Going Postal - Terry Pratchett

I queued in Borders on the October 8 to get my copy of Going Postal signed. This was before I had read Monstrous Regiment, the previous instalment of the Discworld series. Monstrous Regiment was excellent, and I have come to expect the same high standard from all of Terry Pratchett's books. However, Going Postal was a little disappointing. The characters were okay, particularly the main character; Moist. He was really the only character that I cared about through the book. Some of the better known characters, Corporal Carrot for example, were given minor roles, and Death appeared only once. Despite these minor missing pieces, the book was entertaining. It was also a little predictable in places. Where in The Fifth Elephant I was never sure if Vimes would survive, in this book there was never a time that I was concerned for any character's safety. I liked the golems, I liked the boy with the pins. But the book didn't really gel - it was too obvious in too many places. I really hope that Prachett hasn't run out of ideas for his Discworld, because it still has many things to offer the reader. Perhaps my enjoyment of the book was marred slightly by having read the other books so recently, when some of them are so good. It stands up in the Discworld series as being probably better than Pyramids but I may refrain from going even that far - Pyramids was an enjoyable read too. I do think that it was probably better than The Light Fantastic. I will however give Pratchett the benefit of the doubt and buy the next Discworld book - if there is one.