Synopsis
Death is missing – presumed… er… gone.
Which leads to the kind of chaos you always get when an important public service is withdrawn.
Meanwhile, on a little farm far, far away, a tall dark stranger is turning out to be really good with a scythe. There’s a harvest to be gathered in…
Review
We all know cosy fantasy is in its resurgence era, but its worth remembering the genre has a godfather and his name is Terry Pratchett.
The original master of the craft.
This instalment in the Discworld series is The Reaper Man and it brings back one of TP’s most loved characters Death! Or does it?
After being left a little lukewarm with Mort, I was hoping Reaper Man would reignite my love for TP.
TP was never going to miss twice in a row, and this book absolutely landed for me
Lets break this down;
Characters
The main protagonists in this one are Windlepoons a wizard who just cant die and the other is Bill Doors.
Windle is a bit hapless and his story does meander along, however his part of the story does provide all the humour you expect in a Pratchett work. The merry band of individuals he’s fall in step with had me chuckling along and left my cheeks hurting from smiling
As for good ol’ Bill, he just wants an easy life. However, life (and death) is never easy and Bill really did get put through the emotional ringer. There are so many layers to characters created in this story and it made sure I was invested throughout
5/5
World building
Its the Discworld! There is an orangutang librarian!! The world building in all Pratchett books is wild. The entire world blends together real life and some crazy concepts and adjustments to what we are used to. You can never predict where Pratchett will take you
4/5
Writing style
As much as I love the world, characters and often the underlying stories and messages in Pratchett’s writing, I have to confess I don’t always gel amazingly with the writing style. At times i feel it can get a bit clunky. However the ability to write underlying humour whilst weaving a story always astounds me. I always appreciate how Pratchett can make you think and feel about life’s big questions.
4/5
Plot and pacing.
Bill’s part of the story was the highlight of the book. I didn’t expect it to unfold as it did and i confess it was a much more heartwarming tale and ending than i ever expected. Without wanting to give away spoilers, the final 10 percent is just a beautifully crafted story. Windles part of the story didn’t really have much substance or plot but it did give the opportunity to add humour into the story which was starting to get quite deep in other parts
4/5
Entertainment value
Entertained throughout. The writing was fantastically hilarious as expected however if it wasn’t for the Windle plot meandering along this might have landed as a 5-star book
4/5
Overall 4 stars
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