Mass market paperback, 240 pages
English language
Published April 4, 1989 by Signet.
‘YOU CANNOT INTERFERE WITH FATE. WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE WHO SHOULD LIVE AND WHO SHOULD DIE?’
Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job.
Death is the Grim Reaper of the Discworld, a black-robed skeleton with a scythe who ushers souls into the next world. He is also fond of cats and endlessly baffled by humanity. Soon Death is yearning to experience what humanity really has to offer, but to do that, he’ll need to hire some help.
It’s an offer Mort can’t refuse. As Death’s apprentice he’ll have free board, use of the company horse – and being dead isn’t compulsory. It’s a dream job – until Mort falls in love with Death’s daughter, Ysabell, and discovers that your boss can be a killer on your love life . . .
The ending of this book really doesn't make justice for the whole setup and build-up.
One of the Pratchett books that certainly gets worse on the re-read. I will dare to say that both Colour and Light were significantly better as a whole than this one.
Terry Pratchett is what I’ve been missing when reading Douglas Adams. Mort is not just witty, but actually quite touching and even frightening. The humour seems somehow profound, for example when Death explains that everyone gets what they think is coming for them, because “it’s so much neater that way”. This light-hearted fun actually opens up a philosophical can of worms: If I expect a heavenly afterlife together with my family, but my brother expects to be rotting in hell, is the brother in heaven actually my brother? He can’t be, but did I then actually get what I expected? This dilemma is even touched upon later. I much prefer this humour to cliché nihilism.
The characters and storyline in this book really didn't click with me. I felt like Mort was a complete jerk and that Kelli should have totally died. I mean, I'm glad everything worked out in the end but still.
Kuolema hankkii oppipojan kuolevaisten maailmasta. Alkuhämmennyksen jälkeen oppipoika saa hommasta jujun ja alkaa vähitellen hivuttautua mestarinsa asemaan, mikä ei tuotakaan vaikeuksia, koska Kuolema itse on kyllästynyt työhönsä ja etsii sekä huvituksia että alanvaihtoa kuolevaisten maailmasta. Tällä kertaa oli melkoista struggelitavaraa, erityisesti tosimaailmastamme lainattujen kulttuurierojen ympärille rakentuva huumori aiheutti lähinnä myötähäpeää.
