Mrs Bradshaw's Handbook - Terry Pratchett
A companion to Raising Steam, Mrs Bradshaw's Handbook is, I think, a Discworld analogue to the Bradshaw's Guides to the railways of the late 1800s. It's a tour through Discworld's new railways, complete with recommendations for accommodation, days out (including Brassica World) and descriptions of the various towns the train passes through.
I couldn't help comparing it to Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, a similar companion piece which is nevertheless much funnier, much wittier and much more substantial in content. Mrs Bradshaw has a few jokes, but actually they're more like Easter eggs for past Discworld novels. And while it is vaguely amusing to read about the various ventures of Discworld railway entrepreneurs, it occurs to me that the more technologized Discworld becomes the less interesting it is. I don't really want to read about Victorian England with trolls when I read this kind of book; I want to read about Discworld and the bizarre things it gets up to.
A fun enough read, and a quick one, but I'm glad I didn't buy it. (Yay for libraries!)
