h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Moist von Lipwig is a criminal, but one way or the other, he’s not going to be a criminal for very much longer. Shortly after death, he’s going to find himself in charge of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office, where proceedings are run by a smelly old man and a pin-obsessive boy, and the backlog of old letters are literally screaming to be read.

Go on… admit it – it’s been quite a while since you last read a really good new Discworld book. Some people forgot what one actually was, to the extent they voted ‘Nightwatch’ one of the 100 Best Books ever written. For some reason, ‘Going Postal’ manages to break the recent trend, emerging as a really enjoyable book. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly why this is the case – it just feels more fun than other recent Pratchett novels; less like it’s been a labour to write, less strained. This novel is also less self-indulgent, less moralistically heavy-handed, just… better.

‘Going Postal’ is a mixture of old, medium old, and new. Ankh-Morpork is the same as it’s ever been, and it’s nice to return to familiar ground, with even Unseen University getting a look-in. Pratchett continues his fascination for the ‘clacks’ system, bringing it (almost) to the fore for the first time and does the concept justice in more than one sense. As for the new… this is the first Discworld novel to be written in chapters, and that feels unusual, but not unwelcome, and adds an extra breath of freshness to the proceedings.

With a setting that is great fun to explore, and a pace that never flags, ‘Going Postal’ makes a worthy addition to a once-great series of novels, which has lost the path lately. May the next book be as good, or better!

R25968 11:59 31/10/04