Mort

Rating:
Summary: A funny book
Review: Mort is an awkward boy who is trying to understand about the world. He is chosen to be an apprentice by none other than Death. This is amusing considering that a translation of "morte" is death. This is a fairly typical coming-of-age fantasy with quite a bit of humor.

Terry Pratchett sets the bulk of the novel in his Discworld, which is held on the back of a giant turtle. If you have never read any of the Discworld books, don't worry, you will not be lost here. If you are not a fan of Monty Python/British humor, then you might not get all the jokes and puns. Also, you might not understand why so much is spent on cabbage.

The story is solid. Although the journey of Mort towards manhood is not linear, there are no gaps in the narrative. The flow keeps you involved in the story from beginning to end. I would recommend reading this for a laugh.

Rating:
Summary: If you have never read Terry Pratchett you could start here
Review: But chances are you won't end here. This is the 4th book of a fictional world, that is not so much as a flat earthers dream but that Death is an actual entity and chooses Mort to be his apprentice. Pratchett's satirical dry wit will lead you on a wonder romp of 'what if's' with a good surprise ending if you can resist skipping to the back of the book.

Rating:
Summary: Being Death's apprentice ain't all it's cracked up to be
Review: Mort, the 4th Discworld book by Terry Pratchett, is one of the funniest Discworld books out there. It's a hilarious book that's missing some of the social commentary that permeates his books later in the series. You don't miss it, though, as you continue to laugh out loud at some of the shenanigans. Only a weak ending prevents it from being the best book of the bunch.

Death takes on an apprentice. Mort, the unlucky chosen one, has a bit of trouble settling into his role. It's not very fun to be present when people leave the mortal coil. One time, however, he spies a princess (who can actually see him as well, even though people aren't supposed to be able to) and is very attracted to her. Unfortunately for him, this attraction leads him to try and change the course of destiny, and Mort finds that it's a lot harder to do then it looks. The princess finds out that it's quite hard to live when you're supposed to be dead. Death doesn't seem to notice all of this as he's busy trying to experience humanity. But when he finds out, Mort may wish he hadn't.

I really enjoyed this book. Death has always been my favourite character in Pratchett's books, so I decided to start reading the books that are actually about him. Mort is the first, and I can now see why I've always liked the character. Death has a dry wit about him, but he's always matter-of-fact when he's doing his job. He tries to impart that onto Mort, with limited success. I like the fact that he always speaks in capital letters LIKE THIS, thus giving him a real presence when you read him. It's even better when he's out learning about humanity, sitting in a bar and lamenting about the fact that he has no friends. The dissonance between this very human feeling and his powerful voice is really neat.

The other characters in Mort are also wonderful. There's Ysabell, Death's adopted daughter who he's obviously trying to pair Mort with. She's feisty, never slipping into the stereotypical female role. Albert shines as Death's servant, a man who's not all he appears to be. When things finally let loose with Albert, it's both powerful and funny how it happens. There's Keli, the princess that Mort tries to save. She's a petulant child, even more so when people can't seem to remember that she's not supposed to be living. Finally, there's Cutwell, the wizard that Mort enlists to help him learn to walk through walls and Keli employs to make people remember her. All of these characters are complete and well-rounded, with none of them missing a beat. Their interactions are marvelous and the jokes come out of the characters rather than at the expense of the characters. Heck, even Rincewind, the incompetent wizard from the first books, makes an appearance!

There's more to this book than the characters, though. The plot is simple, but very good. While there's not much commentary in this book, it does make a bit of a statement about how powerful an emotion love can be. It also shows what a curse being human can be, as Death loses himself in the experience. He even lowers himself to become a fry cook at one point, just to see what it's like. No insult intended to fry cooks, but when you're the anthropomorphic projection of an aspect of life, then you have lowered yourself when you start working a kitchen. The plot moves quickly, with little padding. There are no unnecessary characters placed in the book just to make a joke, which is a sin Pratchett starts to commit in later books. When somebody appears, you know they're going to have an impact.

The only bad thing about this book is the ending. It's very arbitrary, and seems to go against the rest of the book. It seems to come out of nowhere, just being used as an excuse to end the book. The final conflict is resolved way too quickly and neatly. It's almost like Pratchett knew how he wanted to end the book, but couldn't figure out how to get there. It makes sense, but only if you reach a bit.

Still, it's well worth the time spent getting to the ending. The jokes are great, Death is wonderful and you'll really love reading about him. I can't wait to read the next Death book and see what happens. This book is a wonderful place to start your Discworld experience, being the start of a subset within the Discworld series. You won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent -- One of the Very Best of the Series
Review: "Mort" is the 4th Discworld novel. It's also the best of the series up to that point. An excellent book with some of the best writing I've ever read. In this book, Pratchett develops Death and transforms him from a flat, cameo-like persona to a recurring, fairly central, far-more-LIFE-like role. Wonderful book.

Rating:
Summary: superb
Review: Well, it's kinda hard for me to choose my favorite in the Discworld series since every episode has got its great moments. Still, I'd choose this one. For me, it's the best work mr Pratchett has every delivered. Humoristic of course, and as always a brilliant plot. And interesting characters. They're all elements Pratchett got famous for and well, let me tell you he really deserved it. For those who think LOTR is a bit too heavy this is perfect, since it's much easier to read. And for those who love LOTR (like me), well...this is perfect too!

