HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Mort: A Novel of Discworld by Terry…
Loading...

Mort: A Novel of Discworld (original 1987; edition 2013)

by Terry Pratchett

Series: Discworld: Death (1), Discworld (4)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
15,730250331 (4.06)530
Fantasy. Fiction. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:

Terry Pratchett's profoundly irreverent novels are consistent number one bestseller in England, where they have catapulted him into the highest echelons of parody next to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen.

In this Discworld installment, Death comes to Mort with an offer he can't refuse â?? especially since being, well, dead isn't compulsory.As Death's apprentice, he'll have free board and lodging, use of the company horse, and he won't need time off for family funerals. The position is everything Mort thought he'd ever wanted, until he discovers that this perfect job can be a killer on his love life.… (more)

Member:wenderoo
Title:Mort: A Novel of Discworld
Authors:Terry Pratchett
Info:Harper (2013), Edition: Reissue, Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages
Collections:Your library, Audiobooks, To read
Rating:
Tags:None

Work Information

Mort by Terry Pratchett (1987)

  1. 20
    Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard (PitcherBooks)
    PitcherBooks: While Howard's Cabal is a Necromancer (one who can raise the dead - in a fashion) And Pratchett's DEATH is the embodiment of death (which comes to us all)... The commonality is really that wonderful quirky British humor. Pratchett is an old favorite of mine and I have read every one of his books. Howard is my new favorite and I plan to read every one of his books. If you like one, odds are you'll totally enjoy the other...… (more)
  2. 10
    Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore (Zaklog)
    Zaklog: Although American, not British, Christopher Moore has a very similar sense of humor to Pratchett's. And if you like a story about an unsuspecting, innocent (and often clumsy) man accidentally becoming the Grim Reaper, you'll probably like Moore's book as well. Another wonderful characteristic the two authors share is their ability to combine a bizarre sense of humor with very serious moral subjects. So once you finish the newest Pratchett novel, be sure to check out Christopher Moore.… (more)
  3. 10
    A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore (alexa_d)
  4. 44
    On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony (ijustgetbored)
    ijustgetbored: Similar theme: Death gets a replacement. Wry, with a healthy helping of social critique.
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 530 mentions

English (240)  Spanish (2)  French (2)  Swedish (1)  Czech (1)  Dutch (1)  German (1)  Polish (1)  All languages (249)
Showing 1-5 of 240 (next | show all)
Mort finds himself apprenticed to Death Problems arise when he fails to take the life of a princess.

Very good, but points deducted for flawed audio production decisions. It's obvious that Penguin hasn't cared to match the audio quality of Bill Nighy's footnotes with the text (in this and other books). Having Peter Serafinowicz voice Death is a brilliant production choice, but casts into relief how very weak Sian Clifford's efforts are to imitate Death's tones when Mort starts gaining Death's aspect. It should have been a simple matter to add some production effects, like a slight hollow echo, to Death Mort. In general, Clifford was very good, set off by a few braying or squeaky characterizations. ( )
  yarmando | Feb 11, 2024 |
In this Discworld installment, Death comes to Mort with an offer he can't refuse -- especially since being, well, dead isn't compulsory.

As Death's apprentice, he'll have free board and lodging, use of the company horse, and he won't need time off for family funerals. The position is everything Mort thought he'd ever wanted, until he finds himself filling in for the grim reaper and discovers that this perfect job can be a killer on his love life. Things get complicated, when Mort, out of love and chivalry, prevents the scheduled demise of a pretty teenage princess, thus his actions cause a rift in the course of history from that point on, causing two realities to exist simultaneously on the Discworld, confusing the locals no end. Meanwhile, Death is off enjoying a much needed holiday, discovering for the first time this strange human thing called "fun," and deciding he rather likes life now that he's had a chance to see what it's all about.

This is a wonderful book by Terry Pratchett, possibly one of my favorites. To take a theme such as death and turn it into a story that is this amusing and warm-hearted is a remarkable achievement.

Mort marks Death’s first major appearance in the Discworld series, and is one of Pratchett's early works but it serves as a great entry point into Discworld. Death is one my favorite Discworld characters. And it's really to Sir Pratchett's credit, that beneath the gags there's a really warm and endearing outlook on life, death, and the need to cherish the time we have before us....


