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"They say that the prospect of being hanged in the morning concentrates a man's mind wonderfully; unfortunately, what the mind inevitably concentrates on is that it is a body that, in the morning, is going to be hanged." With that grabber of a line, the main plot of GOING POSTAL begins. Albert Spangler, who sees himself in the nature of a gentleman thief, prides himself on having successfully run financial scams in which no one is ever hurt. So despite his having swindled $150,000, he's certain that at any second his death sentence will be pardoned. He's convinced of it all the way up to the gallows. Right up to the point that the trapdoor opens. He falls. He strangles. And then he wakes up in the office of the cold, calculating ruler of Ankh Morpork who tells him that pardon has a price. In exchange for his life and a return to his original name (Moist Van Lipwig) he will successfully reopen the city post office. Or else. The else includes a city that stopped believing in the efficiency of the mail, an ageing and semi-psychotic group of former postmen, a disbelieving press, and outright sabotage from the brutal owner of the alternative communications system, "the clacks." Although GOING POSTAL is the 29th entry in Pratchett's long-running Discworld series, it is a superb standalone novel in the mold of It Takes a Thief and The Stainless Steel Rat. Two con men; one a sociopath, one sucked semi-unwillingly into caring for something other than his own wallet, are locked in a brilliantly deadly game of strategy with a world's communications -- not to mention survival -- as the prize. Discworld is a fantasy, so there are plenty of supernatural elements The guard set to keep Von Lipwig from running away is a golem, and the city watch's crime dog is rumored to be a werewolf. Discworld is also a parody, but like many of the best books in the series under the plot it has plenty to say about social issues -- in this case, monopolies and corporate crime. But those not familiar with the best-selling, award-winning series will not be left out; this novel was written to be separate from any of the internal sub-series in Pratchett's world. GOING POSTAL is a readable thriller on its own -- one which may bring more readers into Discworld fandom.
Reviewed by Linnea Dodson, September 2005
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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