Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with a rare form of early onset Alzheimer’s in 2007. For­tu­nate­ly, it’s not evident in this Discworld book.

Moist von Lipwig, con man ex­tra­or­di­naire, finds himself in charge of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork and the Royal Mint. The people don’t trust the banks much. In an effort to get money flowing, he introduces paper money to Ankh-Morpork. Lipwig, like his creator, is an acute observer of people, and pulls it off against the odds.

Pratchett does his usual trick of holding a fun-house mirror up to some aspect of human society. This time, it’s money and economics.