Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

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 Fantasy

Last Wednesday was the regular meeting of the Science Fiction Book Club at my local library.  The book this month was Going Postal by Terry Pratchett.  This was another book everyone liked.  Why?  Here are the reasons.

1.  The dialog.  Much of it is so tongue in cheek.  That provided plenty of chuckles and fit right into the tone of the story.

2.  The names:  Names like Moist, Dearheart, Reacher Guilt and Mr. Groat just to name a few helped build the identity of the characters.  Not that they always fit, many times they did not but they were clever and fun.

3. The places:  The library was everyone’s favorite.  Who would not want a library that held everything and took up so little room.

4. The story:  It seemed like an impossible task but that served to keep everyone’s interest.

5. The characters:  They fit the story and like the names added to the fun in the book.

Here is Goodreads summary of Going Postal:

Arch-swindler Moist Van Lipwig never believed his confidence crimes were hanging offenses - until he found himself with a noose tightly around his neck, dropping through a trapdoor, and falling into...a government job?

By all rights, Moist should have met his maker. Instead, it's Lord Vetinari, supreme ruler of Ankh-Morpork, who promptly offers him a job as Postmaster. Since his only other option is a nonliving one, Moist accepts the position - and the hulking golem watchdog who comes along with it, just in case Moist was considering abandoning his responsibilities prematurely.

Getting the moribund Postal Service up and running again, however, may be a near-impossible task, what with literally mountains of decades-old undelivered mail clogging every nook and cranny of the broken-down post office building; and with only a few creaky old postmen and one rather unstable, pin-obsessed youth available to deliver it. Worse still, Moist could swear the mail is talking to him. Worst of all, it means taking on the gargantuan, money-hungry Grand Trunk clacks communication monopoly and its bloodthirsty piratical head, Mr. Reacher Gilt.

But it says on the building Neither Rain Nor Snow Nor Glom of Nit...Inspiring words (admittedly, some of the bronze letters have been stolen), and for once in his wretched life Moist is going to fight. And if the bold and impossible are what's called for, he'll do it - in order to move the mail, continue breathing, get the girl, and specially deliver that invaluable commodity that every human being (not to mention troll, dwarf, and, yes, even golem) requires: hope.

This was my first Discworld novel.  Going Postal is #33 in the series but that did not matter.  It worked fine as a stand alone book.  If you have not read any of Terry Pratchett’s books you have missed a treat.  Pick one up soon.

Harpertorch published Going Postal by Terry Pratchett in 2004.