, which takes the idea that humans are an alien race that have invaded another species world and makes it into something truly remarkable. The other stories in the book, telling a tale of the original planets inhabitants and what happened to them, as well as a story of the consequences met by the anthropolgist from the first story, John Marsch, are not quite as good but are still well worth reading and lend a lot of substance to the original tale.

THE NANNY DIARIES By Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Published : 2002
Pages : 306
Overall Mark : 9/10

Nan is a nanny who takes a job working for Mr and Mrs X, taking care of their son Grayer, but Nan soon realises that the X’s consider themselves to have employed not only a nanny but their own personal slave, expecting her to work all the hours that God sends and setting her tasks which are outside of her job description. Lump on top of this the fact that Nan has accidentally discovered that Mr X is having an affair with his secretary, and you’ll find that Nan is in one of the least favourable positions imaginable.

This is a great novel, full of quick wit and fast pacing and the kind of characters you can only despise. The relationship between Nan and her employees makes for a great structure to work around, and the conflicts that interfere throughout the novel make for entertaining reading. I’m glad the movie was just as good as the novel, because it really does make it seem even better.