Reaper Man (Discworld)

Death is my favorite character in the disc world, and this book is one of the best the series. Reaper Man gives you a chance to see just how much love and appreciation Death has for life. Not to mention this is where we are introduced to Death of Rats, <3!

As always, Death is in rare form. Hit wit is dry as his bones as he learns what Life is like after retirement. This book is another great example of how Terry Pratchett is able to spin multiple yarns to weave a complicated fabric that is then sewn together to make an entertaining throw rug that keeps your toes warm.

Death in the Pratchett series is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalype and sees the world in a very English sort of way for a skeleton. I would say steampunk fans would find his exploits to be enchanting.

Pratchett again produces a world of interesting intrigue, magic and a unique glance at our own lives through the life of a fantastic character. DEATH seems to show his more human side in this book... while still being death, and the ride is both hilarious and insightful.

A simply wonderful read.

Pratchett's Discworld series has been positively reviewed times beyond counting, so let me just add my voice to the chorus. Reaper Man reaches his usual high standard of funny, with an extra soupçon of depth and insight.

In Reaper Man, Death is fired and becomes mortal. "At last I have time" he says, and goes out in the world. Will he have the time of his life? Read and see. An engaging twist on Death Takes a Holiday.

Death is supposed to be immortal. So it comes as quite a shock when he gets notice from the powers that be that his time is limited, and about to come to an end. He decides to take the time remaining to think things through while working as a farmhand. Which of course means nothing is dying. Extremely elderly wizard Windle Poons has known for a while his time would be coming soon. So he's all ready to go. He has a lovely funeral and everything, but Death never shows up and he gets bored. While the greatest wizard minds start working on how to get rid of an undead Wizard Poons, the rest of Ankh-Morpork has started to notice a few odd occurrences (other than the people not dying thing which in Ankh-Morpork is only middling strange). Things like chandeliers unscrewing themselves from the ceiling and compost heaps getting violent. Oh, and a rather odd number of spontaneously appearing snow globes. Something must be done before the inanimate items of Ankh-Morpork take over.

Mr. Pratchett was one very creative man. Only he could have come up with a plot line involving snow globes, shopping carts (trolleys as the Brits would say), and an undead wizard and have it make sense. This was mid-hilarity level for Pratchett. Not the funniest of his, but not the worst either. There are some really great scenes in here, particularly two involving a wizard's condiments and methods attempted to get rid of Poons. I read the 5th book in the Death sub-series already, and it makes more sense having read this one. So read those in order! This one mentions the Amazing Maurice a few times, so it would be good to read at least <i>Mort</i> and <i>The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents</i> before reading this one but not entirely necessary. Fun stuff and it kept a pretty even pace which not all Pratchett's books do.

Notes on content: A handful of minor swear words and another handful of stronger British swear words. No sexual content. Death being on holiday there aren't many fatalities, but there are some dangerous run-ins with inanimate objects.

Second in the DEATH subseries and eleventh in the overall Discworld satirical series revolving around a planet that is flat and carried through space on the back of a turtle. A really big turtle. The focus is on DEATH and his coming death.

My Take
Reaper Man starts off with the Morris Dance, but I don't really see the connection. Yeah, okay, it's Pratchett. There never has to be one, and he does go on about the other dance.

It's all about existence, whether you're alive or dead…and I have no idea how shopping carts, a.k.a., trolleys, fit into this. Nor the purpose of those buzzing swearwords. Although it is funny how the wizards suddenly try to cut out the swearing. Unfortunately, there's only so much room and excess energy any world can take, and that energy has to go somewhere. With Terry Pratchett's imagination, even the sky isn't a limit.

And, here we go on page 11 with those mayflies whose entire life cycle takes 24 hours, ROFL:
"'Ah, er, yerse, you don't get the kind of sun now that you used to get,' said one of them.

'You're right there. We had proper sun in the good old hours. It were all yellow. None of this red stuff.'

'It were higher, too.'"

Pratchett does like to poke fun at everything, and this one is one of my faves. The parents who always had it worse/better in the old days. Pratchett then swings to the millennia life cycle with the Counting Pine and goes at it again, before he sets in on old professors moaning on about how the world is going to pot.

Ah, ambitions. Especially that wizard who doesn't want to give up Windle's rooms. I mean, the fellow's dead, ain't he? What's he need with his rooms just because he won't die all the way?

Says it all about them wizards at Unseen U:
"'It can't be intelligent, can it?' said the Bursar.

'All it's doing is moving around slowly and eating things,' said the Dean.

'Put a pointy hat on it and it'd be a faculty member,' said the Archchancellor."

Mmm, you'd be guessing right if you assumed this was third-person omniscient point-of-view what with all the thoughts we're reading. DEATH is evolving with his observations of behavior as he plunges into finally experiencing life. His panic. His hangover. Learning compassion. Windle evolves as well, becoming more appreciative of the little things in life. Poor Reg. Even the Death of Rats has his moments.

I don't know how he does it, but Pratchett yanks in every myth, superstition, stereotype from "playing kettle drums and doing that bimbo dancing all night" to "making him pass water", er, I mean "running water" to vampires who need hemogoblins to "contracting genetics" to new-fangled gadgets that'll never catch on, and more. The miraculous ability of a mind to regenerate after giving so many pieces of it away. The unnaturalness of, shock, taking all your clothes off to have a bath??!

Oooh, anti-crime… Nope, it's not what you're thinking. This is more along the lines of breaking-and-decorating, whitemailing…and worse!

Yeah, I can see that. Snowglobes as eggs to hatch cities.

In the end, it's all about the harvest.

The Story
They say there are only two things you can count on …

But that was before DEATH discovered the sands running out of his own timer. Seems he's developing, ahem, a personality. Can't have that.

It's rather sudden, this concept of time running out for him, and DEATH abandons his job and sets off to spend his time as he chooses.

But like every cutback in an important public service, the lack of DEATH soon leads to chaos and unrest — literally, for those whose time was supposed to be up, like Windle Poons.

The oldest geezer in the entire faculty of Unseen University — home of magic, wizardry, and big dinners — Windle was looking forward to a wonderful afterlife, not this boring been-there-done-that routine.

But there will be no fresh start without DEATH, and Windle and the rest of Ankh-Morpork's undead and underemployed set off to find DEATH and save the world for the living (and everybody else, of course).

The Characters
DEATH is the Grim Reaper we all know. And fear to see coming to our door. Binky is DEATH's pale, living horse. They'll let DEATH keep him. Albert is his now-depressed human servant. The powers-that-be have had to outsource with DEATH out of the picture, so we have the Death of Rats, SQUEAK, and the Death of Fleas. The new DEATH is a prat.

Bill Door finds work as farm labor with Miss Renata Flitworth. Ralph? Rufus?, a smuggler, had been her fiancé. Nancy is the pig. Cyril is the cockerel with dyslexia. Lifton is the landlord at the local inn; Sal is his daughter. Other villagers include William Spigot, Gabby Wheels, and Duke Bottomley (his brothers are Squire, Earl, and King). Ned Simnel is the inventive blacksmith. Iago Peedbury has a field in which they test Simnel's latest.

Ankh-Morpork is…
…the most cosmopolitan city on Discworld where anyone is welcome…as long as they have a return ticket. The Shades is its worst neighborhood. And that's sayin' somethin'!

Unseen U is…
…the wizard university of Discworld based in Ankh-Morpork. Windle Poons is the oldest wizard in the entire faculty.
"It occurred to him that for most of his life he'd been an old man. Didn't seem fair, really."
Mustrum Ridcully is the current Archchancellor obsessed with hunting, dressing as he pleases, getting roaring drunk, jollying people along…and jogging! The Dean who discovers how much fun it is to ignore the rules. Yo! The Librarian is a wizard who was transformed into an orangutan. The Bursar obsesses himself with paperwork and doesn't need to worry about assassination. Who would want his job? Other wizards include the Lecturer in Recent Runes and the Senior Wrangler, who is the leading philosopher. Modo is the dwarf gardener. Unseen U insists on a lying-in period for wizards after the embarrassing affair of Prissal "Merry Prankster" Teatar.

The Fresh Start Club is…
…a support group for the undead started up by Reg Shoe, a mortuary worker. Members include Brother Arthur Winkings, er, no, I mean Count Notfaroutoe, a lower-middle-class wholesale fruit and veg merchant, and his wife, Sister Doreen, oops, Countess Notfaroutoe, the keep-up-with-the-Joneses vampiress; Brother Schleppel, a very shy bogeyman; Brother Lupine; Brother Gorper; Sister Drull is a ghoul; and, Brother Ixolite is a banshee with a speech impediment.

Sergeant Fred Colon is of the Ankh-Morpork City Guard, the city's policing agency. Captain Doxie is with the City Guard Day Watch. The Patrician, Lord Vetinari, rules the city. Captain Douglas is with the Guard.

Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, he says he's a merchant adventurer, but he's really an itinerant peddler with lots of get-rich schemes, providing he can steal the products and cheat the customers. Detritus is the odd-job troll at the Mended Drum, a tavern. The tale of The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents provide the truth to the tale of the Pied Piper. Druto Pole is a florist with an order to die for.

Mrs. Evadne Cake is a small medium feared by all religions. Her daughter, Ludmilla, turns into a werewolf. Must be something to do with Great Uncle Erasmus. One-Man-Bucket is her spirit guide, and yes, it's the old joke about what the mother first sees on looking out the teepee.

The Chief Priest of Blind Io is the senior priest of the senior god on Discworld and therefore the religious spokesman. He's also Ridcully's brother. Other religious leaders mentioned include the priest of Offler the Crocodile God, the high priest of the Cult of Hinki, the Archdeacon of Thrume, and the scandalized Reverend Welegare. Guilds include the Alchemists, Geoffrey is the General Secretary and Chief Butt of the Guild of Fools and Joculators, and the Assassins.

The auditors of reality are…
…supposed to be a group mind — think accountant. Azrael is the sky and appears to be the boss.

Discworld is a flat planet carried on the back of a turtle who swims through the galaxy.

The Cover and Title
The cover is black with a fossilized gray stone arched window with a deep sill. Leaning out the window is a golden skeleton with sly eyes wearing a straw hat and bib overalls, one hand resting on an hourglass. In the black background of the window is the hook-nosed, white-bearded, red-and-black-pointy-hat-and-dark-red-robe-wearing Windle Poons, the wizard who cannot die. The title is a bright yellow across the top while the author's name is at the bottom in white.

The title is a chance to try a different life as the Reaper Man with a different kind of harvest.

To begin, this is simply one of the best Pratchett books – arguably the best – that I have read so far. I have read them in order of publication, with the exception of Small Gods, Hogfather, and Dodger (fourteen), and this one had one of the most touching, tightly plotted, and enjoyable of all of them... Perhaps second to the enjoyment I got out of the first book, The Colour of Magic.

The story follows Death as he loses his job and has to make do with navigating a world that seems to not need him any longer. Turns out it does, but he doesn't find out until later. In the meantime, he takes jobs, meets people, and tries to fit in as the world crumbles around him. In the true Pratchett spirit, hilarity ensues... But what sets this book apart was the incredibly taut structure, prose, and sentimental ending that truly made me gasp at its beauty and execution.

This particular book contained some of the most incredible and hilarious sentences that I have ever read in all of literature. Granted, I mean this stylistically in terms of modern pop literature... But in this particular book, Pratchett really made a remarkable effort to bridge high thematic content with accessible diction and narrative structure. This book is simply a perfect little book, and my entertainment brain was stimulated along with my philosophical brain. It was absolutely a wonderful book to experience. As a writer, his bridging of the pop with the literary, and his structuring of some really incredibly stimulating sentences was truly an art in using the best words in the best order to say something for all audiences.

So far, this book is Pratchett's masterpiece for me... But I look forward to continuing to dance with Death and the rest of this wonderful world that I enjoy visiting so often.

I wanted to love this one as much as Mort. And I do, so this is actually a 4.5 stars. Because it's a bit more complex than Mort and not quite as effortless, but hilarious just the same. I think the half star less is because of the ending. Which is obviously going to be what it was, but I wanted something else. So.

Nevertheless. The story is great (still mulling over the shopping cart thing, but I liked how kooky it was). There are some prime moments in there that I'll never forget--the situational humor is excellent. I had to read sections aloud to force the hilarity on people around me.

DEATH is not only the main character of "Reaper Man", he becomes a humorous metaphorical concept in the hands of Terry Pratchett when imagining if the Grim Reaper got replaced and the consequence to the Disc. Pratchett is at his comical and narrative best, further developing previously established characters and introducing memorable new ones.

The Auditors, which I first learned about watching The Hogfather miniseries, make their first appearance in the Discworld novels and target DEATH because he's gained a personality. The result DEATH is forced into retirement, it's short but he decides to learn to live in what time he's got. While living on the farm of Miss Flitworth, DEATH learns about every day things and personal interactions as "Bill Door" all the while checking his golden watch tick down. While DEATH is on the farm, the Auditors didn't have someone to immediately fill his position resulting in people dying but not "moving on" as in the case of Windle Poons, a 130 year old Wizard who had a more active undead "life" than his actual life. Poons, the Wizards of the Unseen University, and many other assorted characters must contend with the build up of Life Force that could result in something that can be the death of a city.

The two plots are vaguely intertwined and only combine with one another at the very end, however each has little subplots that Pratchett uses not only to humorous but narrative effect that drives the book forward. Honestly, I could not find a fault in this book and probably because since I've started reading Discworld I've been looking forward to reading the DEATH series of books with anticipation. However, the time I spent reading this book has been with a smile on my face as noted by my co-workers who shared a table with me during lunches and breaks. I can't give a better recommendation than that.

I've always been a bit mystified how Pratchett, with his grating poor-man's-Adams style and paper thin characters, receives such universal acclaim. I decided to dive into Discworld after hearing from nearly everybody how absurd and funny the books are, and the early entries did nothing but frustrate me. However, since everybody claims the later entries are superior to the first few, I picked up Guards! Guards! and Reaper Man, and they were bad enough to convince me to give up on this author.

