1991; 353 pages. New Author? : No. Book 11 (out of 41) in the “Discworld” series; Book 2 (out of 5) in the “Death” sub-series. Laurels: 126th in The Big Read (the top 200 books all-time in the
UK). Genres: Satire; Humorous Fantasy. Overall Rating : 9½*/10.
You know him. The Grim Reaper. Death personified. Black robe, black hood, nasty-looking
scythe. He’s been around forever. You don't want to meet up with him. They say death and taxes are the only two sure things in life.
But maybe the only certainty is taxes. Because somehow, DEATH has just been forcibly retired. Apparently his superiors, whoever they may be, are alarmed about his recent behavior. Lately, DEATH has started to contemplate things. Existential stuff. Life and whatnot. He’s developed a personality. That interferes with his job performance. Plus there have been other irregularities. It’s time to replace him someone less irregular. A new Grim Reaper.
So see ya later, DEATH. Time to ship you out to pasture. Have fun finding out how other species – such as mortals – live out their brief lives. Good
luck on finding another job somewhere.
Like on Discworld.
What’s To Like...
Reaper Man
is another fantastic novel in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld
series, which placed fourteen of its books in the “Top 200” of something called The Big Read,
a survey carried out in 2003 by the BBC to determine the best-loved novel of
all time. Reaper Man finished at #126,
and is a brilliant blend of satire, humor, and keen insight into the deeper
subject of our mortality.
As usual, there are a bunch of
storylines to follow. DEATH does indeed
find a job on Discworld, as a hired hand on a farm, where his ability to swing a scythe is a significant asset.
We also follow the afterlife misadventures of the wizard Windle
Poons, who was so looking forward to experiencing reincarnation and investigate the mysterious proliferation of snow
globes and shopping baskets. Then there are all those rocks and other inanimate objects that suddenly fly up from the
ground and float in the air. Add in some pesky cusswords that breed, and you have just the right amount
of plotlines to keep you turning the pages.
Windle Poons and DEATH are the main protagonists, and this may be the story that introduces a character
called The Death of Rats, and his lesser-known
“mini-me” cohort, The Death of Fleas. The wizards of the Unseen University play a
major role here, which means lots of witty dialogue and plenty of magical bumbling. I was also happy to see my favorite Discworld being, The
Librarian, have a sizable role. Oook!
It was fun to watch DEATH
experience his first hangover, and enlightening to learn how One-Man-Bucket got
his name. I liked Mrs. Cake, a true
clairvoyant, but who can only “see” ten seconds into the future. The talking mayflies were neat, albeit short-lived, and things like hemogoblins, anti-crimes, and autocondimentors
just added to the zaniness. Now if I
could only get someone to teach me how to do the “Morris dance”.
The ending was poignant,
thought-provoking, and left a bit of a lump in my throat, which is rare for a
Discworld tale. All the major plotlines
are tied up, although some of the secondary ones carry over into further
installments. Once again there are lots
of hilarious footnotes and zero chapter divisions, which is the norm for
Discworld books. Reaper Man is
both a standalone novel and part of a 41-book series.
Kewlest New Word ...
Apposite (adj.): apt in the circumstance, or in
relation to something.
Ratings…
Amazon: 4.7*/5, based on 2,151
ratings.
Goodreads: 4.24*/5,
based on 92,504 ratings and 2,997 reviews.
Excerpts...
Something wonderful, if you took the long
view, was about to happen.
If you took the short or medium view,
something horrible was about to happen.
It’s like the difference between seeing a
beautiful new star in the winter sky and actually being close to the
supernova. It’s the difference between
the beauty of morning dew on a cobweb and actually being a fly. (pg. 35)
The wizards said that, as followers of the
light of wisdom, they owed allegiance to no mortal man.
The Patrician said that this may well be
true but they owed a city tax of two hundred dollars per head per annum,
payable quarterly.
The wizards said that the University stood
on magical ground and was therefore exempt from taxation and anyway you
couldn’t put a tax on knowledge.
The Patrician said you could. It was two hundred dollars per capita; if per
capita was a problem, de-capita could be arranged.
The wizards said that the University had
never paid taxes to the civil authority.
The Patrician said he was not proposing to
remain civil for long. (pg.
82)
“Tell someone
you’re dead and they look at you as if they’ve seen a ghost.” (pg. 125)
Finding something to quibble
about in a Discworld novel is always a tough task, but here goes.
There’s a small amount of
cussing in Reaper Man (only 8 instances in the first half of the book),
and even then it’s limited to the milder epithets, including the cleverly polytheistic adjective: “godsdamn”.
There are a couple of literary plugs for
Terry Pratchett’s book The Amazing Maurice and his
Educated Rodents, which is amazingly prescient, since it came out in 2001, ten years after Reaper Man was published. But I read the HarperTorch edition, which
came out in 2002, and I suspect they made the sly insertions.
Finally, there were a couple of typos, which
is rare for a published book: on/an, anymore/any
more, and a weird “Δ60” notation on page 122. I’m guessing that’s some sort of esoteric
shorthand in publishing lingo.
So much for nitpicking. IMHO, Reaper Man
is one of the top books in Terry Pratchett's superlative Discworld series, and is comedic fantasy at its finest. I highly recommend it, and the entire series for that matter, to any and all.
9½ Stars. One last note. There is a bit of a love story in Reaper Man, which is a rare occurrence in a Discworld novel. It was partly responsible for the lump in my throat at the end of the book, and demonstrates just how versatile of a writer Terry Pratchett was.
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