Monday, May 21, 2012

Going Postal! by Terry Pratchett

I continued my reading list of All-Things-Pratchett by devouring his book Going Postal over the weekend.


I first found out about this title on an artist's website awhile back. She had some drawings that interested me in the book, even though I hadn't read it yet.

(This artist, Tealin, also has a great collection of drawings about other Pratchett books, Snicket books, and - especially - Harry Potter books. What are you waiting for? Go spend five hours on her website.)

Shall we, then, Go Postal?

Going Postal is about a con-man, Moist von Lipwig, who it at the end of his rope. (Rather, his neck is in a noose at the end of a rope, savvy?) But Mr. Lipwig is given one last chance at life: if he agrees to become the postmaster of the abandoned Postal Service, he can live.

Not a bad deal, right?

The only problem is that his very recent predecessors did not survive long.

Actually, that's not his only problem. There are also:

- Villains running a monopoly in the rival method of communication (the clacks towers)
- Freaky-strange incidents in the Post Office (like strange whispers and the deaths of his predecessors)
- Freaky-strange Post Office employees (one of them loves pins far, far too much)
- Freaky-strange quantum physics that could destroy the universe (or, perhaps, already did, and then recreated it before you could notice)
- A golem who follows him everywhere (that's right, g-o-l-e-m, not Gollum)

There are monsters, bureaucrats, barons, a daring race, a golden suit, and...stamps.

A thoroughly entertaining read.

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