This novel consists of two halves, one of which - Death having to live among mortals - is a good idea that could have been executed much better. The idea of Death himself having to live among humans could, from a stronger author, have led to any number of insights on our own mortality and the human condition. Instead, all we get is that Death is a good farmhand because he's handy with a scythe, and he hates clocks. I suppose it's very insightful and moving if you're 14, but it's hard to see this storyline as anything other than wasted potential.

The other half isn't even a badly-executed good idea - it's just a bad idea from the outset. Windle Poons is supposed to die of old age, fails to because Death isn't on duty, comes back as a zombie with super strength and wanders around meeting all kinds of uninteresting characters. This is intended to be the zany, comedic side of the story, but it commits the cardinal sin of just not being very funny. This half is dragged down considerably by a lengthy subplot about killer shopping carts, along with nonstop unfunny bickering between one-dimensional wizard characters. The whole thing is irritating and badly plotted, and certain gags that aren't funny the first time (such as a wizard replying to everything with "Yo") get hammered home and revisited far, far too often.

I've seen many people make the claim that Discworld is a mirror that satirizes our own world, but to me Pratchett's attempts at doing this are far too straightforward and clumsy to be very interesting. Time to move on.

Wow, Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man is a crazy book and a whole lot of fun to read! I hadn't read him in many years and had forgotten how witty the man is. Sheer genius. In this book, Death is retired and given a mortal life (while still remaining a big skeleton). He goes to work as a farmhand named Bill Door. The old woman he's working for is either crazy or quirky -- you pick it. Since Death is no longer busy getting souls to take them on to the other world, and since a replacement has apparently not been found, everyone (and thing) dying is going right back into their bodies and the place is really messed up. An old wizard named Windle Poons, after dying, now finds himself back among the living as a sort of zombie. There are all sorts of delights in this book -- werewolves, vampires, bogeymen, etc. All with Pratchett's flair for wording things brilliantly. The man is simply funny. As things progress, you start to see how a couple of stories that don't seem to have anything to do with each other actually do and they come together. During the book, I wondered how Pratchett would end the book gracefully, and I've got to say, he did not disappoint. It's a very satisfying ending. This book is part of the Discworld series, and it's quickly become one of my favorite Pratchett books I've read.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld does for (or to) Fantasy what Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy did for science fiction--firmly sets a story within a genre, stereotypes intact, then goes to town. He's frequently irreverent, and it's an absolute delight to read.

Used to be the only two things you could count on were Death and taxes. Anymore, however...Death's bosses are getting dissatisfied. They think he's gone soft, and disapprove of the fact that he's evolved a personality over the eons. He should be a force of nature, not...well, not a "he" at all. So they resolve to fire him and let a new Death take over, which is all well and good aside from the chaos of the "transitional period...." Windle Poons was the oldest wizard alive. Now he's the only wizard undead. You see, when a wizard dies Death himself is supposed to show up and escort him to his destination. But Death never showed, so Windle is back in his body feeling better than ever and freaking out the rest of the faculty. But it's not just Windle; nothing is dying while Death is away, and random life force with nowhere to go is building up and requiring an outlet....Meanwhile, Death is trying his hand at living for the first time.

This eleventh Discworld novel stands on its own okay. Most of the wizards are recurring castmembers to some degree or another, as is Death and some of the other minor players, but you shouldn't be too lost if this is your first entry into the Discworld....

Back in the early eighties (almost thirty years ago, how time flies) "Discworld" was nothing but a witty parody of numerous tropes and idioms found in the genre of fantasy. It spawned many copycats and soon there was an entire universe populated by parodies - so that they themselves became subverted and lead a life of their own overtaking the genre that gave them birth. By that time, Pratchett was already moving far ahead. His early ventures in the world of Discworld were very particular - and only an avid reader of fantasy could really find enjoyment in them. You had to be able to spot a reference to understand what has been going on in the book. People who couldn't do this didn't care much about the whole thing and they wondered what all the fuss was about.

Very soon Pratchett realized the potential of his creation - Discworld being both world and a mirror of worlds - and by the next decade he started using it in a totally different manner. Comedy and parody were still an integral part of the books (and spot the reference game was still heavily used) but they were no longer the main focus. "Discworld" grew shape, characters were developing personalities and what started as a mere nod to a pulp fiction soon became a full-bred world. Fictional world. Though fiction bits of it had suspicious ring of Truth to them. You could use this new "Discworld" to write real stories in it. Stories that had complexity, stories that reached outside the narrow borders of the genre conventions, stories that a total newcomer could understand and relate to, stories that spoke about the world outside. While rest of the world was getting busy trying to cash in on "Discworld" success, producing numerous parodies and subversions, Pratchett started with serious writing and people who got infected by a "Discworld" virus, people who became fans of the earlier versions of "Discworld" didn't know what hit them.

From the funny pages that spoke of the world carried across the universe on the back of four giant elephants placed on the shell of a turtle Literature emerged. Your old, ancient, classical, thought-provoking, complex literature. Many of the fans didn't like this change at all. Many of them did. And many more came.

In the early nineties came the "Reaper man", "Discworld" novel that embodied this change. You can read some of the reactions to it here on the store. Most common negative remark is that this `book is not funny'. Though `being funny' is an entirely subjective matter, "Reaper man" was never intended to be funny. It was intended to be a meditation on meaning of life - written for a stage full of clowns and chaotically inclined Wizards. In this sense, it was (and still is) a great book. "Reaper man" juxtaposes two narratives - one that has pastoral feel and other that has urban, metropolis-kind tone to it. It is a story about the battle of two viewpoints, traditional and modern. With life-force in abundance (Death being retired or `let go' the main reason for it), modern world will spawn man-eating, zombiefying shopping malls - while traditional world will remain unchanged. Almost unchanged. In the midst of it all, Pratchett will write about the ordinary man (wearing a guise of 130yr-old wizard and antropomorfical personification of Death itself) and his insecurities. He will write about acquiring identity, about loneliness, love, responsibility and the finite and unique existence of every individual. Underneath the usual Discworld paraphernalia of trope subversion, reader will get a zen-like story, story that celebrates life with a hint of melancholy, story that draws you away from an incessant rush and hive-mind of modern society, story that will remain with you for long and to which you will be returning.

"Reaper man" is a classic. Great literature wearing the guise of a clown - mirroring our world in yet another subtext. In the age of the kings Fools were the only ones who were allowed to tell the truth. "Reaper man" wears a Fool's costume, but there is nothing foolish inside of it.

To date I've read about a dozen Discworld novels, and this was the best of them by a full hand. What it's about is Death, who is sacked from his job by the cosmic auditors for taking too personal an interest in things. Given an hourglass of his own and nothing to do, Death renames himself Bill Door and goes to work as a farm hand for the redoubtable Miss Flitworth, who is about seventy-five and long ago lost her smuggler lover to an avalanche in the mountains. Bill Door, under the influence of the sand pouring down through his hourglass, slowly comes to understand how all these little humans live their scared, bunched-up lives sandwiched between cradle and grave.

While Death gains mortal perspective, the fact that Death has been retired means that the dead aren't dying properly. There is an upsurge in poltergeist activity, and life energy is bursting to express itself since it is stuck between worlds. Windle Poons is an ancient wizard who should have died but mysteriously comes back to "life" and has a big adventure stopping the birth of shopping malls from happening to Ankh-Morpork. He is joined by several wizards from Unseen University, and the orangutan librarian, and a society of the undead who help him see to the death of the shopping mall.

What is unique about this book is that it does not end abruptly, as most Discworld novels do, but unwinds slowly as the characters meet their Deaths and move on to new things. Windle Poons eventually dies for real, and Miss Flitworth and Death have a last dance before she is reunited with her lover in the next world. Terry Pratchett seems to have needed to do some metaphysical speculation in this book, and the ending(s) are very appropriate and quite satisfying. I was saddened that the characters who died didn't get a reprieve, but who among us does? It's better that their ends were good ones, and the story came slowly to a stop.

This book also features several sub-plots that unfold tidily and give the book extra kick. There is the wolf-man and the wolf-woman, there is the story of the harvester, there is the Death of Rats who wants to be independent. This book bursts with life without feeling busy, and it has been the most soulful of the Discworld books I've read so far. Read it, enjoy it, review it!

Death, the personification of the concept and process, is being retired from Discworld. This leads to a build-up of life energy on the disc, with serious fallout for its citizens. Death now has time, something he has never experienced, and sets out to make the most of it. Like Pratchett's other books in the Discworld series, they are simultaneously humorous and provoke deeper thought. The humor comes from the odd aspects of characters (e.g., a Ban Shee who is too shy to wail and thus instead leaves notes under your door with a transliteration of his wail, a reluctant vampire who would rather sell produce and his wife who attempts to embrace the varmpiric role). Throughout it all, the sections with Death stand out as both the funniest and the deepest. Death has developed a caring for those humans who puzzle him so. Living (and dealing with the idea of dying) among them now, he continues his philosophical explorations while learning from those around him. Particularly interesting was Death's reaction to his replacement, whom Death considers only with contempt for his vicious arrogance and love of drama. Death's character continues to evolve, as in his his breaking his own rules to save a little girl and his indignation at the idea that his corn harvest would be threatened by a severe storm. Look for the subtle cultural references (e.g., Death's discussion of a game of "Exclusive Possession," which jokingly skirts the copyright laws as he discusses who owned streets and utilities). Pratchett works hard to make sure that you can pick up random books in the series and hopefully not be lost. Each one stands on its own, although the more knowledge you have of the various characters from prior works, the more you enjoy their development. I also listened to the book on audible, and having the book read with the various voices, including the deep and echoing voice of Death, only added to the book.

So in this one Death (or Bill Door, whichever you like), has been given the sack and turns to reaping corn (you must admit, he's a lot of experience with a scythe) for an old woman while he waits for the new death. The way he reaps the corn one strand at a time had, to me, a reverential sort of feeling to it.
Now Death has got to be my favourite character. I think it's the way he tries to understand our world and will, on occasion, get the wrong end of the stick. His time in the village is very much like this. Especially when it comes to the little girl there that can see exactly what he is.
But it doesn't just focus on Death and the pastoral life. No, no. With no Death aren't dying ... that is to say, they are, but not in the typical sense. At least, not for humans. And there's the chaos with stuff that wasn't/hasn't been alive moving about.
On top of this, there are the mysterious trolleys. Lots of them. They were quite amusing actually. They're like the seagulls in Finding Nemo. You could imagine the seagulls saying "Mine" all the time and you could, without much trouble, imagine trolleys wheeling themselves to some out-of-the-way place.
The ending ... I kind of already knew the ending. At least the outcome for Death. What happened to the trolleys and the wizards was a whole different story.

Ok, I'll admit it. Pratchett's Death is my favorite character in Discworld. I have others right there near him, but he stands above them on strong bony feet. So this book should be one of my favorites in the series. Alas, it's not quite there for me. But it's still a good read.

I like fish-out-of-water stories. And the mighty as mortal is a popular, if somewhat overused plot device. But aside from some great ideas on what it means to be dead and how you can't die without a Death, this book feels more like a filler to help understand characters in the series a bit more. I wonder if Pratchett knew that Death would be a huge part of his world and needed some more background to explain his motives and actions.

I'm trying not to give anything away, because even though this isn't one of my favorite Discworld book, or Death story, it's still a good read. There's plenty to smile at, characters new and old to walk next to, and plenty of "drama". If you like Discworld's Death, you should definitely read it. And when I go, I hope there's a good wizard feast for everyone to enjoy.

Recommended with caveats.

So. What are your thoughts on death?

Or rather, Death?

It's a weird thing, death. I mean, you're here one minute and then you're... not. And while we all know intellectually that we're going to die, there's something in us that refuses to believe that the essential Person that we are could possibly cease to exist. We have personalities, unique aggregations of memory and experience and inborn preferences that all display themselves as a Person, as far as we know unique in all the world. Each human being is an entity that will never be seen again in this universe, and as far as we know, the cessation of life brings that entity to an end, reducing the person we knew to a mere insentiate object.

Is it any wonder we come up with stories for what happens... y'know, after?

Just about very culture that's ever been has come up with some form of afterlife, be it an eternal feast for heroes, a paradise in which we can bask in God's glory, a place of exquisite pain and torment, or a ticket back to Earth for another go 'round. There is no way of knowing if any of those are actually what happens to us when we die. At least not until we actually do it. So since we cannot know, we make stuff up, if only to make the whole thing easier to bear.

What often goes with that other world is someone to take us over. A ferryman or a guide, someone who knows the territory and knows where we need to go in what is very likely a rather confusing time. It's another piece of comfort - knowing that there's Someone out there who knows where we need to go and what we need to do.

Which brings us to Death.

He's been portrayed many ways over the years - my favorite is the Death from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series - a sort of older sister who's known you all your life and loves you anyway. If she shows up for me when I die, I think I'll be okay.

I would be just as happy with Pratchett's Death, even though he is the more traditional robes-scythe-and-skeleton type. Fans of Discworld love Death, which I imagine was somewhat baffling for Pratchett early on. In the first few books, Death was a bit character - he showed up a couple of times to collect the recently deceased, and that was it. But his scenes were so memorable and so good that they sometimes stuck out above the rest of the book. He speaks <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">entirely in capital letters, which lends him a voice that is probably reminiscent of James Earl Jones.</span> He's aloof, but not uncaring, and seems to take a rather curious interest in humanity. He likes cats, has a house off on the edge of nowhere, and rides a great white steed named Binky. Death has become, in short, an interesting person.

And it seems that's a problem.

The Universe, you see, is a finely tuned instrument, one which needs monitoring and, occasionally, adjusting. There are... let's call them Auditors, who make sure that reality stays real - no odd deviations or anomolies such as, for example, anthropomorphic personifications of natural forces. In all honesty, they would eliminate all life if they could, but that is, as yet, beyond their capabilities. So they settle for telling Death that it's time for him to retire. He gets a little hourglass all his own, and time to kill until the new Death comes into being.

