I just pulled this information from the latest Discworld Monthly newsletter. Colin Smythe offered information about Pterry’s newest, newest book (following “A Hat Full of Sky” which appears later this month).
Take it away, Colin:
"I’ve just received a copy of HarperCollins’ Hardcover Fall 2004
catalogue, containing their announcement of Going Postal, which is
described as “A splendid send-up of government, the postal system,
and everything that lies in between”. It will be published first
week of October.
"Convicted con-man and forger Moist van Lipwig is given a choice.
Face the hangman’s noose, or get Ankh-Morpork’s ancient post
office up and running efficiently! It was a tough decision…
Now, the former criminal is facing really big problems. There’s
tons of undelivered mail. Ghosts are talking to him. One of the
postmen is 18,000 years old. And you really wouldn’t want to
know what his new girlfriend can do with a shoe. To top it off,
shadowy characters don’t want the mail moved. Instead, they want
him dead - deader than all those dead letters. (And here he’d
thought that all he’d have to face was rain, snow, and gloom of
night…"
I get that news letter! (And, yes I did come in here just for that). I am so excited about thise new book–sounds like great fun. But I have to admit that I am not all that fond of the title. It seems too dated cliched, and obvious for Pterry, but he is the best selling novelist here, so I bow to his wisdom.
I’m pumped for it. The synopsis sounds great. I’m sure we’ll see the Watch and perhaps some of the Wizards too. Any book with the Librarian is okay by me.
The title is okay with me, although it’s always possible it will change before publication.
Don’t forget, A Hatful of Sky is due out next month.
All these new books are going to bankrupt me. Due to my library’s crappiness, I read all the way back books in paperback, which were reasonably priced at $7 or $8. But the adult hardcovers are $25, a bit less at Amazon. And the kid books are $17. I’m three books behind now!
“A Hatful of Sky” is a sequel to “Wee Free Men,” the second youth-oriented Discworld book from pTerry. Same Discworld universe, with the return of the Elves and the Nac Mac Feegle, and cameos by Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, but slightly less sarcastic.
Despite it being a book for yutes, “Wee Free Men” is eminently readable for adults as well. I suppose what makes it suitable for younger readers is that it has a younger heroine, but there’s nothing in it that seems like it’s “targeted” at them. It may not be a gruesome as – say, the implications that people are burnt to cinders in “Guards, Guards” – but it’s a delightful read nonetheless.
A witch? A WITCH? I suggest you never cross Mistress Weatherwax. Not if you want to wake up thinking you’re the same shape you went to bed thinking you were.
Don’t forget The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, the first Discworld-for-young-'uns novel.
But yeah, aside from a slightly shorter length, the inclusion of chapter breaks(*), and a slight reduction in cynicism, the “kid” books are just fine for us big Pratchett fans. Then again, all of Terry’s kids’ novels (Truckers/Diggers/Wings, the Johnny Maxwell series) are fine for adults, IMO.
(* = Terry has never been big on chapter breaks, but puts them in his children’s novels so there are good stopping points for reading. Otherwise known as, “Okay, son, I’ll read to the end of this chapter, then you go to sleep” syndrone)