Reread 2022. I will forever love this book. ( )
  ryantlaferney87 | Dec 8, 2023 |
I love Terry Pratchett's concepts and characters... But something just doesn't work for me. I don't like... His humor? Something about the story keeps bothering me. Not sure what, but I can't (am not allowed to?) connect with any of the characters. They all (including Death) do some really stupid things, even knowing they're stupid - that's part of it. I don't know.
Ok, it finally clicked for me - when Mort started changing, things fell into place. I'm really not sure what was going on at the end - the whys, the whats were pretty clear - but I liked it. All but the repeated "stole away my daughter" - that so didn't make sense for Death. Overall, not bad, glad I finished it - and glad that the consensus seems to be that this is the weakest of the Death books, so later ones should be better. ( )
  jjmcgaffey | Dec 2, 2023 |
  nordie | Oct 14, 2023 |
Mort, Mort, MORT. His name is Mort, not boy or that fellow or you there or sir. Oh and he's changing fast; becoming realer than real and more solid by the day, brown eyes becoming blue fireballs and that voice - oh boy, that voice. And he has the weight of the universe on his shoulders.

I wouldn't say Mort is ambitious, nay, maybe stubborn and determined? I mean, that combination alone is bound to upset the apple cart. From waiting until the very last stroke of midnight to be apprenticed right up to the duel of fates...just kidding - but there is a duel of sorts. And everything in between. Mort and Death are actually quite symbiotic. Mort carrying out the task that Death carries out and Death having a quasi-existential crisis inside multiple fabrics of time. In the end, I have to say I believe Death feels affection, familial attachment even but I won't go so far as to say Death feels love. Oh but he sure does love curries. WHY WOULDN'T I LOVE CURRY? ~ I imagine Death asking in that voice.

I will say this, Sir Terry Pratchett took death and made the entity feel relatable. I have adored the personification of death in a few books, The Book Thief, Under The Whispering Door, Sandman but this is the first time I found myself laughing out loud and blurting out between tears "Gosh I love Death" which granted kind of freaked me out at first.

In the end, this is the WEIRDEST love story out there and I totally dig it.
( )
  RoadtripReader | Aug 24, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 240 (next | show all)

» Add other authors (62 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Pratchett, Terryprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bauman, JillCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Brandhorst, AndreasTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Byatt, A. S.Introductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Clifford, SianNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Couton, PatrickTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kirby, JoshCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
McLaren, JoeCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Nighy, BillNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Planer, NigelNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rayyan, OmarIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Sahlin, OlleTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Salmenoja, MargitTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Serafinowicz, PeterNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wilkins, RobAuthor photosecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
To Rhianna
First words
This is the bright candlelit room where the lifetimers are stored - shelf upon shelf of them, squat hourglasses, one for every living person, pouring their fine sand from the future into the past.
Quotations
There should be a word for that brief period just after waking when the mind is full of warm pink nothing.
‘[Death] doesn’t like wizards and witches much,’ Mort volunteered. 
‘Nobody likes a smartass,’ she said with some satisfaction. ‘We give him trouble, you see. Priests don’t, so he likes priests.’ 
‘He’s never said,’ said Mort. 
‘Ah. They’re always telling folk how much better it’s going to be when they’re dead. We tell them it could be pretty good right here if only they’d put their minds to it.’
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

Fantasy. Fiction. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:

Terry Pratchett's profoundly irreverent novels are consistent number one bestseller in England, where they have catapulted him into the highest echelons of parody next to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen.

In this Discworld installment, Death comes to Mort with an offer he can't refuse â?? especially since being, well, dead isn't compulsory.As Death's apprentice, he'll have free board and lodging, use of the company horse, and he won't need time off for family funerals. The position is everything Mort thought he'd ever wanted, until he discovers that this perfect job can be a killer on his love life.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
When Mort’s father tries to get rid of his dim-witted son by offering him up for apprenticeship, nobody seems to want him – except for an elderly skeleton in a black cloak who turns out to be Death himself! After being accepted into Death’s unusual household, and watching a few souls be guided into the next world, Mort takes over the duty for a night or two, to give his master a break. With one ill-placed stroke of the scythe, he will split history in two, create a paradox that only a powerful wizard can rectify, and send Death on a quest to find out precisely what it is about life that humans enjoy – with predictably hilarious results!
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.06)
0.5
1 16
1.5 4
2 87
2.5 26
3 742
3.5 206
4 1668
4.5 164
5 1279

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 202,650,047 books! | Top bar: Always visible