In the interim, this time between Deaths, a new problem arises: nothing is dying. Or, to be more specific, things are dying, but the vital energies that empowered everything, from cabbages to clergymen, aren't being taken away. Without a Death to handle this very vital - so to speak - function, the life energy is looking for a place to go, an outlet. As a result, things that shouldn't be alive are up and moving around. In some cases this means objects running along of their own accord, and in others it means that the dead simply have nowhere to go.

Such is the case with the wizard Windle Poons. After 130 years at the Unseen University, he was rather looking forward to a nice rest and then a bit of reincarnation as a woman in a far more liberal society. What he got instead was nothingness. Given that option, he went back to his body and became Undead, much to the consternation of the rest of the UU faculty. Unfortunately for them, they have bigger things to worry about - the buildup of life force is having a rather larger and more dangerous effect on the city of Ankh-Morpork itself. The lack of a Death may well doom the city in a manner that will be horribly familiar to many of Pratchett's readers.

And where is Death in all this, or at least the person who used to be Death? He has found a small farm below the famous Ramtop Mountains. An old maid, Miss Flitworth, needs a hand and Death needs a way to spend his time - something he's never had to worry about before. He takes the alias Bill Door and starts to learn what it means to be alive, despite the short time he has left.

The book, as you might imagine, is all about being alive. What makes life special and precious and ultimately worth living. Windle Poons let life go past while he grew old behind the university walls, and it is only in death that he finds out all that fun he'd missed. Bill Door learns that it is the fragility of life, and its most certain end, which ultimately gives it meaning. In the middle, we see that everything that can live yearns to do so, from the mayflies to the great Counting Pines to cities to ideas.

While the book gives no answers to what may happen after death (the Discworld books rarely do), it does give us another way to look at life. And that, ultimately, is the goal of any great story.

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"Huh! Priests! They're all the same. Always telling you that you're going to live again after you're dead, but you just try it and see the look on their faces!"
- Reg Shoe, Reaper Man
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So in this one Death (or Bill Door, whichever you like), has been given the sack and turns to reaping corn (you must admit, he's a lot of experience with a scythe) for an old woman while he waits for the new death. The way he reaps the corn one strand at a time had, to me, a reverential sort of feeling to it.
Now Death has got to be my favourite character. I think it's the way he tries to understand our world and will, on occasion, get the wrong end of the stick. His time in the village is very much like this. Especially when it comes to the little girl there that can see exactly what he is.
But it doesn't just focus on Death and the pastoral life. No, no. With no Death aren't dying ... that is to say, they are, but not in the typical sense. At least, not for humans. And there's the chaos with stuff that wasn't/hasn't been alive moving about.
On top of this, there are the mysterious trolleys. Lots of them. They were quite amusing actually. They're like the seagulls in Finding Nemo. You could imagine the seagulls saying "Mine" all the time and you could, without much trouble, imagine trolleys wheeling themselves to some out-of-the-way place.
The ending ... I kind of already knew the ending. At least the outcome for Death. What happened to the trolleys and the wizards was a whole different story.

Ok, I'll admit it. Pratchett's Death is my favorite character in Discworld. I have others right there near him, but he stands above them on strong bony feet. So this book should be one of my favorites in the series. Alas, it's not quite there for me. But it's still a good read.

I like fish-out-of-water stories. And the mighty as mortal is a popular, if somewhat overused plot device. But aside from some great ideas on what it means to be dead and how you can't die without a Death, this book feels more like a filler to help understand characters in the series a bit more. I wonder if Pratchett knew that Death would be a huge part of his world and needed some more background to explain his motives and actions.

I'm trying not to give anything away, because even though this isn't one of my favorite Discworld book, or Death story, it's still a good read. There's plenty to smile at, characters new and old to walk next to, and plenty of "drama". If you like Discworld's Death, you should definitely read it. And when I go, I hope there's a good wizard feast for everyone to enjoy.

Recommended with caveats.

So. What are your thoughts on death?

Or rather, Death?

It's a weird thing, death. I mean, you're here one minute and then you're... not. And while we all know intellectually that we're going to die, there's something in us that refuses to believe that the essential Person that we are could possibly cease to exist. We have personalities, unique aggregations of memory and experience and inborn preferences that all display themselves as a Person, as far as we know unique in all the world. Each human being is an entity that will never be seen again in this universe, and as far as we know, the cessation of life brings that entity to an end, reducing the person we knew to a mere insentiate object.

Is it any wonder we come up with stories for what happens... y'know, after?

Just about very culture that's ever been has come up with some form of afterlife, be it an eternal feast for heroes, a paradise in which we can bask in God's glory, a place of exquisite pain and torment, or a ticket back to Earth for another go 'round. There is no way of knowing if any of those are actually what happens to us when we die. At least not until we actually do it. So since we cannot know, we make stuff up, if only to make the whole thing easier to bear.

What often goes with that other world is someone to take us over. A ferryman or a guide, someone who knows the territory and knows where we need to go in what is very likely a rather confusing time. It's another piece of comfort - knowing that there's Someone out there who knows where we need to go and what we need to do.

Which brings us to Death.

He's been portrayed many ways over the years - my favorite is the Death from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series - a sort of older sister who's known you all your life and loves you anyway. If she shows up for me when I die, I think I'll be okay.

I would be just as happy with Pratchett's Death, even though he is the more traditional robes-scythe-and-skeleton type. Fans of Discworld love Death, which I imagine was somewhat baffling for Pratchett early on. In the first few books, Death was a bit character - he showed up a couple of times to collect the recently deceased, and that was it. But his scenes were so memorable and so good that they sometimes stuck out above the rest of the book. He speaks <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">entirely in capital letters, which lends him a voice that is probably reminiscent of James Earl Jones.</span> He's aloof, but not uncaring, and seems to take a rather curious interest in humanity. He likes cats, has a house off on the edge of nowhere, and rides a great white steed named Binky. Death has become, in short, an interesting person.

And it seems that's a problem.

The Universe, you see, is a finely tuned instrument, one which needs monitoring and, occasionally, adjusting. There are... let's call them Auditors, who make sure that reality stays real - no odd deviations or anomolies such as, for example, anthropomorphic personifications of natural forces. In all honesty, they would eliminate all life if they could, but that is, as yet, beyond their capabilities. So they settle for telling Death that it's time for him to retire. He gets a little hourglass all his own, and time to kill until the new Death comes into being.

In the interim, this time between Deaths, a new problem arises: nothing is dying. Or, to be more specific, things are dying, but the vital energies that empowered everything, from cabbages to clergymen, aren't being taken away. Without a Death to handle this very vital - so to speak - function, the life energy is looking for a place to go, an outlet. As a result, things that shouldn't be alive are up and moving around. In some cases this means objects running along of their own accord, and in others it means that the dead simply have nowhere to go.

Such is the case with the wizard Windle Poons. After 130 years at the Unseen University, he was rather looking forward to a nice rest and then a bit of reincarnation as a woman in a far more liberal society. What he got instead was nothingness. Given that option, he went back to his body and became Undead, much to the consternation of the rest of the UU faculty. Unfortunately for them, they have bigger things to worry about - the buildup of life force is having a rather larger and more dangerous effect on the city of Ankh-Morpork itself. The lack of a Death may well doom the city in a manner that will be horribly familiar to many of Pratchett's readers.

And where is Death in all this, or at least the person who used to be Death? He has found a small farm below the famous Ramtop Mountains. An old maid, Miss Flitworth, needs a hand and Death needs a way to spend his time - something he's never had to worry about before. He takes the alias Bill Door and starts to learn what it means to be alive, despite the short time he has left.

The book, as you might imagine, is all about being alive. What makes life special and precious and ultimately worth living. Windle Poons let life go past while he grew old behind the university walls, and it is only in death that he finds out all that fun he'd missed. Bill Door learns that it is the fragility of life, and its most certain end, which ultimately gives it meaning. In the middle, we see that everything that can live yearns to do so, from the mayflies to the great Counting Pines to cities to ideas.

While the book gives no answers to what may happen after death (the Discworld books rarely do), it does give us another way to look at life. And that, ultimately, is the goal of any great story.

------------------------------------------------------
"Huh! Priests! They're all the same. Always telling you that you're going to live again after you're dead, but you just try it and see the look on their faces!"
- Reg Shoe, Reaper Man
------------------------------------------------------

What happens when Death retires? In Discworld, he's given a golden life timer and suddenly finds he will only continue to exist for a finite length of time. How should he use his limited remaining time? He ends up boarding with an old spinster, working as a handyman and along the way learns a great deal about what it means to be mortal.

Meanwhile, the life force from all the creatures who continue to die begins to build up without Death to usher it on. When the oldest wizard at Unseen University, Windle Poons, reaches the end of his life, he finds he's been stood up by Death, and his soul forces its way back into his body, reanimating it as a zombie, much to the consternation of his fellow wizards. Soon, however, the wizards have other things to worry about as the growing surplus of life force starts causing a great deal of chaos in and around Ankh-Morpork. As the wizards blunder about, trying to understand and address the problem, Poons and his new, undead friends step in to save the city.

While this book was entertaining, and included some truly comic moments, the two storylines were not equally compelling. The threat to Ankh-Morpork was always somewhat vague, as if it was just a vehicle that allowed the characters to engage in some general mayhem. On the other hand, the storyline focused on Death provided a great deal of philosophical meat to chew on, from the nature of death, to the struggles of mortality, and the lasting bonds of true love. This second storyline was far more interesting and compelling for me, and redeemed what was otherwise a mediocre book.

My second foray into Pratchett's nearly 40-some book Discworld series was just as satisfying as the first. Whereas the first time I read one of the author's more recent offerings "Going Postal" this time I tried something a little older with "Reaper Man." The tagline on the cover read "It's no fun when Death takes a holiday" which could be amended to add "--except for readers of this book."

As the title suggests, "Reaper Man" is about Death, both with a capital and lower-case D. Two stories run throughout the book, finally intersecting at the end. The first is about Death--the Grim Reaper in popular parlance--who is being retired by his masters because Death seems to be developing a personality. With typical bureaucratic foresight, Death's masters have no replacement lined up.

The impact of this is told through the story of 130-year-old wizard Windle Poons. After living a long, dull life at Unseen University, Windle is finally ready to go into the Great Beyond. He finally passes away at his retirement party, but soon finds one hitch: no one is there to collect his spirit. With nowhere else to go, Windle returns to his body and becomes a zombie. Not the mindless, shambling, brain-eating zombies of horror movie fame. Instead, Windle finds true mastery of his body for the first time, giving him super strength and super senses and probably a super odor from decay as well.

Meanwhile, Death decides to see the world and ends up in an out of the way mountain village where he goes to work for the ancient spinster Miss Flitworth doing--what else--harvesting with a scythe. For the first time Death discovers what it means to be alive, experiencing both the triumphs and tragedies of mortality.

Back in the metropolis of Ankh-Morpork, strange events are afoot. Without a Death, many other people are having the same trouble as Windle Poon, leading to disastrous consequences. Windle makes friends with a group of the undead that include a vampire, werewolf, and Bogeyman and finds himself at the epicenter of an invasion of snow globes that are the prelude to a far more dangerous enemy.

"Reaper Man" features more of Pratchett's wit and topical humor that make for an easy and fun read even if you're not really into fantasy--like myself. Really, if this book can't make you laugh then you need a funny bone transplant. Yet while it is humorous and fun, there's also a deepness and meaning to it all, which makes it a great book to read on multiple levels. If you can laugh and learn something that's the best of both worlds, right?

The last thirty pages or so of the book I thought were really excellent. It's the kind of ending that makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time. Finding an ending that powerful is pretty rare for me and so makes this book well worth reading.

Next up is "Guards! Guards!" The bar has been raised pretty high here.

That is all.

Picture an enormous room chock-full of hour glasses (one with your name on it):

"...Add the sharp clicking of bone on stone, getting closer.

"A dark shape crosses the field of vision and moves up the endless shelves of sibilant glassware. Click, click. Here's a glass with the top bulb nearly empty. Bone fingers rise and reach out. Select. And another. Select. And more. Many, many more. Select, select. [Whew, the dark shape passed by the one with your name on it!]

"It's all in a day's work. Or it would be, if days existed here.

"Click, click, as the dark shape moves patiently along the rows.

"And stops.

"And hesitates.

"Because here's a small gold timer, not much bigger than a watch.

"It wasn't there yesterday, or wouldn't have been if yesterdays existed here.

"Bony fingers close around it and hold it up to the light.

"It's got a name on it, in small capital letters.

"The name is DEATH."

So, now that Death of Discworld, old Mr. Bones himself discovers he's about to shuffle off this immortal coil, bite the Big One, cease to exist, dissolve and leave not a rack of ribs behind---what's he going to do?

He decides to Hell with it (or to It with hell) and goes on vacation.

No Death means no one on Discworld can truly die, including a one-hundred-and-three year-old wizard named Windle Poons, oldest faculty member of the Unseen University. He is scheduled to pass over into the Great Beyond at 9:30 P.M., in the midst of a 'going-away' party that his fellow wizards are throwing for him.

A few seconds past the appointed half hour, Windle swigs his last rum and dies--sort of. But the Big Guy with the scythe doesn't show up, so Windle finally climbs back into his one-hundred-and-three year-old body. He's neither alive nor dead and what's worse, another faculty member has already moved into his room.

Read "Reaper Man" to find out how its two unlikely heroes, Death and Windle are finally reconciled.

P. S. I'd like know how Terry Pratchett keeps coming up with all of these wacky Discworld stories. In "Reaper Man," one character says nothing but 'SQUEAK' and another says nothing but 'Oook,' and yet I understand them--and really like them. Death also seems like an okay sort of dude, although I wouldn't invite him to my going-away party.

P. P. S Don't take that personally, Mr. Bones!

_Reaper Man_ by Terry Pratchett is a Discworld novel, and a very nice way to pass an afternoon.

There are a number of plots and subplots going on within _Reaper Man_, but the title plot (if you want to call it that) concerns the death of Death. The universal auditors decide that it is entirely unacceptable that Death has started to acquire his own personality, since personalities tend to create chaos and unexpected events, which is completely against the order of the universe.

