Making Money by Terry Pratchett
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

ALTHOUGH Terry Pratchett’s comic novels are set in the imaginary (and , of course, flat) Discworld, do not assume that they are divorced from contemporary concerns.

His latest, Making Money, is almost spookily relevant, featuring scenes so reminiscent of events at Northern Rock that it should probably be reviewed on the business pages. Moist von Lipwig, the appealing former conman introduced in Going Postal, faces a new challenge when the chairman of the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork dies, leaving the majority of shares in the bank to her dog, Mr Fusspot, and bequeathing the dog to him. Never one to take the easy way out, Moist decides to modernise the bank and enrich the city by replacing gold with paper money.

“Gold is only valuable because we agree it is, right? It’s just a dream,” he explains.

That our entire economic system is based on a consensual fantasy may not be a new idea, but no one but Pratchett would have the nerve – or skill – to make the theory of fiat currency the subject of a comic fantasy. He makes it look so easy, as he embeds the economic argument within a swift-paced story involving golems and gold, necromancers and lap-dancers, a set of killer false teeth, political chicanery and lots of good jokes.

Making Money may be the 31st Discworld novel in a series that began in 1987, but there’s never a hint of staleness. It is as bright and shiny as a newly minted coin; clever, engaging and laugh-out-loud funny.

The Name of the Wind is the first volume of a trilogy, The Kingkiller Chronicle, by the debutant Patrick Rothfuss. Kvothe, once the most powerful wizard in the world, is living under an assumed identity as an innkeeper when the book opens. When the noted Chronicler tracks him down, Kvothe agrees to relate details of his life, and a vivid autobiography begins to unfold, with personal tragedy, romance, daring rescues, a school for magicians, a drug-crazed dragon, and the threat that a terrifying evil from the past may return.

New fantasy authors are usually overhyped, and it’s rare to find one who writes with such assurance and narrative skill right from the start.

I was reminded of Ursula LeGuin, George R. R. Martin, and J. R. R. Tolkien, but never felt that Rothfuss was imitating anyone. Like the writers he clearly admires, he’s an old-fashioned storyteller working with traditional elements, but his voice is his own. I haven’t been so gripped by a new fantasy series in years. It’s certain to become a classic.

Making Money by Terry Pratchett
Doubleday, £18.99

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Gollancz, £18.99

Terry Pratchett appears at The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival on Saturday October 6
Call 01242 227979
www.cheltenhamfestivals.com

Times Recommends

• The Sunday Times 100 best holiday reads
• What will we be reading this summer: the booksellers predict
• Literary festivals: a survivor’s guide