Terry Pratchett's Going Postal

I just finished Terry Pratchett's latest, Going Postal. I picked this just after Thanksgiving last year for my wife -- a "happy Tuesday after Thanksgiving" present. I was waiting for it for sometime to be released, and kept visiting Chapters every week to see if it had hit the shelves. I am a big Terry Pratchett fan. In fact, Terry Pratchett may be my favourite author. There is no other author that I've read as complete as him. If you're a Pratchett fan, you need not read any further. You've already read this book, and every other novel he's written, and you will find nothing new here. If you've never heard of Pratchett however, read on.

Before I go any further, here's the description that comes with the book:

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 glo m of ni t ... 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.

In typical Pratchett fashion, the book introduces memorable characters and interspersed with the stable of previously created ones. Lord Vetinari, tyrant of Ankh-Morpork plays a prominent role, and guest appearances are made by Otto Criek, the City Watch, Lady Sybil, the wizards of Unseen University and many of the places and things that inhabit Pratchett's Discworld universe. Thrown together, the characters seemingly sort themselves out with humour, danger, politics, mystery and loads of entertainment for the reader. The characters themselves could probably produce a novel if Pratchett let them out to play, but, under his careful crafting, a story is woven that is serious, even while being funny.

The book deliciously pokes fun at our world, pop culture, businesses, politics and, well, the post office. I won't give away too much of the story -- that would spoil your fun, however, I will leave you with a few choice lines from the book.

On being offered the position of Postmaster General, rather than death, Moist responds:
   'Oh, all right. Of course, I accept as natural born criminal, habitual liar, fraudster and totally untrustworthy perverted genius.'
   'Capital! Welcome to government service!' said Lord Vetinari, extending his hand.
Lord Vetinari, sole ruler and tyrant of Ankh-Morpork, on freedom:
Freedom may be mankind's natural state, but so is sitting in a tree eating your dinner while it is still wriggling.
Pratchett comments on the use of words in business:
It was garbage, but it had been cooked by an expert. Oh, yes. You had to admire the way perfectly innocent words were mugged, ravished, stripped of all true meaning and decency and then sent to walk the gutter for Reacher Gilt, although 'synergistically' had probably been a whore from the start.