Therefore, Death is given his very own hourglass showing the sands of his life, and is sent out to live his last few days in retirement. This story arc is very well done, and we follow death as he begins to understand what it is like to be human and to know that no matter what you do, one day there won't be any time left.

On a separate (but related) story arc, we meet Windle Poons, a wizard at the university of Ankh-Morpork, who is approaching his last days. However, with Death having been put into involuntary retirement, and the auditors having not hired his replacement yet, Windle finds that he cannot die. He and his colleagues try mightily to kill him, but without success. Along the way, Windle Poons discovers how to actually LIVE, and finds that being Windle Poons is quite a bit more meaningful and fun than he realized while he was still alive.

One of the amazing things about Pratchett's books are his asides on philosophy and sociology that are woven into his books, which you don't even expect until you come across them. In _Reaper Man_, we are treated to a meditation on the nature of belief, and belief being capable of creating the thing it believes in out of sheer need to exist; a question about what happens when you have too much life floating around and what things might come alive when Death isn't there to take care of making sure everything dies; a clear criticism of malls and a (probably true) metaphor of malls as parasites that kill cities; and a couple of discreet pokes at managerial and bureaucratic types that take themselves and their positions too seriously.

All in all, a very good book, but I am only giving it four stars as I thought the whole snowglobe-as-eggs story arc took way too long to develop and the end of that arc felt a bit rushed. Still, a very good book, and one I'd recommend to almost anyone.

Reaper Man is the 2nd Death story (after Mort), 10th novel overall, and one of the strongest so far in the Discworld series. Pratchett's unique talents are in full force with Death, an amazingly funny, amusing guy. Reaper Man gets off to a hilarious start with a new set of goofballs, agents of the god Azreal, informing Death that his turn is up. Apparently no matter the (near god-like) occupation or (multi-millennial) tenure, one can be fired and replaced. Such news is not simply a downer for Death; oh no, this unhappy event literally signals his death. For him to die, however, he has to first become alive. He wanders into a corn field and settles down for a day or few as a helping hand for a widow. Life, he finds, is more than he'd imagined. Doesn't take him long to decide that he isn't going to take death lying down.

While Death's learning a few of life's lessons, Discworld is suffering the consequences of his retirement. If a 130 year old wizard--such as the cranky old geezer Windle Poons--kicks off, and Death is not around to move him on, what happens? Zombiehood, that's what (turns out Windle isn't gonna take not dying lying down either). Discworld starts to fill up with extra life (or untended death, which is pretty much the same thing), and the results are a hoot. Some of the later half of Poons' story gets a bit disjointed and silly, but the surrounding cast, from the bumbling wizards to the mildly protesting undead, are well-fleshed out (in spirit, anyway) and laugh-out-loud funny.

The parallel story of Death stays focused and always engaging and funny. And Pratchett goes further with Reaper Man: the conclusion has real substance, providing serious insights with regard to human life and death. Reaper Man is very, very good. Highly recommended.

I was never much of a fan of humorous fantasy/sf before I encountered Terry Pratchett. Most of what I read in the genre-Robert Asprin, say, and to some extent even the venerable Douglas Adams-depended far too much on the obvious, the over-labored, and the repetetive. (After all, how many different ways are there to describe the effects of a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster?) What's more, whatever humorous premise the writer comes up with is invariably not enough to sustain a single book, let alone a series of them (with a series of increasingly bad puns for titles).

Then I was introduced to Terry Pratchett, and his hilarious novels of the Discworld, and my outlook on humorous fantasy changed somewhat. I discovered that it is possible to write a humorous fantasy novel not only well, but superbly-and that it is possible to sustain not just a single book, but a series of them, and have that series grow more complex, powerful and meaningful as those books progress. And of Pratchett's Discworld novels, one of the most powerful and meaningful is Reaper Man.

A little background on the Discworld is necessary at this point-but just that, as a little is all that's really needed. The Discworld is what we used to think Earth was-in a word, flat. "Like a geological pizza without the anchovies," as Pratchett himself describes it. The Discworld rests on the backs of four giant elephants, which themselves rest on the back of a truly Jovian turtle-and all this is really beside the point, because Pratchett's books aren't really about the Discworld. They just happen there. These books are far more concerned with people, and their hearts, than with the place they inhabit-which is all to the good, because the books wouldn't be half what they are otherwise.

Reaper Man deals with one of Pratchett's most compelling characters-Death. Yes, Death. Skeletal, long black robe, scythe, all the Bergmanesque caricature you could want . . . yet this Grim Reaper is not a caricature at all. Nor is he particularly grim, come to think of it. He's a craftsman, who takes pride in his work...or did, until the events in this book start. The problem is that Death has begun to become a persona as well as a personification of nature, and as such has become an annoyance to the Auditors, beings whose sole purpose in the universe is not just to serve entropy, but to speed it up wherever possible. They do not want a Death who spends his free time pondering the imponderables of human nature, so they relieve him of his duties, and he descends to the Discworld, a mortal for the first time in his existence.

This, as you might imagine, causes no end of problems for everyone. For one thing, people stop dying at their appointed times-and while that may not seem to be such a terrible thing at first, what about those who were ready to die, expecting it, and who will settle for nothing less? That is the fate of ancient wizard Windle Poons, when he reaches what he thinks is the end of his life. He doesn't. He gets mad, to say the least, and gathering behind him a cadre of disadvantaged undead, Poons sets out to find just what in the world has-or more accurately, hasn't-happened. Meanwhile, Death has found gainful employment as a farmhand (a natural job for a man used to scythework), starts to learn what being a mortal is all about, and becomes more and more obsessed with his own mortality . . . especially when he realizes that someone (or something) has to take his place, and that it might very well be coming after him first . . .

And that is all I can reveal, I'm afraid. If you want to know the rest, such as the fate of Death, and Windle Poons, and many others, you must read the book. But be warned: you should be prepared to laugh very hard . . . and to cry as well. For as funny as Terry Pratchett is, at his best he can also be profoundly moving, and Reaper Man is one of the most moving fantasy novels I have ever written. There are problems with the book-the Windle Poons story is never linked well enough with Death's, and there is a subplot involving prominent Discworld wizards that seems to belong in another book entirely. So what? As good as it is, Reaper Man is not Pratchett's best Discworld novel, a prize which surely must go to Small Gods, or Witches Abroad, or Men at Arms-nor is it his funniest, which must surely be Soul Music, or Interesting Times, or Hogfather, or Lords and Ladies, or . . . well, you get the idea. If I had to pick one author whose books I would like to be stuck on a desert island with, it'd be Terry Pratchett. Quite a turnaround for someone who never liked comic fantasy very much, eh?

I've decided he's too good and too prolific for me to write a brand new review every single time I read one of his books. Discworld currently has 34 titles and every one of them will probably knock your socks off. His mind bubbles and flashes like a boiling pot of electric eels, and I simply can't get enough of his writing.

A reviewer has compared him to Geoffrey Chaucer. He reminds me more of Douglas Adams, or perhaps S Morgenstern. Great company, isn't it? He's an extremely skillful and imaginative writer, damn funny, clever and observant to boot. He's also very easy to read. A master of characterization, and if there's anything else you like about reading that I didn't mention here, assume I simply forgot. He's awesome.

Another reviewer mentioned Jonathan Swift and PG Wodehouse. Why such hallowed company? Because Pratchett belongs there! Truly, I'm enjoying my quest to read every book in the series. You should do the same, and begin your quest at the library because he's got to be there. He's awesome!

Yet another reviewer said Jerome K Jerome meets Lord of the Rings. Yeah, that works too.

Why do we, as reviewers, compare authors to other authors? Because it's easier than thinking. In the case of Terry Pratchett, it's probably because we'd otherwise wind up quoting the guy. He's so unique that we just don't know how else to cope with his greatness. Even this paragraph sounds like foamy drool raving, doesn't it? That's how all readers react to Pratchett. Reviewers simply don't have the good sense to keep it to themselves.

I could call his writing fantasy, but I could likewise call what Douglas Adams wrote science fiction. In both cases, I wouldn't be wrong, but I'd be neglecting so much and just totally missing the point. A rare few authors transcend a genre to such a degree that you know they're shouting out, loud and proud, a big fat "Bite me!"

I love Terry Pratchett's writing, and I completely understand why some folks refer to him as their favorite author. Or favourite, I should say, since we're being British. He's one of those authors that makes you want to grab whoever's in hearing range and start reading passages aloud. I'm simply thrilled that there's such an extremely talented and prolific author who's been working for years without me being aware of him. Now I have much catching up to do, and I will love it.

"Reaper Man" is the tenth book in Terry Pratchett's hugely popular Discworld series. He has gone on to win the Carnegie Medal for "The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" and was awarded the OBE in 1998.

Death - tall guy, somewhat underfed, big grin, wears a black robe - appears in more Discworld books than any other character. However, "Reaper Man" is only the second - after "Mort" - where his appearance in anything other than a very brief cameo. Unfortunately, if the Auditors have anything to do with it, it'll also be his last appearance, Since his personality has led to certain 'irregularities', they've decided he should be retired. Unfortunately, one of the side-effects of his retirement will lead to Death's <ahem> death. However, in the time that he has left, Death packs his belongings and decides to live : he begins by taking a job as a farmhand at harvest-time. Luckily, he has some experience with a scythe....

Death never actually did the killing himself - he left that to assassins and soldiers, for example - he just took over when people died. His retirement has now caused certain complications : since no suitable replacement has yet been brought into existance, the dead aren't quite...staying deceased. Up until this point, one of the perks of being a wizard was that Death himself - and not one of his minor demons - turned up to usher you into the next life. Unfortunately, when Death fails to arrive for Windle Poons, the Unseen University's oldest wizard has nowhere else to go but back to his old body. Windle isn't impressed : he'd planned for reincarnation, not an afterlife as a zombie. With the help of the Fresh Start Club (for the recently undead), he intends to find out what's happening...though with his former colleagues at the University assisting, he might just die trying.

Despite his profession, Death is one of the funniest characters on the Discworld - nobody does deadpan (boom boom) quite like him ! As the second book to give him a starring role, it may prove a slight advantage to have "Mort" - which is also very funny. However, even if you've never read anything by Pratchett before, you should still enjoy "Reaper Man". Very highly recommended.

Shortsighted management has forced another "downsizing". This time the victim of layoff is Death himself, "retired" by the Auditors. He does his job efficiently and he doesn't sass the boss. He's just become "too involved" with those due to receive attention from his infinitely sharp scythe. The Auditors want a firmer hand on the reaping blade. On the street with time on his hands, Death decides he's going to spend it. Wandering the Discworld, he "gets his feet under the table" as hired man at Miss Flitworth's farm. Although a bit confused about eating and sleeping, he's able to respond with resolute affirmation when she asks, "Can you use a scythe?" He demonstrates a harvesting technique only Pratchett could devise.

With Death no longer performing his role, strange events result. Unconfined, the life force manifests itself in bizarre ways. Death, visible to wizards, fails to arrive at an appointment. In consequence, Windle Poons is subjected to various indignities. His colleagues have a prejudice about zombies. Not having actually died, Windle decides to start to live. Over a century of breathing doesn't necessarily mean you've been living, and Windle, like Death, decides to see something of the [Disc]world. His colleagues, uncertain as to why Windle's still upright and subjected to some mild indignities of their own, seek the cause of unusual manifestations.

If you're new to the Discworld, all this must sound pretty grotesque. Death "fired" only to become a reaper on a spinster's farm? Wizards who can see him and know precisely when he's due? Take heart, this isn't a bleak version of the Merlin legend, nor a Stephen King horror story. It's Terry Pratchett, a writer with an unmatched talent for looking at the world we live in. He peers deeply at how life works. Then with countless deft twists, restructures our globe into a flat Disc. The Disc's filled with novel ideas and even more unusual people, but on second glance all seem terribly familiar. Death isn't a killer, for example. He's only there to collect lives when they're due to end. Unlike the tax man, he only arrives once, and he's terribly, terribly good at his job.

To those familiar with Pratchett, this book should receive high marks. All of Ankh-Morpork's finest are here - even Sergeant Colon makes an appearance. While enlarging on the cameos Death's played in other Discworld books, Pratchett nearly lets Miss Flitworth walk away with this one. But it's Sal Lifton who does that - the Small Child who recognizes Bill Door as a "skellington" as she ponders how he can eat or sleep. For it's Sal who personifies why Death's been put out to pasture [sorry!]. What that implies about Death's philosophy of life [sorry, again!] and how all this reflects Pratchett's own views becomes vividly clear when the "new hire" appears. As with many modern managers, the Auditors have acquired a labour saving appliance.

Pratchett's great genius is many-leveled. A light skim of any of his books is to experience high mirth rates. His talent for quirky description and one liners you seek ways to use in conversation is matchless. But a few months later, Reaper Man may arrive unbidden back in your hand. "There's something else", you may muse, going back to seek it. More jewels will be discovered, the witticisms skipped over revealing things of deeper value. You will then discover why this reviewer considers Pratchett as one of today's most valuable philosophers. And who rejoices seeing his children with PTerry in hand. If there's hope for survival of this species, it will be people like Pratchett conveying human values to people who need it most - the next generation.

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.

Most Terry Pratchett Discworld novels have a number of plots, and in this one I absolutely loved the A plot with Death getting fired and taking a job as a farm hand, I enjoyed the B plot featuring an elderly wizard who finds himself continuing to exist as a kind of zombie after Death's firing, and didn't care much for the C plot of magics going wrong due to the fragmentation of The Death into many smaller Deaths.

For most Discworld fans there are two recurring characters (apart from the members of the Watch) who provoke perpetually delight, and who luckily are in most of the books: the Librarian and Death. Although the Librarian has only a small role in REAPER MAN, from the title you can tell that it is mainly about Death himself. So, although some of the plotting isn't up to Pratchett's usual standards, the book is hugely entertaining simply from the presence of death. The book also has some of his best and most humorous prose, with some great zingers and some genuinely moving passages. How can you not love bits like Death being asked if he can dance, and his replies, "I am famous for it."

