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Summary: One of my favorite books from one of my favorite Authors
Review: Mort is Definately one of Pratchett's best (which one isn't). I am at the moment involved in the play and am playing Mort. I haven't laughed so much in all my life as when I was reading this book. My favourite part being When Mort (Death's Apprentice) and Ysabell(Death's Daughter- adopted of course) diss each other about their appearances. Death is a really cool character and you will love this book, I don't care who you are.
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Summary: And you thought your job was hard
Review: Death has already featured in the first three Discworld novels, but only as a minor character - at best, he merely boded, at worst, he got a bit annoyed at Rincewind for always managing to avoid dying by a hairsbreadth. In Mort, however, Death is a major player, taking on an assistant by the name of [duh] Mort. This and the other Death novels are not as gothic as one might think at first. As an outsider, Death tries to understand the quirks and foibles of humanity, and only partially succeeds. Such deep philosophy is unusual in a humorous novel, but the Death books on the whole pull it off well.
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Summary: Miniseries
Review: Although Diskworld is well into the double digits for number of books in a series, it is actually made up of several sub-series. Mort is the first book in a subset about Death on Discworld. It can be read independantly of the rest of the series. Death is a real person, not an event in this delightful book. It launches a trilogy that includes such delightful characters as the Death of Rats, and Death's daughter. Well worth the read.
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Summary: Mor(t) Pratchett, please
Review: My first Pratchett book... and certainly not the last!!! Quick, concise character development and great dollops of humour make for an exciting read.I recommend this book to any discerning reader, young or old. Buy it... now! Go! Shoo!
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Summary: A GREAT BOOK
Review: If your an old Prachett fan and you like DEATH, then read this book. If your a new prachett fan, or you've never read him, my god try it. I laughed out loud so many times reading this book, my whole Litature class thinks I'm crazy. It's a mad crazy rush, and a lot of fun.
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Summary: Another great Pratchett book
Review: This is the fourth book in Terry Pratchett's books on the Discworld - a flat world, supported on the back of four massive elephants riding on the back of a planet-sized turtle, anything hilarious can happen here, and eventually does. In this book, Death (capital "D", he's the man, or rather the anthropomorphic personification) decides to take an apprentice, and selects Mort, a rather inept young man from the Ramtops. As Death takes less interest in his job, Mort's interests cause him to create a tear in reality. This is another great Pratchett book. Running several storylines at once, the author succeeds in having all of them move along smoothly. Also, the book contains a goodly dollop of Terry's humor and ironic footnotes. I love the Death books (this one, plus Reaper Man, Soul Music, and Hogfather); in this one Death tries the joys of drinking, dancing, gambling and so forth, all with hilarious results. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
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Summary: The Best Yet
Review: I've started reading the Discworld series from the beginning since they've started reissuing the ones that were out of print. "Mort" is by far the best I've read so far. If they keep getting better as the series progresses, I'm going to have to restrict myself to reading these books at home because of the weird looks I get if I laugh at a book in public. Death is the most hilarious character in the book. Death has decided that he needs an apprentice so that he can look around a bit, do a bit of sightseeing on the Disc. Mort is the only boy in his town that wasn't offered an apprenticeship... until Death came. He gave Mort the offer of a lifetime. Free room and board, a great job, use of the company horse. What more could Mort ask for? But Death starts spending more and more time away and Mort isn't quite ready to start taking over the job full time. This book explores what happens when someone doesn't die that the entire universe expects to die. Like I said, it's one of the *best* of the series so far, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
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Summary: "THERE'S NO JUSTICE. THERE'S JUST ME."
Review: As I am a fan and a student of the anthropomorphic personification of Death, my friends had been urging me to read Mort for a good while before I finally got around to doing so. Quite literally, the book remained in my hands from the moment I began reading until the last flush of print. Novels like Mort and On A Pale Horse by Piers Anthony are much more culturally significant than I believe they are credited, for they take the dreaded inevitible of humanity--death--and turn it into something rational, comprehensible, and even downright human. Mort is an affable sort, but Death is a heck of a guy and a colorful character, whether in bones and black cloth or not. The notion of Death seeking a taste of the mortal when so much fiction goes the other way around is very refreshing. Be advised, though, that you should go into reading Mort with the Fantasy Punnster Mindset firmly in place for maximum enjoyment.
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Summary: Best of the first 4 Discworld novels.
Review: I think this is where Pratchett really built up his writing muscle. I think one of the best indicators of a great fiction read is when you hear your own voice when the character(s) speak. Mort is a fun read with enough Disc mythos behind it to be a bit thoughtful as well.
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Summary: Where It REALLY Begins
Review: Chronologically, this is the fourth of the Discworld novels. In many ways, however, it may be the best place to begin the series, reading a few more and then later going back and filling in "The Colour of Magic", "The Light Fantastic" and "Equal Rites". "Mort" is the first of the "Death" sub-series witin the larger Discworld series as a whole (which includes "The Reaper Man", "Soul Music" and "Hogfather"). The Death of the Discworld is an interesting character -- and he is very much a *character*, rather than an event or a Presence, though he is those, too. Death, after eons of being basically, well, Death, has decided he wants to understand the Human Condition. I mean, being an awesome Anthropomorphised Personification, feared by virtually all, is all well and good... but he *still* doesn't understand why people put fruit in their drinks. In this volume, we are introduced to young Mort, a farmer lad who just isn't suited for farming. Or any other trade anyone can think of. So his father takes him to the Hiring Fair in another town, rather in the manner of a man taking a horse that's only lame if you try to ride it to a Fair where no-one has ever seen it or him. But no-one seems willing to take on Mort, even so. Until the stroke of midnight, when a black-cloaked figure on a big white horse rides up... And so Mort is apprenticed to Death. He learns to take The Duty, as Death refers to riding out personally as a courtesy to the more important decedents (witches and wizards know in advance when they will die and they and priests expect a personal visit from Death as a professional courtesy, so to speak; Death also appears personally to Kings and Emperors and such). Eventually, Death trusts Mort to do The Duty on his own for a couple of days while Death takes a brief holiday to learn more about humanity. Which explains why, when a rather nasty Duke attempts to asassinate his beautiful young cousin, before she can take the throne, Mort tries to change things and takes the Duke, not the Princess. But history has inertia and elasticity, and soon the imbalance between What Is Supposed To Be and What Actually Is begins to threaten reality. And Death is off on holiday and things keep on Getting Worse. This is the volume where Pratchett really begins to hit his stride and bring the Discworld to life -- an actual (albeit Strange) place with real (albeit extreme) characters whose problems are often recogniseable variations on our own. He begins to truly master the dry, sometimes sardonic, tone of narration that makes the goings-on so much more funny... and sometimes, unexpectedly, much more sad and throat-catching. The little touches -- the telling little bits of description not directly involved in the storyline as such but commenting or pointing out, almost as a tour-guide might, really begin to show up here, Unseen University begins to resemble the institution as portrayed in later books, and Pratchett begins explaining more of the physics, meta- and otherwise, of the Discworld. The perfect introduction to the Discworld -- then, n my opinion, one should temporarily skip over the next three ("Sourcery", "Wyrd Sisters" and "Pyramids") to read "Guards! Guards", the first of the "Guards" subseries, then hop back to "Wyrd Sisters", which plays merry havoc with Shakespeare (particularly The Scottish Play) for a proper introduction to the "Witches" subseries... After that, you're on your own. But they're all rousing good fun and will, at least once per volume, make you think a bit, too...
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