Mort

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: I thought that this book was pretty decent. It doesn't have the depth that I like in later novels, but it is only the fourth one. There really isn't too much to say about it. It was a decent read, nothing spectacular, but fun, funny, and interesting. I recommend it as a lighter read in the discworld novels. I do think that it develops Death's character pretty nicely. Since Death is in just about all, if not every, discworld novel, it helps with some quips and jokes that come in later books. Gives you sort of a nice, warm "I got the inside joke" feel later on in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious; a great prelude to Soul Music and Hogfather
Review: "Mort" describes what I would consider to be an accurate description of the reaction that any fifteen year old boy would have if Death showed up to offer apprenticeship to him.
This book, although shorter than most Discworld books, is a good one to start with, being easy to understand and full of Terry Pratchett's signature humor. It also follows the classic, feudally romantic 'boy vs. girl' relationship between Mort and Death's adopted daughter, Ysabell.
I would recommend this to anyone new to the Discworld series. It is fun to read, full of likeable characters, and at times full of fast-paced action, mingled with humor.

Rating:
Summary: DEATH Takes a Holiday!
Review: When we mere male mortals reach a certain age we sometimes, aware that we are closer to our future death than our past birth, start to act up. We trade the 1981 Honda Civic in for a Corvette convertible, quit our old job to write a great novel, and have even been known to trade in our wives or significant others for a younger, newer model. It's known on Earth as a mid-life crisis. But on Discworld, and in the hands of the master Terry Pratchett, a banal mid-life crisis is turned into another one of his hilarious and thought filled romps. Through Pratchett's hilariously skewed prism this crisis is not being experienced by a mortal but rather by the harbinger of death, the aptly named DEATH. What we have is a mid-death crisis. Death may, like an ever-rolling stream, bear all its sons away but DEATH seems more than a bit tired of doing all the bearing away.

Terry Pratchett's Mort tells a rather simple tale. DEATH is looking for an apprentice. Young Mortimer, one of life's simple trusting souls is a young man with little career prospects. He is ungainly and spends a bit too much time thinking random thoughts. Mort's dad and relatives find him to be a well-intentioned but generally useless young man. Dad has been told that becoming an apprentice will get Mort off his hands and teach him a trade. So off to town they go for `apprentice day' in the market square. As luck would have it, DEATH arrives and takes Mort on as his apprentice.

Mort develops in the expected Pratchett manner. The relationship between Mort and DEATH, and the chores Mort performs to learn his trade, seem very similar to that in the movie Karate Kid. Shoveling poop is not immediately relevant to learning how to become the messenger of death yet Mort takes to his tasks well. Mort seems to enjoy living at DEATH's house and enjoys the food prepared by Albert, who may not be quite what he seems. He doesn't seem to get along to well with DEATH's daughter, Ysabell but that again may not be quite what it seems.

Within no time DEATH is entrusting Mort with more responsibility while he experiments with drinking, dancing, and a stint as the best short order cook in Ankh-Morpork. Meanwhile, Mort, left to his own devices makes a mess of things in short order. Specifically, Mort falls for the heavenly charms of a Princess and fails to bring her over to the next world. This of course causes no end of confusion as the natural order of things on Discworld has been greatly disturbed.

As with most Discworld books, events proceed at a furious pace followed by a conclusion that, like death itself, is inevitable. For any Pratchett fan, of which I am one, the joy in the journey and not in getting to the conclusion. Along the way we are treated to the usual array of cultural references and little jokes. When Albert mutters "s-odomy non sapiens" under his breath Mort asks what that means to which Albert replies "buggered if I know." When DEATH notes he is closing out a bar, alone, at a quarter to three, Pratchett tracks the lyrics to Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen's "One for My Baby". It is priceless.

Last, this is a stand-alone Discworld book. Although some recurring characters make cameo appearances the reader does not really need to be overly familiar with any of the other Discworld books to enjoy Mort. Mort was a pleasure to read.

Rating:
Summary: Death rides a white horse called binky
Review: This is the first novel which features DEATH (all of his words in the discword series are in capitals), it deals with his struggle to understand humanity, and his taking on of an apprentice Mort (short for mortimer). The footnotes are intrested and so is Albert who would deep fry porridge if you let him. This book deals alot with the mortality of life. Plus it also shows the corruption of the soul by power, unless you are an anthromorphic personification. A love intrest is also included with mort showing an intrest in deaths daughter (adopted). Also the colur scheme is interesting (black). A good read for someone interested in discworld.