Rating:
Summary: Hope you REALLY like Death ...
Review: While Pratchett is always funny, and a better plotter than I think many who have written him off as a "comedy" writer give him credit for, you'll need to really like the character of Death to fully enjoy "Mort."

While he appears, albeit briefly, in almost every Discworld novel, the character is, pardon the expression, rather thin. The gags in this book are fairly self-evident, and repeated more than a few times. There isn't the sort of broad-ranging imagination Pratchett's friend Neil Gaiman brings to a similar character in his "Sandman" series, and so once, you've gotten past the basic setup, the story revolves around Death's young apprentice, the mystery of why Death would want an apprentice, and what happens when Things Start To Go Horribly Wrong.

Naturally, there's some nice magical chaos, romantic interest (isn't there always?) and a bit of last minute panic, as well as some broad comedy with the Four Horsemen of the Apocraplyse. Nothing phenomenal here, unless you're a big, big fan of Death. This novel also sets up "Reaper Man" and "Soul Music," although it isn't required reading for either.

As always, Pratchett entertains, but this is one of his lesser works.

Rating:
Summary: A gem
Review: There are so many "best" books in the Discworld series. Some are best because of their humour. Some are best because of their message. Some are best of their concept/idea (Reaper Man, The Truth). Some are best because of their sheer ridculousness. Some are best because of their cleverness (Feet of Clay) Some are best for their darkness (Thief of Time). This is probably one of the best for a mixture of several of these, the main two being its humour and idea.

It may not exactly be THE best (in my mind that one will always be The Truth) but it is probably in the top five. Death has always been my favourite character, and to see him have his own ook (and for the first time) is quite an event, and very enjoyable. His comments always contain such dry, unintended wit on his part, and the irony often brought to the fore with the use of his character can be hialrious. (I particularly liked the scene where he was telling somebody that "the affairs of men are not decided by chance". And as this man disagreed, he challenged him to throw a dice. "What if I win?" says the man. "THEN YOU'VE WON" says Death. "What if i loose?" "THEN YOU'LL WISH YOU'D WON". Comes death's reply.)

Mort is a great character, who i would have loved to see more of in future books. His developing relationship with Ysabell is at times touching.

There are so many wonderful elements of this book. The romance. Death loose trying to be human. The revelations concerning Alberts past. The explanations as to the mechanics of history. The way Pterry shows to us the Realm of Death. Among many other things.

This is a series of books that no reader (of whatever genre. i myself detest most schi-fi/fantasy, and much prefer crime/thriller. But this series has grown to become one of my favourites of all time) should ever pass by. There is such a rich casket of wonders presented to you in all 26 (so far) of his Discworld novels. And this is one of the real gems, along with The Truth, Soul Music, Reaper Man, Men At Arms, Carpe Jugulum, and Feet of Clay.

Rating:
Summary: The best of the disc world series !
Review: If you are new to the disc world series this is the best book to start with, since it's so funny and imagenetive that you'll be hooked for ever. You don't need to read the previous books in order to enjoy this one wich offers you a closer look into the professional and personal life ( if you can really call it a life ) of the most funny and wonderfull character in the disc world - DEATH.
All of those who are alredy familiar with the disc world novels need no explaination how can the grim ripper be a funny thing, but to those of you who have yet to enter that world, you'll find out that Death is quite an honest chap, who enjoys the finer things in life like a drink now andthan, gardening and kittens. In order to enjoy this things more freely and with less interruption from his thriving bussiness of ushering souls into happy hunting lands, he hires an apreatnice, a boy called Mort.
Of course Mort makes a fine mess of it all, and as usuall in
pratchett's books it is a most enjoyable and funny catastrophe that threatends to put an end to the world, but the world doesn't end and everyone goes home happy.
Also there is a short guest appearence by Rincewind and the ape librerian we've all learned to love and cherish during the first 3 volumes of disc world novels. funny, funny stuff.

The common criticism concerning pratchett's writing is that he tends to recycle ideas that were at first fresh and wonderfull, but as they mature through his endless books, becomes tedious like a joke that was told too many times.
This book, however, is one of the first he wrote, and there for is guaranteed to make you wear a silly smile of pleasure while it lasts, and , as it was for me, you'll regret it ends so soon.

Soooo - Weather it's a first plunge to the disc world novels or a reading for the " Discoholics" you will absolutely love this book.

Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the best Discworld book ever written!
Review: I started reading discworld much like other readers, a friend told me. When I started reading I couldn't put them down. But one in particular really got to me. "Mort" Was the only book I ever got done reading in one day. The book was so good I had to read it again. "Mort" is the story about Death, with a big D, and the mishaps that occure when he gets an apprentice. During the story Mortimer (or mort for short) Finds that he can't do the job very well when he accidently kills the wrong person. Now he has the matter of a few days to set the course of history right While trying to maintiane a relationship with a girl, and doing the job of death. That's a big order to fill. I don't want to give away the ending because it is just to good. All I can say is pick up this book you won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: DELIRIOUSLY FUNNY!
Review: My first experience with Terry Pratchett was with 'Equal rights', but 'Mort' is one step beyond! From the detail of Death talking in capitals, to the description of Mort himself, from the performing of the Duty (the collecting of peoples' souls), to Albert and Binky(yes, Death has a horse named Binky) and all the amazingly funny characters, places and descriptions and the hole logic of the thing. The dialogues are great and if you're new to Discworld this book WILL HOOK YOU!