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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
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:
Complicated
This book was a slow start for me, I didn't find myself caring for Windle Poons and the other wizards but the back end of this book is just wonderful and completely drew me in.
What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the reaper man?
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
No-Spoiler Review
Utterly incredible book! Let’s start with the obvious. If you haven’t already, read this book ...NOW. No one cares about reading lists anyway, this deserves to skip all other books on it. This book mixes hilarity with genuine sombre better than any other book I’ve read to date. The three plotlines are all wonderful, one of the only books I’ve read where this is the case. One of them is about a dead wizard and a bunch of incapable undead creatures, trying to solve a mystery. The second is about some old men (wizards) who are ...doing something. Being hilarious, that’s it! They are truly wonderful, and I loved them all. And the last (and best) is about who else but Death himself. Deaths realisations while being mortal are ...beautiful is not the right word, but something like that. I loved him, love him.
Quotable, laugh out loud funny and truly emotional. The only reason this book isn’t 5 stars is that there were some ideas that felt like a different book, smushed into this one. But still, a masterclass from Terry ...again! Read NOW!
Spoiler Review
This will be a more in depth look at all the main characters, main plots, and anything else I care about. If you want my general opinion, just read the no spoiler section, as this will be long and in depth.
Where to begin. Well, the beginning of course! Ok, not quite, because the beginning was the Morris Dance stuff, which I did not understand. If and when I do understand, I will alter this review. But I was too much of a numpty to get everything Pratchett was meaning. So, the next beginning. Ah yes, the watchers. Creepy, hilarious, slightly scary, and - at the time – seemingly extremely powerful. Three terrors ruining Deaths life(?). I loved them not being allowed to have a personality, all the more so when death pointed out that it was necessary at the end to care, and therefore to have a personality. Clever, subtle, terrifying, what an antagonist, or group of antagonists. And although they only properly showed up in one storyline of three, their presence and power was felt in all of them.
Oh wonderful, our three plotlines. Here is where we look at the first. The wizards. Oh the wizards. I generally don’t like the wizards that much in Discworld (so far, I’ve only read 6). Rincewind slightly annoys me (even if the luggage is unbeatable), and generally the other wizards just seem incapable, dull, and annoying. However, Reaper man is different. These 5 are hilarious. Truly hilarious. I didn’t think they did much, and when they did, they didn’t follow it up. Like finding out deaths gone and then NEVER BRINGING IT UP. Like WHAT?! But I didn’t mind too much that they were slightly pointless, because you know what, they were funny. And when I got to a wizard section, I was already smiling. I just knew they’d be funny. Them all trying to say slang and failing so badly cracked me up, and the Dean finding his passion is destroying things couldn’t have been better. I could go on, like how the bursar was expanded so much at the start and then was just the buffoon of the group, or the archchancellor abusing his power. They were just fun. Old men being young. One of my favourite stories. I can’t get enough of crazy old men in books, and this hit the sweet spot. Talking of crazy old men...
Windle Poons, “for most of his life he’d been and old man. Didn’t seem fair, really.” A grumpy old man, who functions incredibly badly when alive. A jolly capable and friendly man when dead. Didn’t seem fair, really. I love Windle. From the moment he spoke about the pains of being old as if everyone was feeling it, I loved him. His willingness to go along with the wizards in killing him was simply heart-warming. And then his friends. Hilarious concepts, a bunch of topsy turvy undead (and alive) people. Ludmilla and Lupine were adorable, seriously adorable. I felt so sorry for Scheppel. He was just anxious, but no one wanted to be his friend. The count and countess, or whatever, were a bit annoying to be honest, but usually ok. And, of course, Mrs Cake. I couldn’t get enough of all the priests being terrified of her. It was side splitting. What a laugh. She and one man bucket made the Windle poons show. What a laugh. To be fair, all of those side characters - except the count and countess – were hilarious. I loved every one of them. And how could I forget Reg, and his equality plotline stuck in there. Sneaky and unnecessary, but still done so cleverly. Gosh I love Pratchett. How do I still love this storyline so much even though my main gripe with the story is from their plotline.
The plot. Or, this half of it. (I promise we’ll get to the other half later). Oh no. 4.75 stars is so close to perfect but... Not quite. It’s a shame really. For a book that, looking at everything else, I would genuinely have given 5 stars if I could (which is so rare, as everything must be perfect, and nothing able to be changed) if it wasn’t for this plotline. I love the vision. The cleverly setting it all up to turn into a shopping mall, the whole build up, the meaning behind it. But the execution. I’m sorry Terry, not your best. This feels like it should all be set up by a main antagonist, but it’s all due to the overflow of life, which everywhere else is simply unscrewing things and making things move. Life doesn’t spawn things from nowhere, it moves them. Then, once the snowglobe had impossibly spawned in, it then (impossibly) morphs into a shopping trolley, which steals a bunch of things (including CHILDREN) to take to the mall. What even is the point of that. Then the trolleys being ants, once again, cool idea, really cool. But the queen was so underwhelming. This is where I think, if this whole plot had been a different book, the queen would be the antagonist. I just feel like the overflow of life doesn’t explain this enough, as well as it not being explained enough in general. Sorry, did not like this. Luckily, everything else made up for it. And when I say everything else, I really mean...
