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crufts's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I "read" Mort twice: once in the original novel format and once in the BBC radio play. Both are excellent.
Although this is Book 4 of the Discworld series, there's very little connection to the preceding novels and you can read it as a standalone.
Through unusual circumstances, teenager Mort (Mortimer) becomes an apprentice to Death. Yep, that Death. Stricken by a crush when he's sent to collect the soul of the assassinated Princess Keli, Mort averts her death and inadvertently sets the universe off-kilter. With the help of Death's teenage daughter Ysabell, butler Albert, and the wizard Cutwell, can he fix it all up before Death finds out?
It's a very funny novel. Having Death as an anthropomorphic character allows for wry observations about how people deal with death! In fact, no one can see Death or ghosts unless (like the wizard Cutwell) they've been specially trained.
But not everyone is sorry to see Death. Paraphrased: "The kings and queens always hang on as long as they can when I come knocking, but the peasants? They can't wait!"
Many other interesting ideas are also passed around in the form of jokes. After his endless years of service, Death has learned helplessness about the inevitability of fate: "There's no justice. There's just us." But once fresh-faced Mort is on the scene, he remarks (paraphrased): "I've gotten so caught up in how things are, that I've forgotten what they could become." This character development is satisfying to see.
Another strong point of the novel is unity of plot. The main theme is death and the inevitability (or not) of fate, and the plot sticks to that pretty strictly. There are hardly any extraneous plot threads, making for a focused, "clean" story. This is in contrast to the previous Discworld novels such as The Colour of Magic (#1) and The Light Fantastic (#2), which twist and bend all over the place in order to accommodate the jokes.
Finally, the pacing was good as well. Too many times, I've written Storygraph reviews that say "It was good, but they rushed the ending!" Not so here. The climactic showdown scene stretches out the tension of the final moments, just as it should. Time slows dramatically at all the right points and we get exactly the explosive ending we're hoping for.
I would absolutely recommend this book.
Although this is Book 4 of the Discworld series, there's very little connection to the preceding novels and you can read it as a standalone.
Through unusual circumstances, teenager Mort (Mortimer) becomes an apprentice to Death. Yep, that Death. Stricken by a crush when he's sent to collect the soul of the assassinated Princess Keli, Mort averts her death and inadvertently sets the universe off-kilter. With the help of Death's teenage daughter Ysabell, butler Albert, and the wizard Cutwell, can he fix it all up before Death finds out?
It's a very funny novel. Having Death as an anthropomorphic character allows for wry observations about how people deal with death! In fact, no one can see Death or ghosts unless (like the wizard Cutwell) they've been specially trained.
But not everyone is sorry to see Death. Paraphrased: "The kings and queens always hang on as long as they can when I come knocking, but the peasants? They can't wait!"
Many other interesting ideas are also passed around in the form of jokes. After his endless years of service, Death has learned helplessness about the inevitability of fate: "There's no justice. There's just us." But once fresh-faced Mort is on the scene, he remarks (paraphrased): "I've gotten so caught up in how things are, that I've forgotten what they could become." This character development is satisfying to see.
Another strong point of the novel is unity of plot. The main theme is death and the inevitability (or not) of fate, and the plot sticks to that pretty strictly. There are hardly any extraneous plot threads, making for a focused, "clean" story. This is in contrast to the previous Discworld novels such as The Colour of Magic (#1) and The Light Fantastic (#2), which twist and bend all over the place in order to accommodate the jokes.
Finally, the pacing was good as well. Too many times, I've written Storygraph reviews that say "It was good, but they rushed the ending!" Not so here. The climactic showdown scene stretches out the tension of the final moments, just as it should. Time slows dramatically at all the right points and we get exactly the explosive ending we're hoping for.
I would absolutely recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Violence, and Murder
Despite having Death as a literal character, death and violence in the novel is not graphically described.booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Most of this was fun and I had a good time, but there were too many random moments that took me out of the narrative with an off-putting comment that didn’t fit the rest of the story. Usually this took the place of treating the mention of someone’s fatness or the idea that they might be insane as if the observation of it was the whole joke. These moments were especially frustrating because so much of the rest of the humor is great. It’s paced well, the dynamic between DEATH and Mort was strange but interesting, and I liked the ending.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Toxic relationship
hiddeninfantasy's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
valereads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I found this novel had a great balance of humour and philosophy. It made me laugh out loud multiple times (including once in the library...) but didn't hold off exploring deeper themes about life, death, and the nature of reality. The main characters were all wonderfully created and even when they were not likeable so to speak they were certainly a joy to read about and I'm looking forward to following some of them through the rest of this series.
All that said I did find the ending to be slightly rushed. I thought that the last section of the story was probably one of the weakest parts and I found myself thinking that it seemed like Prachett just wanted to get it over.
Another issue I take with the book is the portrayal of certain minority ethnicities. There are a number of minor characters in this story who belong to an ethnicity which appears to be modelled on South Asian cultures and who practice a religion which appears to be inspired by Hinduism. I understand that this book was written in a different time and I cannot speak of Prachett's intentions but some of their portrayals felt like negative stereotyping and rubbed me the wrong way. If this concerns you I'd recommend looking for reviews from South Asian readers to know what they think of this portrayal.
That said I would absolutely recommend this novel if you like humour, fantasy and just a little bit of deep philosophy. Though if you're looking for a story you don't have to think too much about you're better off looking elsewhere
All that said I did find the ending to be slightly rushed. I thought that the last section of the story was probably one of the weakest parts and I found myself thinking that it seemed like Prachett just wanted to get it over.
Another issue I take with the book is the portrayal of certain minority ethnicities. There are a number of minor characters in this story who belong to an ethnicity which appears to be modelled on South Asian cultures and who practice a religion which appears to be inspired by Hinduism. I understand that this book was written in a different time and I cannot speak of Prachett's intentions but some of their portrayals felt like negative stereotyping and rubbed me the wrong way. If this concerns you I'd recommend looking for reviews from South Asian readers to know what they think of this portrayal.
That said I would absolutely recommend this novel if you like humour, fantasy and just a little bit of deep philosophy. Though if you're looking for a story you don't have to think too much about you're better off looking elsewhere
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
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