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I think Pratchett is a great satirist, and he's not afraid to kick around a few big ideas while having fun. And while some satire is essentially soulless, Pratchett's books usually have a great deal of heart along with some well-delineated, flawed characters that we can care about. The majority of his books are worth a second and third read, just to appreciate everything that's going on above and below the surface. Among his best, to my taste, are Guards! Guards!, Small Gods, Hogfather, and Night Watch, and I also had a great good time with Pyramids, Men at Arms, the Fifth Elephant, The Truth, The Last Hero, Feet of Clay, and others. Not as fond of most of the books about Rincewald or the witches, but they're decent reads. My wife thinks Lords and Ladies is brilliant. And Discworld is a great creation: very well-drawn, but never constrained.
Yeah, the local big independent bookstore had half-a-dozen autographed copies of Going Postal at full price, and they've nearly sold out. Meanwhile, the Borders down the street has a dozen non-autographed copies at discount price, and they're moving more slowly. Makes me wonder: did Pratchett arrange for ONLY independent bookstores to get the autographed copies? I know he cares about books and bookstores; maybe this is his way of helping the independents to survive.
I'm afraid I put Going Postal on reserve at the local library rather than buying it; even the Borders price is too much for a one-day read. So I'll have to wait a month or two, but I'll eventually read it for free.
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