Reviews - Reaper Man | The StoryGraph

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I think this is one of my favorites, just because of the way he treats death (Death and death, ha ha) in relation to those who are alive. That it isn't just a job, that the reaper needs to care about the harvest. Oh, and zombies are fun! And snowglobes are scary. :P

inquisitivevic's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

jewbacca343's review against another edition

4.0

This book is both funny and profound. The wizard storyline is just another excellent goof trip of the hapless wizards managing to somehow not screw up everything even though they're all idiots. The Death storyline is actually a very sweet and impactful story of death and what it means to live.
Also Death befriends the Death of Rats whose just a little rat Death and that makes me feel very happy. Rats are cool.

quadrille's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars, rounded down. Which might be a little blasphemous! It's interesting revisiting the entire series in chronological order from beginning to end, because I had this memory of Reaper Man as being absolutely astounding -- and its reputation certainly says so -- but I found myself underwhelmed this time around.

The Bill Door sections are exquisite. Absolutely perfect, five stars. Melancholy and wistful and philosophical and feelsy, as Death vacates his position and learns what it's like to be human, to live on limited time, to wring the best out of life, and as he develops a touching relationship with an old farmwoman. And we also have the birth of the Death of Rats (who is such a wonderful sidekick in the series as a whole, so I forgot that he didn't always exist). His realisation of why his job matters; why the personal touch matters. There are sequences that honestly brought tears to my eyes:

LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?

The other two thirds of the book, though...? The Fresh Start Club was fun (Reg Shoe!), and I like that the wizards' personalities are starting to solidify (and we now see the fraying threads of the Bursar's sanity, too), but I just wasn't into the entire plotline with the city eggs. I prefer it when the Discworld develops its own technology and satirical analogues for real-life things, but the modern world getting dropped wholesale and unchanged into Ankh-Morpork isn't as compelling.

If it had all been Bill Door or with a stronger supporting plot it could have been 5 stars, but unfortunately the other half drags it down. Still very good, though.