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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Very solid Terry Pratchett book. Can't wait to read the rest of the series!
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not too sure about this one, to be honest. Like Equal Rites, it did stall for me in the middle, toward the beginning of the middle to be honest. I was really invested in the first portion of the book, loving the general premise of Death seeking an apprentice, who just so happened to be named Mort. However, once I got the feel for where the book seemed to be going, I kind of choked as a reader. I did not have any interest in the general direction I could see ahead of me, but I did want to know how everything turned out, which helped me to power through. Not my favorite installment in Discworld, and I can't really see myself wanting to revisit any of these characters, unlike Granny Weatherwax from Equal Rites, who I kind of can't wait to see again.
Spoiler
In essence, I did not think would enjoy a romance in any shape in this world with this style of writing. I can be very particular about romantic storylines, and I was worried as I saw one taking shape that it would kind of ruin my reading experience. This romance was relatively low stakes, fortunately, and went in a different direction than initially indicated, which I was fine with. Not my favorite thing to navigate the not-knowing of, though, which slowed my reading to a halt at one point. I'm aware this is largely a personal preference situation, but then, shouldn't my review reflect that preference?
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Following Death around on the job is a fun premise. The execution was maybe not as great as some of Pratchett's other work. The rules of when and where Death shows up, for instance, or what happens when he doesn't, seem not to be fully fleshed out. Now he only shows up for dignitaries, now people who were killed wouldn't be dead if he weren't there, now the fabric of reality will unravel if he cooks dinner one night and misses a death.
As far as the ending,
That said... it's fun, it's satirical, and it has shelves full of self-writing biographies of everyone who's ever lived. You may be willing to overlook unpredictable characters to read all of that.
As far as the ending,
Spoiler
I don't particularly like books where people who start out fighting end up married. It doesn't make sense, and also makes it seem like they'll be miserable ever after. Much of the rest of the ending seemed rushed and didn't seem to match the way people acted for the rest of the story. A man who goes two thousand years with a drip on the end of his nose is incensed that other wizards have given up daily exercise. Someone who wants to quit his job and retire with cats becomes murderous when his apprentice does his job for the night. Things just don't add up.That said... it's fun, it's satirical, and it has shelves full of self-writing biographies of everyone who's ever lived. You may be willing to overlook unpredictable characters to read all of that.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think this is the worst of the past 7 discworld novels I've read, even including Equal Rites. Both the characters and the humor were lacking. Pratchett, who is usually so excellent at crafting unique and interesting characters, just kinda disappointed. The personalities of the two female co-leads were shallow and tepid. I didn't find either to be engaging, and I certainly wasn't rooting for any romantic pairings...a huge letdown after the strong characters of the Witches sub-series. And death had some really strange personality shifts that didn't make sense to me. The way he acted after coming back from the kitchens was very out of character, or at least, not backed up by good narration.
I guess this makes sense, seeing as I'm moving from reading the 23rd discword book to reading the 4th. I'm still somewhat undecided as to whether this reading order I've got going makes sense. But I think it's probably nice to mix in the older (and less refined) books with the newer and better ones. Otherwise, I'm not sure that I would be able to plow through a bunch of these tepid books in order to get to the better, later works.
Also, I was really enjoying the narrator Indira Varma from Witches, and her replacement, Sian Clifford was very disappointing by comparison. Whereas Indira's voices feel genuine, Sian's feel fake and put-on, with stage emotion instead of true feeling.
I guess this makes sense, seeing as I'm moving from reading the 23rd discword book to reading the 4th. I'm still somewhat undecided as to whether this reading order I've got going makes sense. But I think it's probably nice to mix in the older (and less refined) books with the newer and better ones. Otherwise, I'm not sure that I would be able to plow through a bunch of these tepid books in order to get to the better, later works.
Also, I was really enjoying the narrator Indira Varma from Witches, and her replacement, Sian Clifford was very disappointing by comparison. Whereas Indira's voices feel genuine, Sian's feel fake and put-on, with stage emotion instead of true feeling.