One of the latest discworld novels is 'Going Postal' (published in 2004). A new character, Moist von Lipwig, is introduced, therefore it might be a good book for discworld newbies.The story is intriguing and pure Pratchett style. The trickster Moist von Lipwig lies under a sentence of death. His only chance to survive is to become postmaster and get the moribund postal service up and running again. That's quite a difficult task, because letters aren't state of the art anymore, moreover they have been replaced by clacks communication via signal towers (sounds familiar, doesn't it).
If you'd like to learn something about business & innovation, I truly recommend to read it. Here's a nice example, optimized service plus perfect promotion slogan:
Moist made a mental note: envelopes with a stamp already on, and a sheet of folded paper inside them: Instant Letter Kit, Just Add Ink! That was the important rule of any game: always make it easy for people to give you money.
Talking about money, I'd like to cite Moist's counterpart, Reacher Gilt, the unscrupulous headman of the Grand Trunk (the one and only clacks communication company):
Money is not a thing, it is not even a process. It is a kind of shared dream. We dream that a small disc of common metal is worth the price of a substantial meal.
That rings true IMHO :-)
This book offers an ironic, sophisticated and witty mirror of our time. It might be easier to appreciate the story if you like fantasy. If you don't ... well, you should really try this one out. But be warned, you might come to like it, even become addicted to ;-)
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