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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
I didn’t connect with this story of Death essentially being told he was to die and the consequence of that.
funny
hopeful
reflective
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:
No
This is one of those middle stage Pratchett books that I like more as I revisit it.
It really is two different novellas connected loosely by the theme of a new chance at life. Death is threatened by the Auditors, who remove him from his post because he has developed a personality and personalities, rather than forces, must eventually end. So Death moves to a small farming community, takes up a job as a reaper and gets a closer look at humanity with the humanity-affirming eye that Pratchett displays in the best of his Granny Weatherwax stories. It's a lightly humorous meditation on the nature of death and life, and what we owe one another as we're alive.
With the absence of Death there's a build up of life force in Ankh Morpork, including the return from the dead of Windell Poons, the 119 year old wizard last seen in his magnificent wheelchair in Moving Pictures. Windell's second life as an indestructible super strong zombie is standard wizard's tale madcap, with him teaming up with Dead Rights Activists Reg Shoe and company to fight off another cross dimensional invasion, this time an extended metaphor for how shopping malls outside the city limits suck the vitality out of urban life. It's deeply goofy, lots of blowing things up from wizards riding shopping carts and some trenchant observations on urban planning, but other than Windell musing on how he didn't have much of a life until after he died this story didn't need to be linked with Death's tale.
Despite that, it all works - the soulful parts are soulful, the funny parts are funny, the observation of the human condition is spot on. It's a strange book, but not a flawed one.
It really is two different novellas connected loosely by the theme of a new chance at life. Death is threatened by the Auditors, who remove him from his post because he has developed a personality and personalities, rather than forces, must eventually end. So Death moves to a small farming community, takes up a job as a reaper and gets a closer look at humanity with the humanity-affirming eye that Pratchett displays in the best of his Granny Weatherwax stories. It's a lightly humorous meditation on the nature of death and life, and what we owe one another as we're alive.
With the absence of Death there's a build up of life force in Ankh Morpork, including the return from the dead of Windell Poons, the 119 year old wizard last seen in his magnificent wheelchair in Moving Pictures. Windell's second life as an indestructible super strong zombie is standard wizard's tale madcap, with him teaming up with Dead Rights Activists Reg Shoe and company to fight off another cross dimensional invasion, this time an extended metaphor for how shopping malls outside the city limits suck the vitality out of urban life. It's deeply goofy, lots of blowing things up from wizards riding shopping carts and some trenchant observations on urban planning, but other than Windell musing on how he didn't have much of a life until after he died this story didn't need to be linked with Death's tale.
Despite that, it all works - the soulful parts are soulful, the funny parts are funny, the observation of the human condition is spot on. It's a strange book, but not a flawed one.
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death
My only complaint is that I would happily give valuable seconds off of my lifetimer to have had 100 more pages of Death in this book.
What happens when Death gets fired? Nothing particularity good - well, for anything that is not Death.
Death, on the other hand, learns an awful lot about living.
Death, on the other hand, learns an awful lot about living.
It was hilarious at times, but the overall story didn't grip me as much as Pratchett's work usually does.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
ця книжка настільки стала комфортною за ті кілька днів що я її читав що закінчувати її аж не хотілось
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced