Reaper Man

Gah, my absolute adoration for these books grows with every single one that I read Pratchett is proving himself to have been an absolute mastermind in the art of weaving a heartfelt story that has the ability to absolutely floor me with laughter.

I don't think I've ever read a book that has been this profound while still managing to maintain such a lighthearted air to it. The balance that he strikes between these two is done so deftly that he can heel turn the tone of the book in a matter of paragraphs without it feeling even remotely out of place at any point.

This is achieved through a few different factors, the main one being the characters. The most obvious one has to be Death, who in my opinion is probably the best character that Fantasy has ever been graced with. His adoration for humanity and life in general shines through brilliantly in this book, capitalising on what Pratchett had set up in Mort.

Then there's the various characters from the undead rights movement, who are just wonderful. Of particular note are the Winkings, who are a married couple, one of whom is a vampire, that being Arthur. Doreen, his wife, has decided to take on the part of being a countess to him, in order to be supportive of him, donning a fake Transylvanian accent, doing up their house like a vampire's castle, and renaming the Notfaroutoe's. The entire time, Arthur is very disapproving, as he never wanted to be a vampire in the first place. In my opinion, it's a very sweet dynamic that shows just how dedicated to each other they are, even if Arthur seems a bit sick of it at times.

Then there's the story itself, which is an absolute gem. Death has grown a personality, and for the auditors of reality, his bosses, that just simply won't do, so they give him the sack. This, in a subversion of expectations, delights Death, since now he gets to experience the life that he's only ever experienced the end of, or has lived vicariously through his daughter and apprentice.

He takes a position on a farm, helping out an old lady, and becoming a person unto himself. This is used as a contrast to the job of being Death, where he still gives reverence to each individual blade of grass, or head of wheat, since it's in his nature to give every piece of life it's due reverence.

Whilst all this is going on, things around the disc are going rather pear shaped, as people have stopped dying in the interim between our Death being fired, and a new one being believed into existence.

What the book ends up becoming as these two plot threads are explored, is a wonderfully vibrant love letter to being alive. As you read it, you can tell that Sir Terry Pratchett adored life, and wanted others to at the very least be able to glimpse how wonderful life was. And to an extent, it works quite well. I think you'd be hard pressed to walk away from this book without at least a minor improvement to your outlook on life.

The pacing of the book is something to be noted, because oh my lord, it flows so well. It's a reasonably fast paced book, but Pratchett knew when to slow down and let the story breathe. There wasn't any point where I felt like the pacing didn't fit.

On top of all of that, this book was just an emotional rollercoaster. I got ping ponged between emotions almost constantly, to a point where I felt like I was suffering from emotional whiplash. And I loved it. One minute I'd be busting a gut laughing, then I'd be contemplating the nature of my existence, and after that I'd be basking in how great being alive is. When I finished the book, I just broke into tears for a solid 5 minutes. This was such a bittersweet book, and I'm begging you to read it.

I could gush for ages about the book, but I genuinely don't see a point. As I said before, you should read it, you do yourself a disservice everyday that you don't, it's just that good. Pratchett is one of the greatest authors of our time, and we're likely never going to see someone as gifted as him again. This is one of the easiest 5 stars that I think I've ever given, and has shot Discworld up to a top 3 fantasy series for me.