I wasn’t a big fan of this book when it first came out, but as I was about to pick up Making Money – starring the same characters – I realised it was time to refresh my memory. And I hugely enjoyed it! It was just really nice to read Pratchett again and I found the non-standard main character (ie Moist Von Lipwig rather than Vimes or the Witches, etc) quite refreshing.

It’s not the most original story, seeing as it’s just bringing the Ankh-Morpork Royal Mail into the Century of the Anchovy, but it’s hard not to like Moist, despite the name. And the Golems. And Adore Belle Dearheart – because of the name!

Making Money read a little more smoothly, I thought, but you should read this one first.

Probably not his best work, but good. I liked Moist and a few of the other characters, but they didn’t stand out quite as much as the other “supportings” that Pratchett’s introduced, such as Colon and Nobby. Still, the was interesting, and Pratchett’s ear for the corporate/big institution dialogue is really good. I think the story itself was a little less focused than it could have been, and I felt like some ideas that were adopted early on weren’t developed well enough and the end seemed a little rushed, but I liked it in spite of that.
Basically what it comes down to is that I can’t rate a book less than “I love it” when I end up laughing and giggling out loud while reading it, much to my wife’s chagrin.

Amazing book! I love Moist, I love Adora Bell, I love Groat, I even love Boris the Horse. I was rather sceptical in the beginning, having in mind that Pratchett is now ‘doing institutions’, so to say. I mean, he’s written about theatre, opera, newspapers, police, not to mention the university. And while I love his writing, I wasn’t really able to imagine how a book about a post office could be made fun. But… it’s Pratchett, and it appears he can make ANYTHING fun :D

(still waiting for books about hospital and prison, though ;) )