Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" is a rather interesting place.  Firmly located in the realm of fantasy, the universe of Discworld combines traditional fantasy elements like vampires, golems, witches, trolls, and wizards with concepts from the "real world" like equal rights for men and women, technology, and - in this case - mail delivery.  The Discworld books have a little of that same kind of British humor we see in Monty Python or Douglas Adams' books, combined with some humor that is uniquely Pratchett's.

From the title "Going Postal" one might think this is a book about a person losing their grip on sanity and killing lots of people, but that's not the story at all here.

"Going Postal" opens with the main character Moist Von Lipwig being sentenced to death and about to hang.  Shortly after he hangs, he becomes unconscious.  When he awakens, the local official tells him he was hanged expertly, within an inch of his life.  He now has two options.  He may take a civil service job that is being offered to him at the post office, or he may walk through a door leading out of the room.  After learning that on the other side of the door is a pit leading to his death, Moist decides that becoming the new Postmaster is the better option. 

After making a failed attempt to escape his situation, Moist is physically dragged by a golem (creature composed primarily of clay and magic, virtually indestructible, which doesn't sleep, can't be corrupted, etc.) to the Post Office.  Resigned to his fate, Moist learns that the post office is something of a laughing stock in the community.  Many years ago, the mail carriers stopped delivering mail and allowed it to pile up in the post office.  They've rented out a room in a tower, and allowed pigeons to roost in the mailbox pigeon-holes.  Letters are missing from the sign out front, the once-beautiful chandeliers are missing, and the floor is ready to collapse in several places.

Over the course of the next few months, Moist manages to win the respect of his postal co-workers and begins to make headway in returning the post office to its former glory.  His chief competitor is the "Clax" system, which consists of a sort of "Morse Code" language transmitted via light by opening and closing shutters in a tall tower.  Using the Clax, messages can be transmitted relatively quickly over long distances.  Unfortunately, the owners of the Clax system are greedy and corrupt.  They've allowed the system to fall into disrepair and it frequently breaks down.  This gives Postmaster Moist Von Lipwig the opportunity he needs to re-establish the reputation of the post office, which he does - in style.

In retaliation for his success against the Clax system, the Clax owners hire a banshee to destroy the post office and (hopefully) kill everyone in it, including Moist.  Moist foils their plans and actually kills the banshee, coming out of the blazing post office with his flashy gold postmaster suit and the post office cat.  The post office is partially destroyed in this action.  Moist concocts a plan to rebuild the post office and to bury his rivals at the Clax system.  To find out what happens next, you'll have to read the book.

There is humor throughout the book.  In most places, that humor merely brought a smile to my face.  In others, I laughed out loud.  The story moves along at a very good pace, never bogging down too much in the details (unlike J.K. Rowling's work). 

"Going Postal" is, at its most basic level, a story of redemption and heroism set against a fantasy world that in some ways resembles our world today.  If you're looking for deep philosophical analysis or biting social commentary, you'd be reading the wrong book to read this one.  But if, on the other hand, you are looking for something light-hearted and fun that will kill a few hours, this could be it.

On a 1-10 scale, with 10 being excellent and 1 being awful, I'd give this one about a 7.5.  It's good, but it's far from the best book I've ever read.