Unfortunately, the next novel in the series concerns the witches. I can't say that the witches are my favorites in the Discworld. The Wizards are usually pretty good, Death is always a winner, and the Watch is the best. But the great thing is that all of it is at least good.

Reaper Man, the eleventh entry in the celebrated Discworld series, is classic Pratchett and easily one of the best of the lot, and I mean lot. Emotionally and philosophically deeper than most Discworld novels, Reaper Man is the only one in the series that focuses on Death - perhaps the steadiest recurring character in the Discworld universe - as its main protagonist, and shows him to be a fascinating and truly deep character. That's not to say Reaper Man doesn't deliver the laughs - Death's attempt to pose as a regular everyman is one of the funniest bits Pratchett had produced - but it's more multilayered than these novels tend to be, and in this respect it is topped only by Good Omens (co-written with Neil Gaiman) and by Pratchett's masterpiece, Small Gods.

Reaper Man delivers its message through two heroes - Death himself and deceased wizard Windle Poons - who, from opposite sides of the track, ponder questions of death and mortality. The Poons side of the equation, unfortunately, isn't as strong as Death's part, and that may be the biggest flaw the book has; but it does little to hinder the reading experience. Reaper Man, in fact, flows as smoothly as very few of Pratchett's novels do, and it rarely gets boring, the comedy and drama mixed to maximal effect; it's more immediately accessible to comedy lovers than Small Gods, having many more laugh-out-loud funny moments of the kind that Pratchett's fans have come to expect; and it's also a fine introduction to those not familiar with Terry's writing, or even those not too kin on the genre, since very little background is needed on the world to enjoy it and it deals with philosophical matters more than most of his novels.

Reaper Man is a great novel; along with Small Gods, it's one of Terry Pratchett's two best-written novels and is an essential to any fan.

Death is one of the most interesting recurring characters in the Discworld stories. He's just a regular guy, dealing with a major mission. But now he seems to have acquired a personality and has therefore been sacked from his job. All the smaller deaths -- the Death of Tortoises, the Death of Daffodils, the Death of Rats, and so on -- which used to be subsumed in him are on their own. Death finds he now has a Life-Timer of his own, and the sands of the Future are pouring through the bottleneck of the Present and piling up in the Past. (Pratchett has a terrific way with words.) What else is there for him to do but seek work on a Discworld farm, harvesting corn instead of lives? More important, with no Death to keep it under control, life force is piling up, making its vital presence felt in the form of poltergeist activity and a plague of snowglobes and supermarket baskets, which are only the harbingers of the dreaded appearance of Mall Life. Meanwhile, 130-year-old wizard Windle Poons has just died -- but Death, who is out of a job and not yet been replaced, hasn't come for him. Windle is one of the undead, so naturally he is approached by dead-activists. Then he gets caught up in the struggle against too much life being carried on (reluctantly) by the faculty of Unseen University, of which he was lately a member. And I haven't even mentioned Mrs. Cake and her werewoman daughter, or Lupine, or the grocer vampire, or the bashful banshee who slips notes under doors instead of screaming. Pratchett is a first-rate parodist but he's also a very talented designer of complex and highly original plots and characters.

What can I really say about this? I re-read it because my older son's been reading them, and when he finishes one, I stick it in my TBR pile to re-read, the TBR pile being so huge that I need an excuse to re-read anything.

DEATH's got too much of a personality, so The Powers That Be fire him. While he's off finding a new job and a new identity as farm hand Bill Door, his job is being left undone on the Discworld, leading to all kinds of problems.

One of those problems is Wizard Windle Poons. Wizards know when their time is up, and DEATH comes personally to collect them. The wizards at the Unseen University have thrown a farewell party for old Windle, but the time comes and goes, and, well, Windle doesn't.

To say that hilarity ensues would be putting it mildly. It would also be missing a good part of the point. There is incredible hilarity; there's also a large dollop of existentialism and pathos--much about the meaning of life and death, and there's even the poignancy of a relationship between Bill Door and his employer, aged spinster Miss Flitwick.

Reaper Man is one of the earlier books in the Discworld series--the 2nd in the DEATH sub-series, and, I believe, the 11th overall, so it's somewhat less complex than the later books. It's still an amazing, deceptively simple story.

Death has become redundant. The grey auditors of the Universe have decided that the Death of Discworld has become too much a personality and must be replaced, so Death gets his own hourglass measuring the limited time he has left. He fetches up working as a farmhand for an elderly spinster, Miss Flitworth.

This has a lot of unintended consequences throughout Discworld. The aged wizard Windle Poons dies, but Death does not show up to usher him into the afterlife so Windle returns to his body to lurch around as a zombie. This causes consternation in the Unseen University as this disrupts the "tenure track" for the rest of the faculty. With an abundance of lifeforce building up, the wizards are soon battling an invasion of shopping carts as a living mall springs up to suck the life out of the city.

Death, hiding under the alias of "Bill Door", strikes up an acquaintance with his employer, the elderly and unmarried Renata Flitworth. The cluelessness of Death about human feelings combined with all he knows from his professional endeavors makes this both funny and poignant, as well as romantic and rollicking. It is the story of Miss Flitworth that brings to mind the Emily Dickinson quote that titles this review, but since I don't want to spoil the fun, I have to stop here.

Reaper Man is a simple book. It's about Death. And it's pure genius.

Terry Pratchett is now my favorite author of all time. The fact is that there are 26 books in the Discworld series, many of which I have no desire to read. But the ones he writes that tickle my fancy are simply amazing.

Reaper Man is a novel with a few different storylines. The chief one concerns Death, who has given up his day job. Others include wizards, the ideology of life, a confused zombie, and a supernatural fun club.

Pratchett's sense of humor is extraordinary. Some reviewers compare him to Monty Python or (insert generic British humor reference here). But comparing him to someone is like comparing Dave Barry, or Hemingway, or heck, even JK Rowling. They stand beyond comparison, as they're all fairly unique in their perspective, and because nobody does what they do better.

Pratchett is a satirist, loosely, and his works contain terrific characters and excellent descriptions of scene. His writing is exceptional - the introductions to every novel in his series would win him a Pulitzer if he ever published them all. And his stories have lovely beginnings, middles, and ends.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough, as it is my favorite of the series. It was, in the end, not just a humor book, but one so touching that I literally almost cried.

The only drawback to this whole series is that you HAVE to start with the first two books in the series, and they're good, but not at the level of his later works. No matter. Treat yourself to this book, and if it doesn't become one of your favorites, then blame me. =)

While the concept of the character is not unique to Pratchett, Pratchett's most entertaining character may be DEATH. In those books that have dealt with the character, DEATH consistently delivers the best lines and often seems to be the closest link between Discworld and our world.

In "Reaper Man", DEATH retires to a life in a rural area. While the tools of his previous job come in handy, he has some trouble adjusting to the new life. Particularly in socializing with the locals, Death endures some awkwardly humorous situations. While DEATH is down on the farm, nobody is doing the job of DEATH. As a result, the dead are not dying. And when retired wizard Windle Poons refuses to take death properly, the less than competent wizards of Unseen University must try to solve the problem. The Dean's swearing problems steal the show in the scenes with the faculty. In an apparent dig at rights movements, Poons joins a society for the rights of dead people called the "Fresh Start Club". One need not be dead to be a member.

Pratchett is razor sharp in his satire and social musing in "Reaper Man". The books in the Discworld series that center around Death are the best. Perhaps this is because what is funny is usually not far from reality. And the reality is that we all must face death.

Most Terry Pratchett fans are well acquainted with death, or rather, with DEATH. Discworld's skeleton-with-a-scythe has bit parts in almost every volume, and starring roles in many. But few of us have ever thought of what Pratchett's world would be like if a group of universal bureaucrats decided to hand him a golden hourglass and, politely but firmly, show him the door. One thing we can count on though is that in Discworld, nothing ever goes as planned.

The wizards of the Unseen University first notice the problem when Windle Poons fails to make it to the afterlife. Instead, he finds himself back in his body, to the embarrassment of the entire faculty. Evadne Cake the medium first notices when her crystal ball starts shouting. Then a compost heap attacks Modo the gardener. Screws keep unscrewing themselves and the entire city of Ankh-Morpork has a massive attack of poltergeistism. And... And... There is just way too much living going on.

Poons, thanks to a note pinned to the inside of his coffin, discovers a support group for the undead. Not a very big one - Reg Shoe the Ghoul, Doreen and Arthur the not-quite-upscale vampires, Lupine the wereman, Schleppel the bogeyman, and a banshee so timid that it leaves notes for people (OOoooEeeeOooEeeeOOOeee). Together and separately the Wizards, the undead, and Mrs. Cake set out to make sense of chaos. Before chaos makes mincemeat of them.

In the meantime, Death is pursuing his retirement. Posing as an itinerant, he takes a job as a farmhand. No matter that he is a 7-foot skeleton, no matter that he harvests hay one blade at a time. People, he discovers, actually like him. An unusual situation for someone whose name used to be Death. It's Bill Door now and proud of it.

This is classic Pratchett work. He is a master at poking us in the eye, tickling our tummies, and warming our hearts, all at the same time. Be prepared for an unending supply of perfectly atrocious puns (an alchemist is nearly killed by a sharp retort) and twisted sentences (people become werewolves by contracting genetics at an early age). Be prepared to learn about the sex life of cities, why there is a Death of Rats but not a Death of Cats, and the folly of automated farm machinery. Above all be prepared to laugh.

[Five years later] I've been rereading Prachett's books in order, mostly out of a need to lighten my heart a bit, and I finally realized how strong a story this is. Several of the novels before this have shown sparkles of greatness, but Reaper Man goes a step further -- it touches the heart with it's insight into what it means to be human and the preciousness of life, even in death. Did I shed a tear when I first read it? I don't remember. But I did this time, and I'm not normally a teary sort. This is the kind of story that makes you genuinely glad you like Terrey Pratchett. So read Reaper Man, please. It will work for you.

Nothing is certain but death and taxes, right? Well, when death (personified as Death) is fired, that leaves just taxes.

So, the Grim Reaper is looking for a second career. With a face like his, he's going to stay grim, and reaping is all he knows - and there's a field full of corn out there that isn't harvesting itself.

In the mean time, though, people are still dying, or trying to. It's a heck of a thing when you can't even die properly, as wizard Windle Poons discovers. Wizards have the gift of knowing the day and time at which they'll depart this mortal world. That makes it easy to schedule getting one's affairs in order, and to invite a few friends over for one last drink, or two. But, at Poons's deathday party, the guest of honor never showed up. Not Poons - he's sure to be there for his own demise - but the Reaper Man himself. Death has never been late (if you'll pardon the term) before.

The management has replaced Death with a non-union scab. In the end, Death has to battle that replacement to get his old job back - truly, a fight to the Death. There's a side story here, a speculation on the growth of cities, that adds only little. "Reaper Man" is not one of Pratchett's stronger works, I think, but still well worth reading.

//wiredweird

Reaper Man, the eleventh book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, is probably the most moving and serious book I've read from Pratchett. It's also one of his funniest, which is definitely a good combination. It is a classic, and one of Pratchett's best. It's a moving story about Death (our good friend with the scythe), with a subplot that's almost as good but adds a lot to the humour and has a little something to say of its own.
It's a relatively short book (285 pages), considering what all is going on in it. Death's story has a poignancy that doesn't happen very often in Pratchett's books. He usually has some good social commentary, but not this sort of character deepness. The relationship that develops between Mrs. Flitworth and him is very reminiscent of some western movies. She's the homesteader and he's the hired hand. She's initially suspicious of him, but she needs the help. As time goes by, she becomes more and more trusting, letting him stay in the house during the evening (though he still must sleep in the barn!). Death, of course, is wonderful with a scythe, which is an immense help during the harvest. I enjoyed this story immensely, with Death (or Bill Door, as he calls himself) learning to how to fit in with the locals and generally learning what it is to be human. The ending of this particular storyline is wonderfully moving, with Death showing just how much he has learned (and yet, how much he still has to learn). It's almost enough to bring a tear to your eye.
Almost as moving is the story of Windle Poons. After fifty years of being an invalid, he's finally able to live again. Windle is an irascible, yet still very endearing, figure. It's interesting to see the life that flows back into his body even though he's dead. He joins a group called the Fresh Starters, which is a group that's fighting for the rights of the undead. While he doesn't really believe this is necessary, this is a group of people who fully accept him, which he hasn't had for awhile.
Windle's story provides the majority of the humour in this novel, and it does it very well. While Death's story has it's funny moments, they are more amusing then laugh-out-loud funny. Windle's story, however, has the sequence where the other wizards try to "help" Windle with his problem (the problem being that he's no longer dead). They even go so far as to try to bury him at a crossroads in Ankh-Morpork (at rush hour, even). The antics of the wizards are just hilarious. Once the life force problem presents itself, with killer trolleys running rampant through the city, the wizards decide that only they can stop it. Thus ensue many action movie parodies, including a wonderful riff on Aliens. There has never been so much testosterone evident at the wizards' university. They obviously don't know what they're doing, but the characters are so well drawn and so funny that it makes for great reading.
Pratchett's wonderful characters are the other highlight of the book. I've already mentioned the wizards. The great thing about the wizards in this book, as opposed to Moving Pictures, is that they are actually central to the plot. The other characters are equally wonderful. The Fresh Starters was started by Reg Shoe, a zombie who discovered that the recently dead were not being treated very well by society. Also included as members are: a shy boogeyman, a banshee with a speech impediment (so she slides a piece of paper saying "ooooooweeehooooooo" under the door), two vampires and a wolf who becomes a werewolf every full moon. These characters go great together, and when they try to pitch in and help Windle solve the trolley problem, the events add to the fun. This has to be the best bunch of characters that Pratchett has created.
There are only two niggling things about this book, however. The first is that the two stories don't really mesh that well. Sure, Death's story causes the other, but when the book bounces back and forth between the two stories, it gets a very disjointed feel that's a bit annoying. Secondly, the climax of the Death story is a bit rushed. Similar to Mort, it seems to happen too fast with not enough set up. I think it would have benefited from a few extra pages.
Still, the pluses of this book far outweigh the minuses. This book is classic Pratchett, and should be read as soon as possible. Make this your first Discworld book, if you can. It's that good.

