Making Money

 

Making Money by Terry Pratchett 394 pp.

Moist Lipwig, Ankh-Morpork's favorite conman turned Postmaster General is awarded a new position in the city's mint by the despotic Lord Vetinari. Moist must then deal with the elderly Royal Bank chairman who keeps two loaded crossbows on her desk and the Mint manager who is a small dog. There's also the chief clerk who is possibly a vampire and tries to block all of Moist's plans. Upon the death of the chairman, the dog is made the one in charge with Moist running things for him. While he tries to implement a paper money system, he must also figure out where the gold has disappeared to, creating many enemies that want to see Moist gone. Throw in a bunch of Golems, one who is transgender, if that is possible in a sexless clay being and a very inflexible accountant who was born a clown and it becomes Pratchett at his Pratchettiest.  In spite of, or maybe because of, the silliness there is a fairly solid plot in this book although it isn't quite as good as its predecessor, Going Postal.  

The Golem and the Djinni

The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker  512 pp.

In 1899 a lonely Polish man enlists the help of a disgraced rabbi to make him a golem, a creature made of clay, to serve as his wife. On the journey to New York, the man dies on board the ship leaving the golem, Chava, to fend for herself in a new world. Only an old rabbi recognizes what she is and takes her in to teach her how to get along in the world. She lives in a boarding house on the Lower East Side and takes a job in a bakery. Meanwhile a Syrian jinni arrives in New York sealed in an olive oil flask. He is released but wears an iron cuff which means he is not truly free. Ahmad, the jinni, makes his home in Little Syria helping the tinsmith who accidentally freed him from the flask. A chance meeting between Chava and Ahmad leads to an unlikely friendship. Enter the villain who wants to control both magical creatures for his own nefarious purposes and the story takes a new turn. While this is a fantasy, strong historical fiction elements describe the immigrant experience of two divergent cultures making new homes in America. Different and enjoyable.