The Postman

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Lore & Background

The novel is largely about civilization and its symbols. The first section focuses on the Postman himself, Gordon Krantz, a former drama student at the University of Minnesota who took a postal uniform solely for warmth after losing almost everything to bandits. He wanders among small communities performing scenes from William Shakespeare plays in return for food and shelter. Taking shelter in a long-abandoned postal van, he finds a sack of mail and the uniform. His initial claims to be a real postman start not because of deliberate fraud but because people are desperate to believe in him and his claim that he represents the "Restored United States". The second section introduces the community of Corvallis, Oregon, led by Cyclops, apparently a sentient artificial intelligence created at Oregon State University. In reality, the machine ceased functioning due to damage from a Luddite mob, and a group of scientists maintain the pretense of its working to keep hope, order, and knowledge alive. The third section sees the Postman join forces with Cyclops's scientists in a war against an influx of "hypersurvivalist militia" called Holnists, after their founder Nathan Holn, an author who championed a violent, misogynistic, and militaristic society. The Postman allies with the Umpqua people, descendants of ranchers, loggers and Native Americans from Southwestern Oregon's Umpqua Valley region, led by a Native American former member of an airborne regiment of the U.S. military. The final scenes give the impression that groups may come together in an effort to revive civilization.

In Their Own Story

The Postman discovers the Holnists have another organized enemy to the South, identified only by the symbol they rally behind: the Bear Flag. Another message of the plot deals with the backstory of the post-apocalyptic world: it did not come about because of the EMPs, the bioweapons, or the numerous disasters, but the Holnists, who preyed on humanitarian workers and attacked communities during this difficult period.

Reader's Guide

The novel won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, both for 1986. It was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel for 1986. Both of the initial parts were nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novella. Dave Langford reviewed The Postman for White Dwarf #83, stating that "The story is complicated by Krantz's intersection with another myth in the making, and then by a muddle of battle, murder and enhanced super-guerillas, all a bit of a needless distraction, but never mind. It's nicely written, sometimes moving, and ends as it should. Well worth reading." Wendy Graham reviewed it for Adventurer magazine, saying "It is a tale which sets one thinking – who would be the leaders after the bomb drops or whatever? Would it be the bureaucrats and the military as they themselves think, or would it be someone as... ordinary... as a postman, simply because a postman can bring people into contact once again, and gains a certain respect from his job?" Brin has suggested that he wrote The Postman as a rebuke to the celebrations of mayhem in the many derivative post-apocalyptic fictions that appeared in the wake of the popular Mad Max movies.

Did You Know?

• The first two parts of The Postman were published separately as "The Postman" (1982) and "Cyclops" (1984).
• The novel won both the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1986.
• David Brin wrote The Postman as a rebuke to the celebrations of mayhem in post-apocalyptic fictions inspired by the Mad Max movies.
• The film adaptation released in 1997 was produced and directed by Kevin Costner, who also played the lead role.
• The Holnists are named after their founder Nathan Holn, an author who championed a violent, misogynistic, and militaristic society.