Terry Pratchett was born in 1948 and is one of the most popular authors writing today. He lives behind a keyboard in Wiltshire and says he 'doesn't want to get a life, because it feels as though he's trying to lead three already'. He was appointed OBE in 1998. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Discworld series

There is just no other author about who writes like Terry Pratchett. His humour is second to none. There are one or two writers who are trying to get close to him, but failing miserably.

When the dustbin men or the bus driver's go on strike you know what chaos is caused to the infrastructure of society, so imagine what it must be like when Death goes missing, after all he is probably the Number One Public Service. For all his rough manner, Death is a likeable guy who will be sadly missed.

Death's disappearance is the key to all sort of mayhem and laughter on the Discworld as Terry Pratchett weaves his magic yet again. (Perhaps he went to the Unseen University as well). Anyone who has read a Discworld book will know what to expect in spades. Anyone who hasn't, you don't know what you are missing.

Keeping with Terry Pratchett's "there is no such thing as an impossible plot" line of thinking, Reaper Man showcases an unemployed Death and a world where dying has become a lot harder than it used to be. One of Pratchett's greatest skills has always been showcasing characters who can view the human race from the outside, thereby giving a unique perspective to humans and their many quirks. And no one gives a better commentary on the human race, than Death. For those keeping score, this is the second book in the "Death and Co." sub series of Discworld.
Promptly dismissed after being declared too compassionate and sympathetic towards humanity, Death takes up a job as a farm hand in an attempt to put his centuries of scythe experience to good use. He adopts the name "Bill Door" and begins to craft a normal life for himself. However, without Death doing his Duty, many people on the Disc are having trouble crossing over. And what happens when Bill Door meets the new Death?
Overall, this is above average for Pratchett and has some truly witty commentary on the human condition. This is also a good jumping-on point for new readers as prior Discworld reading is helpful, but not necessary.

I needed something light and funny as I pack up all that's around me. Pratchett always seems to fill this niche.
The "powers that be" don't like the fact that DEATH is developing a personality, so he is fired from his job and in the process discovers that he too will die now. With this revelation, DEATH decides that he wants to "live" so he goes out into the world and becomes a day laborer on a farm, harvesting the corn with his scythe. What the "powers that be" don't realize is that there are serious repercussions. All of a sudden, those who die have no where to go. There is no DEATH to bring them to the hereafter so the space between here and there becomes overcrowded with spirits and a huge backlog of life force starts screwing up life down on Discworld.
One of the first to be affected by DEATH's leave is a 130 year old wizard named Windle Poons. The poor chap was happy to finally die and be reborn. However, when he did die, there was nobody there to help him with the changeover. Since there was nothing for him to do, he returned to his body and became a zombie. It's up to him, Reg Shoe (Ankh-Morpork's leading undead civil rights activist), Lupine (a wereman - a wolf that turns into a werewolf at the full moon), a shy banshee (who leaves notes under doors reading "OOOOOeeeeeeOOOOOOeeeeee" instead of shrieking when someone is about to die), and an agoraphobic boogeyman to save Ankh-Morpork from this overflooding of life force. It's up to them because the wizards from Unseen University are about as baffled as everybody else is with all the weird changes taking place in the city.
Also, with DEATH gone, new forms of death incarnate are popping up all over the place: the Death of Rats, the Death of Spiders, the Death of Flowers, etc. However, because the human perception of what death is is so complicated, the Death of Humans doesn't form, which leads to the overcrowding. What was really interesting with this was the Death of Rats, who is the most developed character of all the Deaths (except for DEATH himself). I can just imagine a little rat, clothed in a black robe holding a scythe going SQUEAK (DEATH always talks in capitals).
Very humorous book yet again. I truly enjoy reading about DEATH and his exploits. It is one of Pratchett's best developed characters. The storyline is classic Pratchett as well. I mean, come on...who else would come up with the ideas of a shy banshee and an agoraphobic boogeyman. LOL I highly recommend this one.

"Reaper Man" has all the elements of a good Discworld book. Old friends -- Death, The Librarian -- show up and reap (pun intended) havoc. A gaggle of befuddled wizards leave the sanctuary of Unseen University to try and solve a mystical dilemma. And a sheltered innocent, an old wizard named Windle Poons, learns a little something about himself. All fine and good. The problem, and thankfully it is a rare occurrence in Pratchett's world, is that these elements don't interact enough to create a cohesive whole. Pity.
Death gets top billing here, and he is fleshed-out wonderfully (a tough task considering he had no flesh to begin with). A supernatural career crisis leads him to a job harvesting crops, where his skill with a scythe is put to good use. A budding relationship with his new employer, Miss Flitworth, teaches him to actually live.
Windle Poons undergoes a crisis of his own. He's died. Well, almost. See, Death is not around to collect him. So what happens? Well, Terry heaps confusing circumstances on poor Mr. Poons. Poons reacts in much of the same way that Death did. He learns to live, too. After 130-years of sheltered existence, not to mention the last 50 years living with a decrepit body, he is liberated by Death. Only Terry could come up with such a wacky but logically sound notion.
The rest of the cast of characters, including the Wizards and a rag-tag group of misfits called the Fresh Start Club, lively wander around the plot, narrowly bumping into each other while providing fine comic moments. The Wizards get a little too caught up in their quest, eventually donning cloth headbands and yelling "Yo!" as if going into Rambo-style warfare. Couple this with their sheltered pomposity, and we get truly funny moments. The Fresh Start Club is quite the inspired creation on Terry's part. Their group is made up of the failed undead, including a bogeyman who's scared of people, a wolf who turns into a man during a full moon, and a shy banshee who, instead of wailing, slips a card under your door that reads: "OOoooEeeeOooEeeeOOOeee". I would have liked to spend more time with this motley crew.
And Terry's concept of what happens when Death is not around (to collect humanity's deceased life force) is a true revelation. It confused me at first, but upon further reflection, I realized that not only has he conjured up a truly poetic invention, but has made a sly comment on the reign of terror consumerism has inflicted on our culture. I'll say no more; just be prepared to sing for your supper because Terry's not about to hold your hand (with explicit explanation) through these sections.
So the elements are all there. But they never interact in any meaningful way. Terry usually manages to tie the varying narrative threads together by the end. The end here is satisfying in its own way (Death's final scenes are poetic and beautiful), but doesn't carry its weight in terms of helping unify the book's structure. It made me think that there were really two or three distinct stories here, slapped together without much afterthought, to create one full-sized book. That was really my only problem. The rest of the book is enchanting and wonderful; a lesser entry in the Discworld series, but fine reading nonetheless.

We all know that we should save the best for last. Terry Pratchett violates that rule in "Reaper Man"; the funniest moment comes at the very beginning. The meddlesome cosmic Auditors are having a conversation about how to deal with Death's growing affection with the human race. One of them decides to crack a joke, but this raises the ire of the others. The Auditors, who work towards a nice and orderly universe, are not big on jokes, nor on indviduality for that matter. The resulting confrontation has had me chuckling for weeks, every time I thought back to it.

The rest of the book is more of a mixed bag. "Reaper Man" splits into two seperate stories. One follows the recently retired Death as he takes up a job as a farm hand, dealing with wheat fields, burning inns, and dyslexic roosters. The other takes us to Unseen University, where Windle Poons rises as a zombie and stalks the streets of Ankh-Morpork, running into old favorites such as Nobbs and C.M.O.T. Dibbler. "Reaper Man" has humor aplenty. On the other hands, it also has quite a number of those "huh?" moments where I felt that I must have missed the joke.

Death, the grim reaper, is tasked with harvesting people's souls after they have died. He has always existed beyond Time and beyond life. But he has angered the Great Ones, and now he has to share the same fate as those he reaps: he is dying. He decides to take a holiday in order to make the most of the limited time he has left. But without Death present to claim people when they move on, things are bound to go wrong as life energy builds up and wreaks havoc on Discworld. Windle Poons, the oldest wizard at Unseen University, finds that upon his death he has nowhere to go. So he returns to his body until he can finally pass on. In his quest to find Death, he finds life. "Reaper Man" alternates between two story lines: a mostly serious one about Death and a mostly whimsical one about Poons and his fellow wizards as they battle a new life form that threatens to take over the disc.

Although the character of Death was introduced in earlier Pratchett books, here he is fleshed out (if you will pardon the pun) into a fascinating character. He becomes a farm hand and switches to reaping crops instead of souls. He wrestles with the concept of saving a life instead of claiming one. He learns to get along with the townspeople and forms an interesting, and ultimately moving, relationship with Miss Flitworth, the elderly spinster who owns the farm. Now that he is faced with his own death, he begins to experience the vulnerabilities and emotions that other mortals face. I found Death to be a quite likable entity, and I think other readers will also.

The late Windle Poons evokes a lot of laughs as he tries to make his way in the world of the still living. He hooks up with a group of the Undead when he joins the Fresh Start Club, an organization that fights for equal rights for the deceased. The club members include a shy banshee, a reluctant vampire, a boogeyman, and a reverse werewolf. Poons, the wizards, the Undead, and a medium named Mrs. Cake are caught up in a funny and magically madcap race to save Discworld from a fate far worse than death.

As is usual in his books, Terry Pratchett includes wonderful nuggets of wisdom and philosophy scattered here and there between the laughs. Among the thought-provoking ideas he includes here are the relationship between belief and the object believed in, and the trolls' theory on why living things move backwards through time. He laments the intrusion of suburban sprawl and the proliferation of shopping malls. His characters ponder the meaning of life and death. This is not merely a story to race through and enjoy. It is a story to savor, and its ideas will stick with the reader long after the book is closed.

Eileen Rieback

This is another strong work showcasing the zany characters and situations from discworld. There are tons of things to be introduced to: new societies, new characters, new info on the nature of discworld, new Gods, new locals, new almost everything. In all honesty, it's a bit too much new. There are more things going on in this book than normal(and that's saying something for a Terry Pratchett novel), which makes it hard to keep up with multiple story arcs, esoteric descriptions of events, and all the new characters.

It was more loosely written; usually, everything at the end is tied up in a nice little package with all story elements coming together in a harmonious ending. This novel had way too many loose ends floating around to reach that level. This novel still reaches an amazing level of humor though with several sections being exquisite laugh-out-loud moments. I would still recommend it, even though it might not be the most tightly spun Pratchett novel I've read.

This is definately among my favourites in the Discworld series, I find it the most funnny, weird and intriguing out of all Pratchett books.
Whenever Death stars in a Pratchett book he is always my instant favorite. Just the whole idea of having a Death, who, is in fact a nice person. The weirdness magnifies as Death has a problem at 'work' and ends up in a farm with a Mrs. Flitworth who teaches him to do more practical things than using a scythe.
The other story is about a bunch of misfit wizards, and Windle Poons, who unfortunately died while Death wasn't around, so, he kind of didn't die, just stayed around making friends with other wierd living dead people. The other wizards try to kil him but it just won't work, while they also flick in between social divisions, saying things like 'wiked' and other out of place slang.
The book's plot is extremely bizarre, but very fun to read, as are all Terry Pratchett books. Two great stories, and Death's finest moment, in a book, with wizards, and stuff.

The Auditors of Reality are unhappy with the Death of the Discworld, who has shown signs of individuality and - shudder - a personality. They decide to fire Death and recruit a replacement. Death accepts this decision stoically, and decides to spend his last few days of existence sampling life, adopting the alias of handyman Bill Door and going to work on a remote farm.

Unfortunately, Death's absence causes some anomalies. Windle Poons, the oldest wizard on the Disc, is upset to discover that, despite dying, he can't move on to the next life. As a result, he has to spend the interim as a zombie but, thankfully, he finds some help from Ankh-Morpork's resident undead rights movement. At the same time, an unusual plague of odd novelty items is afflicting the city. The wizards of Unseen University investigate and discover that something rather unusual is taking shape outside the city walls...

Reaper Man is, in the sometimes complicated hierarchy of Discworld novels, the second book to feature Death in a major role (following on from Mort and running ahead of Soul Music) and the first to feature the Unseen University wizards in a major role (although, confusingly, many of them appeared in a supporting capacity in Moving Pictures and the Librarian has been around since The Light Fantastic). Some of the City Watch (from Guards! Guards!) also crop up.

This slightly complicated arrangement probably adds to the schizophrenia of the novel. In all of the Discworld books prior to this, the storylines usually converge at the end and the story is usually quite focused. Reaper Man instead sprawls, with Death/Bill Door's adventures and the subplot of the wizards/Windle Poons not really gelling together. There is a vague link between them, but otherwise the two stories don't really intertwine, resulting in a rather disconnected feeling to the book. This is added to by the wizards stuff being quite funny and the Death stuff being quite serious (the advent of the Death of Rats aside).

Pratchett is also pursuing another satirical target here, following on from films in Moving Pictures and police procedurals in Guards! Guards! Unfortunately, the target is rather weak - Pratchett apparently doesn't like shopping malls, hates muzak and isn't keen on combine harvesters - and there's a distinctly half-hearted feeling to proceedings here. The book never really seems to come together and fire up like the best books in the series, despite many individually good moments and some funny lines. Ultimately this appears to be a case of Pratchett trying to be serious and even moving but also trying to throw some chaotic comedy into the mix as well, and it doesn't work. It's notable that when Pratchett separates the two out - as he does in the double-whammy of the more serious Small Gods and the funny Lords and Ladies - he does very well, but the mix here does not work as effectively.

Reaper Man (***) is readable and interesting, but definitely one of the less successful books in the series. It is available now in the UK and USA.

