Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary Story with Decent Writing
Review: ...wasted. It's hard to say how good a book this could have been based on the concept, but the execution was just, well, terrible. One of the best (worst?) examples I can think of where an incompetent protagonist survives much longer than he/she has any right to, or than a reader can believe. Goofy plot elements abound along with the introduction of incredible (as in not credible, not as in "wow!") characters to create even more dire challenges, when mere bad guys were would have fit the existing storyline better.What's really frustrating are the glimpses of Brin's obvious skills. These keep you going until the end, but just barely. Now about the movie...
Rating:
Summary: Not your run of the mill post nuclear war story
Review: A few years back I got interested in seeing how many books out there were written about life after either a nuclear war or massive epidemic that wipes out a lot of the earths population. There are many, to say the least. Most are purely trashy adventure novels full of tough ex military types killing each other and nearly non existant plot lines. The Postman, on the other hand, is one of the few that I personally thought had an element of realism and an interesting plot. Earth Abides would probably be another. A word of caution - if you liked the Costner movie 'the postman' and haven't read the book don't expect many simularities - other than some very general ones. Costner apparently thought that his ideas were more 'filmable' or whatever, but it ruined a great story (which I personally think would have made an excellent movie unchanged from how it was written by Brin). The character Gordon is completely different from book to movie, and this may throw you off if you are expecting the warrior minstrel from the movie in the book. 4 out of 5 because I didn't like the ending (the part about the females).
Rating:
Summary: The Postman by David Brin
Review: Book Review by C. Douglas Baker THE POSTMAN is set sixteen years after a cataclysmic event (presumably a nuclear war although there is room for speculation that it may have been some other disaster such as a large comet hitting the earth) has plunged the world to the brink of a dark age. Trying to survive in Oregon's Cascade Mountains, Gordon Krantz happens upon a run-down United States Postal Service jeep while trying to find a warm place to sleep and spends the night. Taking the leather jacket and cap off the skeleton of his unfortunate bunk-mate, with the full regalia of the U.S. Postal Service as accoutrements, and a sack full of old mail, Gordon sets off to hunt supplies. Thus begins Gordon's almost unconscious generation of a false legend. Attempting to extort supplies from settlement in the mountains, Gordon comes up with a story about a "Reformed United States" to the east and the reorganization of a Postal Service. Using his newly acquired postal gear as props, Gordon takes upon himself the role of a "postal inspector" who has come to reestablish postal routes and "inspect" local governmental institutions. He even, luckily, comes up with a few letters from the mailbag addressed to relatives of people in the community as a ruse to bolster is story. Through this reckless prevarication Gordon weaves his way into the good graces of the people he comes into contact with, simply by being a catalyst to their nostalgic remembrance of a time when the United States was a superpower and the postal service was so reliable as to be taken for granted. Gordon's "big lie" offers hope of a return to better times. Traveling around in this persona, Gordon lets the legend grow, even appointing "postal inspectors" in various areas as he goes along, creating a loyal cadre of "followers". As the legend takes hold, Gordon finds that he cannot tell the truth or back out of the duty that communities impose on him--that being giving them some hope that a better world is ahead and doing something to bring that future about. They believe in Gordon and his
"Reformed United States" and he cannot let them down. Despite a very promising plot, THE POSTMAN is a bit frustrating. Authors using a lost-holocaust world as their setting must viscerally convey the extent of the catastrophe and the eeriness of a post-technological world. Brin in THE POSTMAN fails to do so. The reader never really emotionally feels the impact of the disaster and the odds facing the main character, Gordon. As a result, the book never delivers the emotional blow that is necessary to make the struggle back to a semblance of civilization satisfying to the reader. Brin is too contrite in his brief descriptions of run down cities, empty wildernesses, and struggling communities. The novel just does not "feel" like it is set in a post-holocaust society, despite that the characters and actions take place there. Brin also fails to bring life to his characters. Even the main character, Gordon, is not as well drawn as he could be. Brin does an even less stellar job at developing his peripheral characters. When important persons are suddenly killed the reader does not feel the sense of grief that great authors can convey, because the reader never really "knew" the character. This is particularly true of his female hero Dana. Her attempts to save her community and the fate of her band of "scouts" does not touch the reader because Brin never fully cultivates the reader's sympathy or understanding for her or her comrades.
That being said, I actually enjoyed the novel (surprise!). Despite feeling estranged from the characters and plot, Brin's prose and ability to write action scenes and keep the story moving made it an enjoyable reading experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Post-apocalyptic genre fiction at its most average
Review: Brin's tale of a loner's midlife journey in a world devastated by warfare, climate change, and disease is exactly what genre-bound science fiction readers expect. The protagonist, Gordon, is an intellectual male whose resourcefulness has helped him adapt to a world whose institutions have collapsed and whose people live in tiny, scrabbling communities. He traverses the (former) Northwestern United States in vague search of something hope for - but accidentally, by way of a postman's uniform he finds in a moment of desperation, brings hope to everyone he encounters. Ultimately he must reconcile himself to the world as it has become and decide what is truly worth fighting for. "The Postman" fancies itself an ideological novel, and Brin lays it on thick. Gordon's search for meaning is unceasing, and unceasingly discussed. While his crusade is at first sympathetic, it quickly wears thin under the novel's weight as, instead of developing Gordon's character, Brin attributes his every decision to the increasingly desctructive cause. More than just lazily written, "The Postman" can be frustratingly immature. The protagonist's - and the book's - tone toward technology is plausible for the young college student Gordon once was, but inappropriate for a middle-aged man whose life and country have been destroyed by a machine society. Brin's version of feminism seems designed to win bonus points with female fans, but its heavy-handedness and condescension are no less alienating than outright sexism. These flaws, combined with Brin's broad-stroked, barely-serviceable prose, undermine any serious reader's enjoyment. But "The Postman" is appealing nonetheless. It's easy to get into, and the action sequences are freqent and page-turning. The plot meanders pleasantly, making the book seem longer and meatier than it actually is, and although the ending is both sudden and predictable, it's not unsatisfying. And ultimately, Brin offers what many sci-fi readers are looking for: a world in which things are different, a new set of rules and a history that comments on our own. This is not great literature, but it's a fairly good book.