Rating:
Summary: Death can be so uncomplicated...
Review:
Mort has been my second excursion into Discworld after The Truth. And though the earlier book is certainly simpler and more innocent (ie less "knowing"/intertextual/inbred) than The Truth and (I suspect) many of the later novels in the series, it largely holds its own. The concept is irresistible. Mort is a likeable protagonist. Death is just cool. There are plenty of rib-tickling scenes (Death's careers' advice interview is a cracker), the action is swift and engrossing and the ending is full of pathos (a good thing). In fact, as with The Truth, I am mighty impressed by the way Pratchett wraps up his story. That, as any writer, and most readers are well aware, is an often impossibly difficult skill to master. Some of the best writers around - and some of my favourites - fail at this last hurdle.
My biggest gripe with the book is that some of the language used and references feel a little dated now. But that's like carping at the datedness of Wodehouse or Dickens! (ie not a particularly illuminating gripe). Sure, Mort feels a little flimsy and I get the sense that Pratchett at the time of writing was still in the process of exploring the possibilities of Discworld. In other words, it seems a trifle unsophisticated and less fully realized than The Truth (and, presumably, the later novels), much in the same way as The Hobbit introduces a wonderful mythology and characters while merely hinting at the greatness to come. Essential reading, no doubt, but I'm pretty certain it'll be a while before I come across that bona fide 5-star classic that I just know Pratchett either has already written or is bound to write in future. Unfortunately, every single Pratchett book seems to have its champions on Amazon who proclaim it to be the best of the series. And every single one of them also has its detractors who decry its inadequacies. It's quite infuriating! Anyway, enough babbling, I've got Soul Music and Maskerade to plough through! (I've taken to reading at least two Pratchetts (or more) in tandem to save my sanity and so that I don't miss out on the delights of one Discworld sub-genre while I'm exploring another!)


Rating:
Summary: Must read for all Pratchett fans
Review: Ever wonder what it would be like to harvest souls? Ever wonder what would happen if someone who's suppoesed to dies doesn't? Mort is the first in the so-called "Death-based" story threads in the Discworld series. We get to know Death, his servant, his daughter, and the rules that apply to the grim reaper. This book gets 5 stars because everything is here: action, humor, and plot complications. Come for the humor, stay for the ending.

Rating:
Summary: Just starting out with Disk world.
Review: I don't care whether your a garbage man or a CEO (or a really messy CEO who happens to constantly be picking up trash) one of the most difficult problems in life is finding the place were you can feel you belong. Pratchet, in the few of his books I've read (mostly the Night Watch part of Disk world with Carrot and Vimes), has a great knack for illustrating this problem and showing how his characters find ways to overcome it.

In Mort Death is tired of his endless job, ushering the souls of the living into the after life. Not a bad job, it just gets to be boring doing the same thing since the dawn of time. He locates what seems to be a suitable replacement in Mort; a clumsy, self-conscious youth who seems cannot do anything correctly. Death did not know that when he brought Mort on as his apprentice. Queue wackiness. In the aftermath they both realize that their place in life found them without any help.

Once again, Terry Pratchet has shown why he is counted among the best fantasy writers in the business. His wit and intelligence illuminate every page and I would highly recommend this to any fantasy reader who values mirth as much as content.

In addition, there are two great "So you would like to. . ." lists that show the exact chronology of the series that I found most helpful. You may want to look them up to figure out where you would like to start.


Rating:
Summary: There is always a price to pay for cheating death...
Review: This books follows Death and his apprentice Mort through Discworld. And beyond. The plot boils down to Mort falling in love with someone who is going to die. While he has the power to save her, there will be a price for doing so.

the good: He's back, folks. This book is one of the funniest I've read so far. Pratchett seems to be exploring his skills more with this book, but the humor is non-stop. It had me rolling.

The bad: It ended? Not much to complain about.


Rating:
Summary: Clever portrait of Death
Review: Mort is an awkward young man who bungles everything he attempts. When his father decides to send him off to be an apprentice, he gets only one offer - from the Grim Reaper himself. It seems like a good job to Mort: free room and board and a secure position in a business that will never run out of clientele. He doesn't even need to die to take the job. Soon Mort is doing some of the reaping himself and he even seems to be gaining maturity, self-confidence, and the ability to walk through walls. He falls in love. But can he manage to help Death harvest souls without making a complete mess of things?

This is the fourth in the wildly funny and inventive Discworld series and the first in the Death story line. Although Death made an appearance in the first three books, this time we are provided with a much closer look at Death's domain through details on his daily routine, his likes and dislikes, his household, and his horse. We meet his daughter and his faithful servant. There are hilarious scenes where Death tries out a few mortal pleasures to learn what they are all about. Only Pratchett could depict Death fly-fishing, getting drunk, or participating in a line dance. Above all else, we find out that Death's not such a bad fellow when we get to know him.

Pratchett continues to flesh out the geography, culture, and magic of Discworld. He addresses the self-healing nature of history and the relationship between fate and death. He presents a coronation, a bevy of bumbling wizards, a deadly beverage called scumble, a library of self-writing books of life, and a dangerous section of Ankh-Morpork known as the Shades. There is also a generous helping of wit, puns, and wicked satire. This is a great read!

Eileen Rieback