Discworld is addictive and DEATH is one of my favorite of it's inhabitants. Sometimes the wizards are too annoying, but in this volume they are quite amusing in their annoyingness. Pratchett has amazing insight and humor for the human condition

Reaper Man, to my mind, is the pinnacle of Pratchett's career. This is the first book in the series that truly melded the emotion of some of the previous books with the humor that's always been part of the Discworld universe. However, the emphasis is very much on the former in this case: this is Pratchett's most moving book by far.
There are two basic plots in the book. One is caused by the other, but as the story progresses, there is little correlation between the two. Some people have commented on this as being a flaw, but personally speaking, I don't really see how that matters.
This first plot mainly focuses on Death being fired by the Auditors and Azrael. After this is done, he comes to the Discworld, looking to make a new start. He takes a job with Miss Flitworth at her farm, and things go on from there.
The second plot is based around the death of Windle Poons: and his subsequent return, because of the `lapse in service' caused by Death's exit. Poons was 130 years old, and his return from the dead makes him `live' again, ironically enough. For him, death is not like a sleep: it is more like waking up again. The problem is that the rest of the world soon raises objections.
While I have mentioned the fact that Reaper Man is the most moving Discworld book, this is not to say that it isn't funny. In fact, some of the scenes in this installment are nothing short of hilarious, particularly in Poons' side of the story. The attempts of his fellow wizards to `help' him out, and their military endeavors in the latter part of the book (Yo!) are just sidesplitting.
Death's side of the story is very different. There is some humor here and there, (see the scene with the dyslexic rooster), but for the most part, it has a slight air of melancholy to it: at points, it is almost brooding in nature. The character of Miss Flitworth is rather tragic, and Death's interaction with her makes for some very serious conversation. He learns more about humanity in the process, and it definitely leaves a mark, as can be seen in later Discworld books.
Also of note is the landscape Death's story takes place in: Pratchett does an excellent job here. The images he conjures up in his descriptions are wonderful: one can almost imagine the wind whistling through the stalks of golden corn, gleaming in the sunlight. The imagery is also appropriate: i.e. the harvest and all that implies.
The characters in Reaper Man are some of the best ever featured in a single Discworld book. Of particular note are the people in the Fresh Starters club: each individual is immaculately crafted, and very, very funny. Dibbler turns up, as does Sgt. Colon and Modo the dwarf, whose musings on life in the University are amusing, in their own way. However, the wizards steal the show, as always: their antics in this one had me in fits.
Speaking of great characters, Windle Poons (along with Ronald Saveloy in Interesting Times) is probably the best one book character Pratchett ever created. In many ways, Poons is probably the only time a wizard in the Discworld series actually lives up to the image used so often in fantasy: he is noble, fair and wise, a man who knows what the right thing to do is, and goes out and does it, no matter the cost to himself. His saving of Ankh Morpork at the hands of what the extra life force hatches up is an example of this.
The book rolls along at a good pace, and is of uniformly high quality throughout. However, it's the last 30-40 pages of it that make it the classic it is, for they are deeply moving. The somberness of Death's side of the story draws on to its logical conclusion, and at the very end, permeates Poons' side as well. The portrayal of said emotion is handled well: it is not nauseatingly overdone, nor is it too bleak. It's very matter of fact, leaving the reader to pick up on whatever he/she may. Pratchett also uses some great lines in the book: the very last one, spoken by Azrael, is of particular note.
Reaper Man, like a fair number of Pratchett's books, is a celebration of life. It is death that makes us truly appreciate life for what it is, and this, I believe, is the author's message here. This theme, mixed in with some of the best humor the series has seen, is what makes Reaper Man Pratchett's finest book, and a classic novel in every sense of the word. Highest possible recommendation.

I'm hooked on Pratchett, and am now reading them all in order. Compared to others I've read, Reaper Man has two noteworthy differences:

First, it's oddly moving. Our twin heros, DEATH and the wizard Windle Poons, both face their own mortality. In the process, they discover that whatever life and existance all mean in the end, being able to really help other people is its most rewarding part. That may sound a bit corny, but it's convincingly told. Additionally, the book's conclusion is surprisingly romantic, with the oddest couple I've encountered.

On the other hand, the book is also oddly confusing in places. Something happens with lots of mad shopping carts, but I can't honestly say exactly what. It's for this reason that I give it four rather than five stars.

But despite that, I recommend the book highly. I'm not sure exactly what happened in places, but whatever it was it was funny. And the more moving parts of the book are memorable.

More like 3 1/2 stars, really.

This book was a real disappointment to me. It is most definitely not one of the good Discworld ones; in fact, it's the worst I have read. I love the Discworld series, and have read a fair amount of them.

This is about Death. To put it bluntly; he loses his job and becomes a reaper man.

Meanwhile, with no one to take all the souls away, things are a mess in Ankh-Morpork. Furniture is flying around (more like a flying squirrel flies, really), undead are not that rare, and a stash of little glass globe-things are appearing - the kind that you shake with the snow and they have the city of Ankh-Morpork as the figure inside.

And then, carts start appearing. Useful; until they run away with your things in them.

While there are some of the funny elements that make the Discworld series so fun, it lacks somewhat in that area and the story area. Instead, I recommend reading Sourcery, Hogfather, the Color of Magic, and Interesting Times.

this is certainly among Pratchett's top five books. It's a wonderful work...full of understated humour and philosophical observations which give a slightly different slant to the way we view our own world. The humour is laugh-out-loud funny, and there are some lines you just want to keep in your head forever, remembering with a smile.
Pratchett's writing humour aside, is also quite brilliant. It is eloquent, elegaic, and his descriptions are amazing. Simple things such as a grandfather clock, or a scythe, or even just daylight, are seen in a different way after being put under the microscope of Pratchett.
the plot is brilliant, as are the characters. it rides along at a fair pace, with Death at the head of the cast. (My, and many others', favourite character).
This is an excellent addition to the series, and for fans of Mr Pratchett comes very highly reccomended.

[For context's sake, I have been reading the Discworld books in publication order. Reaper Man is #11.]

One of my favorite Discworld books so far. The conceptualization and implementation of outlandish and brilliant ideas is definitely Terry Pratchett's forte, and he is at his best in this book. The meshing of the Death/Bill Door and Windle Poons storylines, along with all of the side characters, was great--at times in some of Pratchett's books I find the dual storyline approach to be disjointed and disorienting, but it worked well here. I loved the exploration of life from Death's perspective--the idea is so interesting, and the execution is great.

Death is audited, and found wanting.

The auditors value order above all else, and have no sense of style.

A wizard is not allowed to die gracefully, but has the time of his life anyways.

And we discover that malls are in fact a parasitic life form.

This one could have had five stars, given the themes that were being played with, but...

-Generating sympathy for Death's impending demise is tricky.

-The subplot about Windle Poons and the Unseen University just didn't sparkle.

-The wonder spoof of the movie 'Alien' was a little opaque for any but a dedicated fan of both Discworld and Alien, a fairly narrow demographic.

Overall, I loved the themes, but the execution lacked energy, still it is well worth reading once, and adds to the Discworld experience.

Ook!

The Discworld series is a brilliant and beautiful series of books. This is the best of them. Do I really need to give any further explanation? Alright then.
The Grim Reaper, Death, is a character often popularised as evil and murderous, and such. But he isn't, and in fact gets quite offended should this be suggested to him. The Auditors of Reality have therefore decided to fire him, on the basis that he is taking too much personal interest in his work. Until a replacement is found, though, Death's job - taking the spirits of the dead to their appointed afterlife (if any) isn't happening, leaving a surplus of life force and an abundance of chaos.
As Death journeys through what must now be called his "life" as a farm labourer called Bill Door, and deceased-but-not-departed wizard Windle Poons attempts to find him, comedy mixes with serious issues on life and humanity. And we are amused, but moved at the same time. A beautiful book. Get it. Now, if not sooner.

I had always admired Mr Pratchett's capacity of mixing humor and silliness with deep reflections about existence. This books is deep study on the meaning of life, death, justice and love. It leaves you with a great sense of meaning and a wonderful metaphor about kindness and caring about each other because we is all we got.
Great stories with memorable characters both old and new and a wonderful conclusion.
A must read for everyone.

While I have read all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels and enjoyed most, none are as moving and funny as Reaper Man. Pratchett succeeds here in doing what many authors attempt and at which few succeed--using parody and satire to convey a powerful emotional punch.
Pratchett's hilarious and poignant picture of the anthropomorphic characterization of Death entices the reader into a false sense of security and then, when you are least prepared, unleashes a devastatingly insightful and positive message about the human soul and condition.
While I suspect Reaper Man may be somewhat inaccessible to those unversed in the context and language of the Discworld, it remains one of my favorite works of any genre. It is worth reading the entire series for this one title alone.

Choosing between this and "Men at Arms" for the title of best Discworld book, was difficult, believe you me. In the end, this one got the edge, because it was the first one I read. But enough about me. Let's talk about Bill Door.
In this book, Death gets laid off and takes a joh at a farm with Ms. Renata Flitworth. This means that when wizard Windle Poons dies, he does not advance to the afterlife, for wizards must be taken by Death itself. Instead, poor old Windle stays in his body. And the faculty of magical Unseen University searches for the truth behind a new life form that has appeared in the city of Ankh-Morpork.
I will say no more. You have GOT to read this. Hilarious and poignant at the same time, this is the best Discworld book.

What if death suddenly was no longer.
This is Terry Pratchet take on what would happen if death suddenly stopped, from the point of view of two characters, An old wizard that wants to die but can’t causing lot of troubles and wacky situations. And on the other side DEATH himself, suddenly realizing what life is, why living thing try to cling to life so much at the final moment, what is like to see time pass.

Terry Pratchett takes on the concept of what would happen if Death took a holiday and stopped taking dead people to wherever it is they go when they die. Since this is a Discworld novel, Death is personified as a robed, skeletal figure WHO ALWAYS SPEAKS IN CAPITAL LETTERS. The plot follows Windle Poons, an extremely old wizard who is ready to die and get on with the afterlife. When his appointed time comes (and every wizard knows exactly when he's going to die) Death doesn't show up and Windle discovers that in addition to still being dead, his mind is now more alert than ever and his body is stronger than it has been in decades. Still, it's no picnic being dead and still hanging around so Windle decides to find out what has happened. Meanwhile, Death decides to see what it's like being a human and takes on a job as a farmhand for a widow. (He's very handy with a scythe during harvest time.) In addition, the wizards at Unseen University must deal with some very strange occurrences as a living city (more on that later) tries to take over the town of Ankh-Morpork.

Reaper Man contains the usual assortment of wacky characters, puns, and jokes one would expect in a Discworld novel. I liked the self-help group of the recently Undead and the wizards were funny too. Unfortunately, the book isn't as hilarious as the last two Discworld novels I read, Guards Guards and Wyrd Sisters. The plot of a strange threat about to take over the Disc is too similar. Also, the explanation for why a city is somehow evolving and taking the form of snow globes and shopping carts is convoluted and murky. Similarly, the philosophical reasons behind how Death works and the idea of "life force" are too abstract to make much sense.

Overall, this is an average Pratchett novel. If you've never read one of his books, I recommend starting with Guards Guards. Reaper Man is best saved for later when you're trying to complete your collection.

Reaper Man. A most excellent story of Death, and his adventures in Life. Death becomes bored with his eternal immortality of unemotion. So he takes a little vacation from all that tiresome soul- snipping. He decides to become a farmer and changes his name to. . .Bob?!? Little does he know that while he is off duty, no one is there to do his job, which means nobody dies! This is especially true when it comes to Windle Poons, a wizard who hates the way things turned out for him. With a band of merry undead, Poons takes off to find a way to stop this mess.
And something went "plop". .

This is the 11th in Pratchett's Discworld series. Alternatively, it's the 2nd in the Death/Mort/Susan subseries ("Mort," "Reaper Man," "Soul Music," "Hogfather," and "Thief of Time"). It's an excellent continuation of the "fleshing" out of Death that Pratchett began with "Mort" (though "Mort" focused more on Death's apprentice). Although a good chunk of this book could be considered as a part of the Wizards subseries, Death is really the main player here. This is a highly enjoyable, very satisfying book to read. I rate it at 5 stars out of 5.

Reaper Man is among my favorite of the Discworld series books, as it follows my favorite character - Death. It also explores an interesting idea: What if Death retired? What would the disastrous results be? And how would an elderly wizard, scheduled to die at about the same time as Death's retirement, feel about it when he wakes up as a zombie?

Filled with witty humor, the usual satire, and the unusual appearance of shopping carts, this installment of the Discworld series is just another example of Pratchett's deftly used literary wit.

Of all of the characters in Discworld, Death is my favorite. Not only does he speak in all caps, but he is just a little off. In Reaper Man, Death is forced to retire and finds himself working in the fields. Too bad this keeps people from moving on to the afterlife and some don't like that.

Terry Pratchett brings so much fun into his books and the great thing is, you can start at any part of the series and still enjoy it immensely. Pick this one up. You won't regret it!

This is the eleventh book I've read in Pratchett's Discworld series and it is by far my favorite. In this chapter, Death (The Grim Reaper) has been fired by the "eternal auditors" and takes up a job as a farmhand. However, without someone to immediately take over his previous job, the undead are walking the streets and wondering why they haven't died yet. They've even started a "dead rights" group.
This is a hilarious book. Pratchett's series gets better with every release. I highly recommend it!

This is the first book by Pratchett I have read. I have to say it doesn't live up to the hype. I liked the arc involving Death. His version of Death isn't particularly creative but it was well done. The other arc involving the snow globes, however, wasn't particularly funny or witty - it was simply dumb. I was unmoved and not very entertained by it. Thus I rate this book as pretty average. You can find better examples of this sort of writing in Piers Anthony's 'Xanth' series.

The second book in the Death sub series of Discworld this volume exploded how Death might view mortality if he were to have his immortality revoked and the chaos unharvest life force could have on reality (such as it is upon the back of a celestial turtle). It wasn't as engaging as the first Death book, but an enjoyable read.

...or at least one of my favorites. (It's so difficult to choose when there are so many excellent books.)