Rating: 
Summary: One of The Best Books Ever Written!
Review: From the opening pages alone, you can tell that this book is going to be something special. It tells the epic tale(although the book is not epic-sized) of a post-apocalyptic drifter by the name of Gordon Krantz. In the unforgettable opening scene, Gordon is set upon by a roving pack of bandits, who take all his valuable possesions, including his tent. While attempting to head them off and get his belongings back, Gordon becomes lost and darkness falls. While wandering in the certain-death circumstances of freezing temperatures and rain, Gordon finds an abandoned postal jeep. In it he finds hope for a new beginning. Thus starts an incredible novel. David Brin has done an extraordinarily great job of making the settings and characters of Gordon's world believable to a person in our day and age. College campuses, shopping districts, and decaying highways all come alive in Gordon's words. I have read this book many times and each time I re-read it I pick up something new which seems to further spark my imagination. Unlike the other "disaster" novels, this one has a fair abundance of people and towns. But these people have lost hope in the world and although they are perhaps ten miles away from other towns, there is no contact between these isolated hamlets. This book really drew me in and made me seem a part of it's world. I love the way that it makes each setting and backdrop seem real and accessible to our modern day minds. Trust me, The Postman is one book that will stay on your shelf long after it is completed.
Rating: 
Summary: Garbage...
Review: I am an avid reader and a fan of the "post-apocalyptic" genre, but I have to say, this book is utter garbage. I only read up to the third chapter or so... I couldn't take it. Terrible writing, disjointed pacing, awful introspective ramblings, and unrealistic, two-dimensional characters make for great kindling, and little else. It's the only book I've ever thrown away!
Rating:
Summary: Much better than the movie could ever hope to be
Review: I am not a fan of fiction, but I read this book a few years ago when the movie came out and radio personality Art Bell spoke about the book. I read it and found the book to be a pleasant surprise. The book is about Benjamin Franklin as much as anything else. It gives Franklin a lot of the credit that modern America seems to have forgotten about. The Postman also gives a little type of history lesson about early America and how it actually came to be a unified nation that would someday change world history. In a nation without TV, telephones, radio or other communication due to lack of electricity, the postal service is much more important than one could imagine.
Brin's book is also a lot about women in American society and how much worse things would be for them in another, tragic, furure society. Brin dedicates this book to the women in his life who have fascinated him and that dedication is evident throughout the book. Brin's ability as a writer takes what might otherwise be only a dark and ugly story of futuristic nuclear disaster, and makes it one of hope for the future and appreciation for the past.
As I wrote earlier, I am not a fan of fiction, but I found this worth the read. Forget about the movie, give the book a chance and you may well agree with my appreciation for this particular work of fiction.
Rating:
Summary: A postapocalyptic novel with hope.
Review: In David Brin's postapocalyptic novel, The Postman, the civilized world has been destroyed by a brief nuclear war and the ensuing nuclear winter, diseases, and barbarism. Set in what used to be Oregon, remnants of civilization exist in small independent towns inhabited by survivors and their offspring eking out a living through agriculture and trades. Gordon Krantz is a lone wanderer, surviving by moving from village to village as a storyteller and minstrel. He finds a dead postal worker's skeleton in the woods and co-opts his clothing to stay warm. With the bag of postage, he hits upon a scam of representing himself as a postal inspector of the "Restored United States," sent to establish post offices in each town and re-establish mail service. He is surprisingly embraced everywhere he travels because of people's thirst for community and communication... and hope. He unwittingly becomes a victim of his own scam and is reluctantly thrust into a leadership role in reuniting Oregon, and by implication the rest of the nation in the future. Along the way, he discovers the way each town coped with the aftermath of the war, makes various friendships, falls in love, and leads the war against the rogue survivalists from the south. I quite enjoyed this novel and found it uplifting in the message of a regular man who had greatness thrust upon him and came to realize that he had to take responsibility. The movie, starring Kevin Costner, is also good but diverges a good bit from the book, especially in the second half. As is often the case, the book is better.
Rating:
Summary: Mystical yet not tacky
Review: The depiction of events in David Brin's The Postman is well-observed, provides great texture, and yet is minimal. Gordon Krantz is studied with care, his inner thoughts communicated very well, yet most importantly his temperament is established through various trials he handles or mishandles. Other characters are touched on, some remaining highly memorable.
Rating:
Summary: Much better than the movie
Review: Unlike the movie, this book is not only better than the movie, but it doesn't have Kevin Kostner in it ;)
I really liked this book, but then again I have always been a sucker for EOW stories (end of world). If you liked Lucifer's hammer then you will like this book. If you liked Lucifer's Hammer or this book, then you may also want to check out Earth the New Frontier by Adam Celaya (a brand new post-apocalyptic novel that rocks the house!!)
If you like EOW books, then get this one. You will not be dissapointed!
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