Original review posted on The Book SmugglersReaper Man is a book that I find really hard to define. It would be so easy to simply describe it as a hilarious – or even absurdist – romp about the chaos that ensues after Death is (forcibly) retired without an immediate replacement to take over his duties. There are wizards running around, there are snow globes that pop out of nowhere then hatch into EVIL shopping trolleys (!!), a bunch of previously-undead people (including a vampire and a boogeyman) fighting for Undead Rights alongside the newly-undead Windle Poons. Whilst, in the meantime, basically oblivious to all the chaos, Death assumes the mantle of Bill Door and finds work at Miss Flitworth’s farm as a literal reaper man, helping with the harvest.And this description above would not be inexact.But it would be an incomplete one. This is a funny, absurd book and it does feature all of the above and it is perfectly fun and fine at face value. But it is finer when it comes to its metaphors and its thought-provoking themes. There is actually one fun moment of meta-awareness within the story when Windle Poons realises that the whole chaos surrounding him, the things happening to him are so full of metaphorical interpretations it is almost too much.Anyways, one of the main ideas here is that when Death retires, the living cease to die – at least for a time. In a more immediate storyline, the building of this untapped life force causes many problems for the inhabitants of Discworld and allows for darker forces to try to exploit this gap.The point is, no Death = no moving on, especially to those who are waiting for this idea of personified Death to come and collect them. Actually one of the recurrent ideas of the Death books (at least these two I have read) is that beliefis a force to be reckoned with and it infuses the entire concept of this worldbuilding.One of the main characters here alongside Death is the elderly magician Widdle Poons who have lived an unremarkable life until he became undead. He died but there was no one to collect him so he came back to life only to find that he now has a strong body and a clear mind for the first time in decades. This extra time proves to be everything to him – at first, he is perfectly happy to go along with his friends’ plans to rebury him (alive) because he understands his being HERE is completely abnormal. But then he finds himself being needed…and that is a powerful motivator.Meanwhile, Death finds himself with counted time for the first time. For someone who never had to count time before, this comes as a shock. It is the first time since the beginning of life that Death truly understands his harvest.This juxtaposition of both storylines is fascinating because what happened to both these characters is a boon but in different ways. Widdle has more time, Death has less time but both find meaning. And it’s remarkable because it is still all so relative because minutes and hours and lives are still ephemeral in the great scheme of things but all so important to everyone.So this is about Time and about life and about being needed, being helpful. It’s also about empathy: the ending of this book is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. It’s Death coming to a better understanding of his role, of his standing, of the humans he is supposed to harvest. His relationship with Miss Flitworth is a thing of heart-warming beauty and their final moments and their literal danse macabre are so full of compassion it almost made my heart burst.And it is funny because Death becomes even more humanised – which is exactly what caused the problem in the first place – but he is now probably a better Death than ever before. You just ask the Death of Rats (and while at it, the Death of Fleas) what they think of it.
Reseña en español: Click acáThis is book #2 of the Death series one of my favourites characters of Discworld. On this one Azrael, Death's boss, becomes aware that Discworld's Death is developing a personality so he decides to make him mortal because he wasn't doing his job right. Now under the identity of Bill Door, Death finds a job as a farmer and he start enjoying the pleasures of being alive.Meanwhile, in the city of Ankh-Morpork, weird things start to happen since there's a large amount of life force that's causing chaos: there are a lot of poltergeist, ghosts and zombies on the loose.I'm really enjoying the Death series, he is such a great character that allows Pratchett to express his vision of mortality in a clever and hilarious way. This book particularly holds a great message behind all the jokes: it's never to late to enjoy life and it's pleasures. The final paragraphs of this book has been one of the most amazing things I ever read, it made me laugh but at the same time left me thinking.Of course that this book is extremely funny there's a lot of great characters (my favourites on this one were the wizards of the Unseen University, they were hilarious) as well as Pratchett typical nonsenses like a pile of living manure and a dyslexic chicken. But certainly what I enjoyed the most was that last message, it was really beautiful. Wherever you are Terry, thank you for all this magic.If you haven't read any Pratchett book what are you waiting? I think that these are books that anyone should try, they are really amazing and very different from anything that I've read before. Totally recommended for people that take life so seriously, although I recommend reading Mort before trying this one. “Picture a tall, dark figure, surrounded by cornfields...NO, YOU CAN'T RIDE A CAT. WHO EVER HEARD OF THE DEATH OF RATS RIDING A CAT? THE DEATH OF RATS WOULD RIDE SOME KIND OF DOG.Picture more fields, a great horizon-spanning network of fields, rolling in gentle waves...DON'T ASK ME I DON'T KNOW. SOME KIND OF TERRIER, MAYBE....fields of corn, alive, whispering in the breeze...RIGHT, AND THE DEATH OF FLEAS CAN RIDE IT TOO. THAT WAY YOU KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE....awaiting the clockwork of the seasons.METAPHORICALLY.”
What do You think about Reaper Man (2005)?
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.
—Matt
Upon hearing the tragic news today, I have realized I have not added this book or written a review of it, and I feel truly bad about that.If someone were to ask me which of Terry Pratchett's book is my favorite, I wouldn't hesitate. All of his books are works of art, but among them, this one stands out like a true masterpiece to me. I think this is the first book he wrote that has actually made me cry both in laughter and in sadness. It is the only one of his books that I have re-read so many times and I know I will re-read it many more times in the future. Death has always been my favorite character, as he is, curiously, the most human and childlike, the most curious and without prejudice of all the others on Disc World. He is also the one I identified most as a child, a teenager and even now as a grown woman approaching her thirtieth birthday. I asked and still ask many of the same questions and find awe in many of the same simple things and the reason I do is, most of all, because of the genius of Terry Pratchett.I'm going to have to wrap this up here, because I've cried enough today and I'm starting to again.Thank you, sir Terry, for everything.
—Marion Freeman
Good Omens is unbelievably good; there are rumours that HBO or somesuch organisation has the rights to a screenplay. It has become of my family's favourite "Who would you cast as...." games while we wait to hear more.Also you have to include "Nation", "Carpet People" and "Dodger" up high somewhere even though they are not Discworld.
—Stacia