Death has never been as compelling as in Reaper Man. After all, it is essentially a book about him. And a book about people. And a book about life. Plus it's Prachett, so there are parts where you laugh until your sides hurt, and of course there are the footnotes. (I'm not sure it'd be Prachett without them.)

And the end is probably one of the best endings of any of the books I've read. I cried. (And I tear up every time I reread it, which I do at least once a year.)

I like Terry Pratchett I like his anthromorphic personification of DEATH and I love it when he gets to be a character in the novels. THis is one of Pratchett's better ones though I should say that he has never let me down,witty turns of phrase and puns are only half the fun in the topsy turvey discworld. In this the the auditors have retired DEATH and in one of my favorite lines, his servant, Albert, says that Death can't die, you'd have to come after youself, it would be like a snake eating it's own tail.

This was my first time reading Pratchett, and I have to say that I was slightly dissapointed. I'm not sure if it was my mood or the book itself, but I didn't find it as funny as I had hoped.

Saying this, I did enjoy Death, he is a delightful character and I would consider reading more Discworld novels just for him...

You see the book wasn't bad, it just wasn't overly good... But I am open to reading more Pratchett, so who knows, maybe one day I'll re-read and love.

Another good attempt at philosophy by the leading fictional writer of our time. Terry P has given new meaning to the words 'Reaper' and 'Man'. They now mean 'You won't stop reading' and 'Until the book's done' respectively. If the images were the only things right, it would still be a good book. If the jokes were the only things right, it would still be a good book. If the characters were the only things right, it would still be...enough of that: IT'S A GOOD BOOK! READ IT!

Terry Pratchett is my favorite author and the one author that every single member of our family agrees on and loves.

This outing is one of Pratchett's two different variations on "Death Takes a Holiday." Death, the only character to appear in all but one of the Discworld novels, is the perfect representative for Pratchett's entire world. Human being intrigue Pratchett's Grim Reaper, even more so than usual in this particular book. Of course, his powerful need to maintain the basic order of things proves powerful and calls him back.

A fun, chaotic romp.

Here in Australia, we had a number of government TV antismoking ads in the 80's using the Grim reaper to put people off smoking, was reported as highly effective. Contrast this with Bill Door racing the discworlds first machine (?) and the word pictures of the people around this (these are real people - I meet them every day in my farming community here) - laughed myself silly. I've always wanted to know what happened to little Sal gifted with alive Death's time (I have a niece and nephew at this age at present they really think this way), my mind runs off in all directions but cannot guess what TP might do with this.

The wonderful thing about Pratchett's novels is that they're endless retrospective. That is, no matter how long it's been since you've read one, you can still require specific moments in the book with uncanny accuracy and they're still gut-splittingly funny.
There are too many of those kinds of moments in the book to describe. An almost endlessly entertaining book, and one of Pratchett's best, next to Small Gods and Soul Music.

Continuing his successful Discworld series, Terry Pratchett's "Reaper Man" is yet another example of why the author is so widely loved. The premise of "Reaper Man" is that Death himself learns he is about to die, and decides to go on vacation and experience life for his remaining days. This complicates things for the living, especially those who were supposed to die, such as the oldest wizard, Windle Poons. The resulting story is funny and well-crafted, and Pratchett demonstrates again an amazing talent for creating interesting characters. The novel moves along smoothly and is consistently witty and clever. Though "Reaper Man" becomes slightly more confusing and harder to grasp towards the end, the writing is still fraught with humor and Pratchett uses his combination of fantasy and satire with near perfect results. Fans of the series will thoroughly enjoy this addition, and shouldn't be surprised if they finish with their cheeks sore from laughter.

Well, maybe three is a little unfair, but I really didn't like Windle. I bought this book after reading Mort because I really liked the character of Death. The Death plot was really sweet and I loved how he kept Death of Rats and Death of Fleas as pets. I really didn't like the wizards, The Freash Start Club, and Windle Poons though. They really got on my nerves. It was a good enough idea, but it just didn't hold my interest very well. It was kind of drawn out and boring to me...oh well. I would if I could rate this book twice, one for the story of Windle, who gets maybe two and a half stars and one for the story of Death who gets four or maybe five stars. The story of Windle really wasn't that bad, its just that I found it very hard to follow. And the whole shopping mall thing confused the heck out of me.Although Dean getting extremely hyper and continually saying "Yo!" was hilarious. Another thing that bugged me about this book was that it wasn't consistent. When "Bill Door's" ghost is running from the New Death, he can't pick anything up because he's a ghost, yet somehow when Mrs. Flitworth distracts him, he picks up the scythe and kills him. There were a lot of minor errors like that, it was annoying. Maybe I would have enjoyed this book a little more if I didn't have a terrible head ache while trying to read it, but I'm not sure. No matter what the book was like in the middle, the ending was wonderful. I had no idea Death had anything to do with music, let alone be a spectacular danncer! That was completely unexpected. I love how he kept Death of Rats. That was so cute! All in all, I guess I could describe this book with one word in the end: SQUEAK

Terry Pratchett shows once again that even the most serious of subjects is no match for the silliness that is discworld! He cleverly walks the fine lines of literature, embracing humor without falling into stupidity; exploring life and death without falling into dull preachiness. What sets Pratchett's writings apart from that of others in the field of fiction today is his balancing act; Every story has a serious plot, it's just the characters and setting that are ridiculous. What sets "Reaper Man" apart is the interesting look at ourselves that Pratchett provides, both through the eyes of Death and, in some cases, Windle Poons. Both come to realize in the end what really is important in life. Finally, "Reaper Man" finally allows Death to become a good guy, something that was denied him in the early discworld novels and, to some extent, in "Mort". As this novel shows, Death has indeed become quite a character, in more ways than one!

I really like all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld (fantasy) books, including this one. You will best enjoy reading them in the order published, but they're good on their own. They have a unique, fey humor: I expect you will like all or none, so if they're new to you, get just one to begin with.

I was introduced to Terry Pratchett's work in Edinburgh when a theatre group performed Hogfather during the Edinburgh festival. Despite freezing cold weather(it was performed outdoors) I was hooked for good. I returned to the states, bought Reaper Man, read it, and I LOVE IT!!!! I advise you though, do not read it in public, because you will surely be laughing out loud!!
Kateri

If you've read the other reviews, you probably understand by now that in this episode from the Discworld series, Death gets to take a holiday from his normal duties. This sets up a series of preposterous circumstances that can only be carried off by Terry Pratchett on his insane creation - Discworld.
This was the first of the Discworld novels I ever read, and by far and away the funniest! I was reading it on a flight to San Diego, during the in-flight movie - a taut thriller - and laughed so hard that other passengers were removing their headphones and glaring at me, wondering what I found so hysterical in the film.
This book turned me into a confirmed Terry Pratchett enthusiast. His tongue-in-cheek attitude towards his world and his wonderfully twisted take on life has helped inspire my own looney creative efforts, much to the delight of my children.
Read this book. Then read the entire Discworld series. If you have any sense of humor, you can't go wrong with this one!

What can you say about Pratchett books in general? They're great. It's hard for me to tell them apart, because they're mostly on the same superb level.
This one is one the books about DEATH, in my opinion one of the best guys in Discworld. Here he has to fight with identity problems, another thing unimaginable for Death himself.
It's funny, funny, funny and just great as everyone else. Just read it.

one of the best parts of the whole book was the part with the servents of Azarael and the personality bit. "Take your hands off me. Er. . . Oops" poof. another good part was when Bill Door sharpened the Scythe and the words were cut up. I also liked the bit with Ridcully's swearwords popping out in front of him. Bloody hellfire! And The boogeyman Scheppel

After nicking the title of repo man, quite cleverly. Death is the star of this novel. The Auditors get a little unhappy with him and his increasing independence, which they see as a threat.

He ends up going to work on a farm, which is really pretty funny. When the whole Death role gets messed up, he has to fight to get his old job back.

This excellent novel gives Death a character - & how ! Death as a farm hand, the committee of Equal Rites (including the first banshee with a speech impediment), Mrs Cake & Windle Poons (a wizard who suffers from clinical -well- life) - this one has it all. After reading "Reaper Man" you'll never look at life -or death- the same way. Pratchett's amazing gift is that he puts you through a real philosophical grinder, but you never know it at the time. You'll love Death - & if you don't, you should have been an auditor. Read & discover.

A disappointment compared to the much more successful Mort: a less engaging Death, and an unrelentingly grim world view. Some cleverness (Death winds up working as a farmhand; he's an expert with a scythe, even though he insists on cutting the grain one stem at a time). Even the comic-relief wizards aren't all that funny in this one. The elderly Windle Poons finally dies, and he's a far more interesting character than death, but still undeveloped. Wizards thrown in for comic relief don't do a very good job of it. There's a subplot involving the secret life cycle of shopping malls, but it doesn't work very well.

The story itself is totally Pratchett, full of humor and intelligence. It's a great read. The downside to owning the Kindle version is that there are no chapters, so the entire book runs together, which is frustrating if you're looking for a placeholder or a place to stop. The other reason this is frustrating is that the reader has difficulty discerning where one narrative cuts off and another begins.

Well, I've not really read this book yet (just ordered it, though, which is why I'm here in the first place) but I'm sure I'll agree on the 5 stars after reading it, as Terry (I call him Terry) is the most brilliant writer of this, and quite possibly the next, millennium. I see my favorite little rodent, D.o.R. (among friends, that is) on the cover and that makes me happy.
Yep, happy.
D.o.R. is the most brilliantly thought out character in any book ever written in any world. I only wished we'd get a full, 600 page book about the little fellow. We'd enjoy it. Yep.
I leave you with the classic theme song of all that is dead and furry.
"Deeeeeeeeeeeath, the Death of Raaaaaats!
He's the Tiniest,
The Boniest,
His Scythe is COOL...and he's a RAT!
Deeeeeeeeeeeath, the Death of Raaaaaats!"

I love the Discworld, but I have to say, that though the series was amusing to me, it was not something I felt everyone needed to read. Then I read Reaper Man. I felt Mr. Pratchett's writing bloomed in this book, and following books have proved that Reaper Man was no accident. The two stories with a similar theme, Death finally experiencing what life is about and a Grand Wizard realizing he had never really lived until after he died are wonderful. Though Mr. Pratchett has written, and hopefully will continue to write more, Reaper Man is still my favorite.

The only reason "Reaper Man" didn't score a 10 was because respect must be paid to Pratchett's best work, "Guards! Guards!" Join Death as he takes a holiday in the country, abandoning the harvest of lives for a harvest of wheat. But what happens to the world when death doesn't do his job?

To everybody...DRAMA
Can it really get any better? Thos book made me feel very sane, and I am glad there are more of us out there. I view death differently now, and I truly wish I was a wizard so that this figure could come for me in person when I die. How Mr.Pratchett can come up with caracters like DEATH, one man buckett(and his brother), the lads at Unseen University, and that incredibly funny Librarian...just read and get on with it...It wil for sure make you want to read other discnovels. Now I wished our own planet was flat.
As you can see, I have become a great fan of this world, and the Reaper Man made it that way...the best Discworld novel I`ve read so far.

These stories are layered things and somehow manage to make one giggle gleefully at all the jokes, irony, and satire while at the very same time forcing one to ponder Life, Death, and the very nature of human existence. Further, Pratchett manages to make that seem effortless. Really, each book he writes feels like a present.

I admit it, I am a hopeless Disc World fan. That said, this is one of the more enjoyable books of the series and has made Death one of my favorite characters. It' *fleshes* him out quite well and Disc World fans will not be disappointed.

In perhaps Terry Pratchett's best Discworld novel to date, we follow the further adventures of Death - or should I say, DEATH - and the interesting results of his interaction with the Discworld on perhaps, shall we say, a more human level. Add to that the wizards of Unseen University and the combination is...well, unstoppable. The humor and classic wit of Pratchett are at their very best in this book, and are all the better for the touch of a subtle yet important message. If you're in love with the Discworld or if you want to be, this one's a must.

Reaper man was the latest Terry pratchet book I've read and I found It hillariously funny yet not as humorouse as one of his newer books, Last Continent, Jingo Etc. But I still hold it high as one of my top 5. His ideas are great and original and I'd strongly recomend it.

This book is the greatest. If you like Death, and the way he says things like, I FOUND THAT I RAN OVER A GOPHER, you will love this book. It is funny, it has good length, it is just the best. Buy it now. Now. I DON"T SEE YOU BUYING THIS BOOK, as Death would say

Reaper Man was an excellently written novel. Pratchett's combination of humor, drama, and a serious, intimately written plot make for easy reading. Truly, this novel was more a work of art than just a few pages, words and a binding.

This book got me hooked on the Discworld. Need more? The ideas of spreading cities, along with the wizards, Reg Shoe, and others make it hard to resist for any avid reader.
My only advice is to avoid it if you're short on money or don't have a library near you. With around 30 books in the series it can get pretty expensive =p

I'm a fan of discworld and I'm sure I would have enjoyed this book in any case. But Reaper Man is easily the most powerful work of the entire series. How a writer can be both hilarious and transcendant at the same time - and on the subject of Death - is astonishing. On reading and re-reading Reaper Man, I have reflected many times on Pratchett's moving philosophy of death but only after I finished laughing. Just buy it, you'll see what I mean.

I knew going in that I would love this book given that Death was the main character. I love Death and I am not even into Goth. Terry once again demonstrates a keen ability to combine phenomenal humor and profound metaphysical concepts. He makes me laugh and cry at the same time. He is a phenom. Thank you Terry for another great work.

Reaper Man is a Terry Pratchett Discworld classic, but the HarperTorch edition that I ordered was missing pages 91 to 138 and also had duplicates of pages 139 to 186. Unfortunately we didn't notice the problem until we were already deeply ensconced, making the discovery all the more frustrating.

I would imagine that this would have affected the entire print run, so be careful when ordering the book.

there is only one asimov.. and only one douglas adams (who in my opinion is not really all that funny and definitely not in the same league as asimov)

but terry pratchet is neither and he is trying just too hard to be funny.

or my tolerance for fiction has gone down over the year...