Review: Going Postal

Going Postal is Terry Pratchett’s 29th Discworld novel, and it’s a beaut.

The basic plot concerns the Ankh-Morpork post office, moribund after the invention of “clacks,” a high-speed means of communication sort of like a combination of the telegraph and the Internet. Unfortunately, the clacks system has been taken over by a group of unscrupulous business men who have driven the system into the ground with their avarice.

Enter Moist von Lipwig, liar, cheat, and scoundrel, sentenced to death for his crimes and charged by Lord Vetinari, despot of Ankh-Morpork, with resurrecting the former glory of the Post Office.

Going Postal continues the series’ move into becoming less whimsical and more serious, with Pratchett using the Discworld as a fun house mirror on society. Which isn’t to say that the novel isn’t funny—it is, although less of a laugh-out-loud kind of fun than the early installments of the series.

As always, Terry Pratchett impresses.