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Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
"A silver-tongued con man gets one last chance at life—by resurrecting the most hopeless institution in Ankh-Morpork: the Post Office. With hired golems, rival tycoons, and a mountain of undelivered letters, Going Postal is razor-sharp satire wrapped in gleeful caper and irresistible heart."
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In Going Postal, did you enjoy ...
... razor-sharp, absurdist humor that turns bureaucracy and tech squabbles (like the clacks vs. the Post Office) into comedy?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
If Moist wrangling stamps, golems, and the clacks made you grin, you’ll love the way The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy turns every official system inside out for a laugh. Where Vetinari’s memos and Moist’s patter meet Ankh-Morpork’s red tape, Adams offers Galactic bureaucracy, catastrophic admin errors, and a catastrophically unhelpful manual. It’s the same breezy, quotable wit—just swap Ankh-Morpork for the universe and watch the jokes get even bigger.
... bureaucratic satire of secretive agencies and paperwork-driven heroism akin to Vetinari’s civil-service chess game?
The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross
Did Vetinari’s sly management and Moist’s weaponized paperwork tickle you? In The Atrocity Archives, a British civil-service outfit fights eldritch horrors with forms, compliance, and procurement policies. It’s the same joke Going Postal nails—institutions as both absurd and indispensable—only now the threat isn’t Reacher Gilt’s clacks monopoly but Lovecraftian doom, and salvation still requires filling out the right forms in triplicate.
... a charming con man forced into heroism, like Moist von Lipwig’s schemes against Reacher Gilt?
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
If you delighted in Moist’s silver tongue, misdirection, and moral pivot from scammer to savior, meet Locke Lamora. The Lies of Locke Lamora serves up elaborate swindles, razor-edged banter, and a rogue who keeps bluffing until the house folds. You’ll recognize the thrill of watching a consummate liar turn his tricks toward a bigger, riskier target—just as Moist does when he turns the tables on Gilt.
... a clear, problem-solving mission to rebuild a broken system—like resurrecting Ankh-Morpork’s Post Office with stamps and golems?
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
Loved watching Moist methodically revive the Post Office—recruiting Groat and Stanley, bargaining with golems, and out-innovating the clacks? Foundryside follows Sancia, a thief who leverages clever, rule-bending magic-tech to crack a city’s ossified power structure. It’s the same relentless, puzzle-solving drive: ingenious hacks, improbable allies, and a step-by-step teardown of a corrupt monopoly—only with reality-rewriting sigils instead of stamps.
... a warm, reformist throughline where decency and competence (like Moist, Adora Belle, and the postmen) redeem a corrupt system?
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
If the heart of Going Postal for you was how genuine care and steady competence—Moist’s grit, Adora Belle’s backbone, even Mr. Pump’s steadfastness—make a broken institution work, The Goblin Emperor will glow for you. Maia inherits a hostile court and, through kindness and diligence, turns vipers’ nests into functioning governance. It’s that same uplifting note: reform not by smiting, but by showing up, listening, and fixing what’s fixable.
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