Shop Ireland

Reaper Man: A Discworld Novel by: Terry Pratchett

Click to tell a friend about this item...

More Product Details...

Review Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next »

Click here to add a review!

Average rating -

Rating: - Promising premise, disappointing ending

I'm inclined to agree with the reviewer from Glasgow. I've only read 3 Pratchett books, but I've found them all ultimately disappointing. They tend to begin well, and look as if they're going to develop into interesting and increasingly funny situations, but ultimately they don't. Instead they tend to read like over-long and ultimately tedious Monty Python sketches (with this book I think that is actually the case, since I recall a M.P. sketch where Death knocked on somebody's door with some confused and hilarious consequences - perhaps that's where Pratchett got the idea?). There is a little satire, but not halfway enough for my taste.

According to the blurb on my paperback, I gathered that this book was supposed to be about Death getting fired, enjoying retirement, and Windle Poons going on a quest to persuade him to go back to work. Now that would have made a much funnier book. Instead of that we have an entertaining first 100 pages, but then an increasingly chaotic jumble where the Ankh-Morpork/Windle Poons sections get largely disconnected from the Death/Bill Door parts. The Unseen University wizards all end up rampaging around some organic shopping mall and chasing trolleys for reasons that are lost on me (unless I'm being an idiot). Those parts get increasingly tiresome and don't lead the plot anywhere. In the second half of the book Windle Poons also becomes just one of many supposedly funny undead characters and so the book loses focus. The ending with Death romancing Miss Flitworth is presumably supposed to be moving, but is not, and isn't funny either. So it's all a very disappointing ending to what looked like it would be a funny book in the early pages.

Several reviewers quoted in my edition seem to suggest that many of the jokes in Pratchett's books become clearer on second reading, and that there are layers of satire which reveal themselves through multiple readings. Let's be serious for a moment: Pratchett is simply not that good a writer. These books are basically Tolkien crossed with Monty Python, as I mentioned before. His characterization and plotting are generally weak, his humour is mostly puerile word play and punning, and he often just seems to be making it up as he goes along. This would not necessarily be a failing, but the books would have to be a lot funnier (as the Glasgow reviewer also mentioned).

So all in all, the verdict is this: as far as I'm concerned, Pratchett's commercial success is as mystifying as J.K. Rowling's. They are both fairly weak, formulaic storytellers who make use of stereotypical characters, but have the good sense to keep a series going when they realise that there is a large body of customers who want to keep reading this kind of stuff. It would just be nice if somebody would come along who could write humorous fantasy fiction which was actually FUNNY ...

Rating: - What's life without Death?

You wouldn’t think about job security becoming a problem for Death, the Defeater of Empires, the Swallower of Oceans, etc., but of course the Discworld is itself a contradiction in terms. When your world is a flat plane of existence transported through space atop the four elephants astride the Great Turtle A’tuin’s back, the impossible is surprisingly commonplace. In this bastion of animism and anthropomorphism, not only Death but the mysterious Auditors of Reality have been brought into existence via the mere consciousness running amuck throughout the world. These murkily-defined Auditors, who hate nothing so much as individualism, feel compelled to force Death into retirement for the simple reason that he had taken on something of a personality. If he actually has to die, Death is determined to at least live, and we soon find him working on Renata Flitworth’s farm in the plains below the Ramtops under the assumed name of Bill Door. Whereas Death has been known to indulge his curiosity of living men and women from time to time, in this significant Discworld chronicle he slips into the ways of man without conscious effort, and to some extent Bill Door actually does live for a time on the Discworld.

Naturally, you don’t just replace Death over night; it takes a while for the collective unconscious of all living things to formulate a New Death, and this period of temporary instability proves quite burdensome. One individual particularly unhappy about the current state of affairs is Windle Poons, the oldest of all the wizards in Unseen University. When Death doesn’t show up to meet him at the appointed hour, Poons eventually has little choice but to go and reinhabit his old body once again. He’s not the only undead person walking around in the days that follow. As if the walking dead weren’t problematic enough, inanimate objects begin moving around of their own accord, little glass snow-globes begin turning up everywhere, shopping carts with minds of their own become a menace to society, and the wholly unnatural buildup of life force caused by the absence of a Grim Reaper opens a window on the Discworld for the insidious invasion of the most fearful of all creations.

Reaper Man, the eleventh book in the series, is truly one of the quintessential Discworld novels. We get to see plenty of Death and gain much more valuable insight into his outlook on life; his non-human humanity really shines through his skeletal essence on several occasions in these pages. The always-hilarious wizards of Unseen University are in the mix of things as they should be, and they are joined by a number of Pratchett’s most singular characters. The remarkable Windle Poons, more alive than ever in his death, climbs out of the wheelchair of a very old, hard of hearing, mentally addled old wizard to become a very personable hero. For the first time we meet Mrs. Cake, the small medium seer who has a habit of answering questions just before they are asked, Mrs. Cake’s daughter Ludmilla who happens to be a werewolf, the aforementioned Renata Flitworth, the Death of Rats, and the unforgettable members of the Fresh Start Club formed by zombie Reg Shoe. Those undead creatures who have decided to rally around Shoe’s declaration that the dead aren’t going to take discrimination lying down any longer include the reluctant vampire Arthur and his wife (Count and Countess Notfaroutoe), a banshee, an exceedingly shy bogeyman, and a wereman. Pratchett’s wit and humor are in exceedingly good form throughout, making this one of the most enjoyable and inherently interesting of all Discworld novels.

Rating: - Funny Fantasy

This was the second Terry Pratchett Discworld novel I ever read (right after Hogfather...I'm not one for chronological order) and is my firm favourite out of all the Discworld novels I have read. Not only is it funny, but the plot is intruging and strangely philosophical (deep, man). Plus it is short compared to Hogfather, so I wasn't so put off by it. What I really liked was the sort of fairy tale magic of the harvest metaphor used in the book (Am I lame or what?). It wasn't all that satirical, as some of Pratchett's work can be, it was more a pure fantasy story, which made it all the more enjoyable. The characterisation of Death was excellent, and the other characters in the novel are used in an intricate way to aid his development. All jolly good.

Rating: - So far the best of the disc world series - exceedingly funny

I have read a great deal of the disc world stories and I personally feel that this is my favourite (although all of the others are great reads and most are nearly as hilarious).
Death is a great "chap" and it's actually nice, and I mean this sincerely, that Prachett has made him such a loveable character as I think most of us think of death as being a bit scarey - for obvious reasons I suppose.
There's a great bit near the beginning when you hear the accounts of May flies and of the Counting Pines. I won't relay it here as I wouldn't want to ruin the joke but I'm sure those who have read it will know the bit I'm talking about - it's very funny indeed. Discover why Death has to use a real live horse, namely Binky, rather than the usual skeletal horse or Fiery Steed that you would usually expect.
A hilarious and also moving and thoughtful story of a seven foot "skelington" and an elderly zombified Wizard. I would urge anyone to read it.

Rating: - Easily the greatest book in a long line of amazing reads

First of all I have to say that I am a huge Pratchet fan! I am quite simply mesmerized by his humour and gift of making you get personally involed with the characters and plot. But this book takes you to another level. It is the funniest novel I have ever read I read a lot. Please Please read this book first if you are just starting your (inevitable) long line of Pratchet novels.

Review Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next »