Book info

• Title Mort
• Author Terry Pratchett
• Year 1987
• Genre Fantasy

Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job. Death is the Grim Reaper of the Discworld, a black-robed skeleton with a scythe who ushers souls into the next world. He is also fond of cats and endlessly baffled by humanity. Soon Death is yearning to experience what humanity really has to offer, but to do that, he'll need to hire some help. It's an offer Mort can't refuse. As Death's apprentice he'll have free board, use of the company horse - and being dead isn't compulsory. It's a dream job - until Mort falls in love with Death's daughter, Ysabell, and discovers that your boss can be a killer on your love life...

Thoughts

In my ongoing experiment with Terry Pratchett, this one I actually enjoyed. I can understand how it made it onto the Big Read list, and why, therefore, it is on my reading list. Although it isn’t quite time-travel, it does embrace the concept of messing about with the expected pattern of events - and the consequences of doing so.

I really like how Pratchett explores the “life” of Death, how he exists, how he does his job, and how he interacts with other people. How he would like to get away from it all sometimes, and how an apprentice can fill the role.

It’s an interesting story, told well, and renewed my faith in the series.

Rating: 4 / 5