Review: "Reaper Man" by Terry Pratchett

Quick Summary

Type: Novel, book 11 in Discworld Series

Genre: Fiction, fantasy, humor

Summary: "They say there are only two things you can count on...

But that was before DEATH started pondering the existential. Of course, the last thing anyone needs is a squeamish Grim Reaper and soon his Discworld bosses have sent him off with best wishes and a well-earned gold watch. Now DEATH is having the time of his life, finding greener pastures where he can put his scythe to a whole new use.

But like every cutback in an important public service, DEATH's demise 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. To get the fresh start he deserves, 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)." Read Time: 3 days

Rating: 4 stars

Review

From the start, Reaper Man is attention grabbing. Of course it is - a wizard prepares to die and Death prepares to retire. The prose is engaging and witty. Just like with Hogfather, the small scenes that add nothing to the main plot are still very entertaining - I particularly like the scenes with Cyril the dyslexic chicken.

That being said, I didn't like Reaper Man as much as I enjoyed Hogfather. The main reason for this, I believe, is the plot. What I liked so much about Hogfather was that the major plotlines (Mr. Teatime, Susan, Death) came together at the end. In Reaper Man, the two major plotlines (Bill Door, Windle Poons, the wizards) stayed (mostly) separate. Windle Poons' and the wizards' storylines came together, but Death/Bill Door had his own separate story that never affected the other story (beyond the obvious).

Even though the main storylines stayed separate, the stories were still very fun to read.