I adored this book! On many occasions, I found myself laughing out loud. The humor is amazing, the story line is absorbing, and though I know this is satire, you can't help caring for the characters. There was even a final battle (sort of) and a little bit of angst thrown in. There's something for everyone!

In this Discworld story, Mort has become Death's apprentice. However, his human emotions start making Death wonder if he's missed something in his life (existence?) and when he suddenly disappears, Mort must attempt to take over the business. Throw in Death's feisty adopted daughter, a servant who is actually a 2,000 year old wizard, and a princess who is simultaneously dead but alive and you've got one interesting story.

This was a fabulous second introduction in the Discworld series. I enjoyed it immensely more than The Color of Magic (though the cameo appearance by Rincewind made me laugh) and I have every intention of continuing to read the rest of the series. Sadly, Death's saga will have to wait a little bit as I currently have the first four of witches' saga sitting on my coffee table...staring at me...waiting to be read...*cracks open Equal Rites and starts to read* ( )

I love the character of death, infact i love this book, it really launched the discworld series more so than colour of magic and light fantastic did. Death is a wonderful character that always makes me laugh and the idea of him taking on an apprentice leads to so many thrills on nearly every page. ( )

Mort -- Terry Pratchett

Mort was the first discworld novel I read, and it's a very good introduction to Pratchett's bestselling series. The brilliant thing about the Discworld, is that it starts of good, but just keeps getting better. It's hard enough to write a series that is consistently good, but to frequently improve on yourself is quite amazing.

Mort is the ideal start because it is not only very funny, but also shows glimpses of what the Discworld will grow into in terms of maturity of the material. Where The Light Fantastic and The Colour of Magic were mostly just funny parody sketches added to eachother, Mort has a storyline and an underlying idea. Plus it features DEATH (who takes on an apprentice) and DEATH is one of my favourite characters.

So, in short, though not brilliant yet, well worth the read and a better introduction to the Discworld than the first two.

--A-- ( )

Bit of a deux ex machina ending, but still a fun read. ( )

This is an absolutely delightful read. I am not a huge fantasy fan, so my fantasy is usually served up best with a heaping helping of humor. This book did just that.
The story revolves around a young man who is just coming of age. He needs to get a job, and ends up being the apprentice to Death. Death is somewhat burnt out on doing his job day in and day out and has a "mid life crisis" of sorts. That leave Mort with the most of the regular duties. He promptly messes up, causes a rift in time, and everything goes to hell in a handbasket!
I will definitely be reading more Pratchett in the future! ( )