Death. Death made up for it. Ten-fold. This book without the care that was put into Death, would be 4 stars. This is why I read. This is art. This is Pratchett. Funny, heart wrenching, and somehow, almost adorable. This is why Death is my favourite character in Discworld. We are taken on Deaths ride to... Well death. We see his initial enthusiasm to having Time, and slow descent into madness as everything that shows the passing of time scares him. Just a simple clock ticking makes him fear for his life. We see Death begin to understand people and their legacy more and more throughout the book, with many stories and messages being planted in your mind and not being explained until the end. A Pratchett staple. We see Death himself handle emotions, a remarkably interesting background story. Death and Miss Flintworth were cute as anything, and their scenes at the end was so beautiful it made me cry. Death learned to care, about Miss Flintworth (so much so that he wanted to make her death a happy event), about the child (who was the only person who saw him for what he was), and, most importantly, for the harvest. When thinking of mundane jobs that Death himself would do (specifically ones that would make him learn about his job), farmer is not the top of the list. Doctor, maybe, or funeral director. Something which death affects. But after reading this book, I realise that no job is better than a farmer and his crops. “What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the Reaper Man?” What a quote. Showing exactly why farmer is the best. Death learnt that care is always necessary, in everything, but specifically in his job. The ending scene with azrael and the watchers is stunning. Death has understood, and that is why he’s amazing. He cares. That’s what matters. Read this book, it’s the closest thing to 5 stars I’ve read in a while. I will be back to it again, Dieing for more.
Utterly incredible book! Let’s start with the obvious. If you haven’t already, read this book ...NOW. No one cares about reading lists anyway, this deserves to skip all other books on it. This book mixes hilarity with genuine sombre better than any other book I’ve read to date. The three plotlines are all wonderful, one of the only books I’ve read where this is the case. One of them is about a dead wizard and a bunch of incapable undead creatures, trying to solve a mystery. The second is about some old men (wizards) who are ...doing something. Being hilarious, that’s it! They are truly wonderful, and I loved them all. And the last (and best) is about who else but Death himself. Deaths realisations while being mortal are ...beautiful is not the right word, but something like that. I loved him, love him.
Quotable, laugh out loud funny and truly emotional. The only reason this book isn’t 5 stars is that there were some ideas that felt like a different book, smushed into this one. But still, a masterclass from Terry ...again! Read NOW!
Spoiler Review
This will be a more in depth look at all the main characters, main plots, and anything else I care about. If you want my general opinion, just read the no spoiler section, as this will be long and in depth.
Where to begin. Well, the beginning of course! Ok, not quite, because the beginning was the Morris Dance stuff, which I did not understand. If and when I do understand, I will alter this review. But I was too much of a numpty to get everything Pratchett was meaning. So, the next beginning. Ah yes, the watchers. Creepy, hilarious, slightly scary, and - at the time – seemingly extremely powerful. Three terrors ruining Deaths life(?). I loved them not being allowed to have a personality, all the more so when death pointed out that it was necessary at the end to care, and therefore to have a personality. Clever, subtle, terrifying, what an antagonist, or group of antagonists. And although they only properly showed up in one storyline of three, their presence and power was felt in all of them.
Oh wonderful, our three plotlines. Here is where we look at the first. The wizards. Oh the wizards. I generally don’t like the wizards that much in Discworld (so far, I’ve only read 6). Rincewind slightly annoys me (even if the luggage is unbeatable), and generally the other wizards just seem incapable, dull, and annoying. However, Reaper man is different. These 5 are hilarious. Truly hilarious. I didn’t think they did much, and when they did, they didn’t follow it up. Like finding out deaths gone and then NEVER BRINGING IT UP. Like WHAT?! But I didn’t mind too much that they were slightly pointless, because you know what, they were funny. And when I got to a wizard section, I was already smiling. I just knew they’d be funny. Them all trying to say slang and failing so badly cracked me up, and the Dean finding his passion is destroying things couldn’t have been better. I could go on, like how the bursar was expanded so much at the start and then was just the buffoon of the group, or the archchancellor abusing his power. They were just fun. Old men being young. One of my favourite stories. I can’t get enough of crazy old men in books, and this hit the sweet spot. Talking of crazy old men...
Windle Poons, “for most of his life he’d been and old man. Didn’t seem fair, really.” A grumpy old man, who functions incredibly badly when alive. A jolly capable and friendly man when dead. Didn’t seem fair, really. I love Windle. From the moment he spoke about the pains of being old as if everyone was feeling it, I loved him. His willingness to go along with the wizards in killing him was simply heart-warming. And then his friends. Hilarious concepts, a bunch of topsy turvy undead (and alive) people. Ludmilla and Lupine were adorable, seriously adorable. I felt so sorry for Scheppel. He was just anxious, but no one wanted to be his friend. The count and countess, or whatever, were a bit annoying to be honest, but usually ok. And, of course, Mrs Cake. I couldn’t get enough of all the priests being terrified of her. It was side splitting. What a laugh. She and one man bucket made the Windle poons show. What a laugh. To be fair, all of those side characters - except the count and countess – were hilarious. I loved every one of them. And how could I forget Reg, and his equality plotline stuck in there. Sneaky and unnecessary, but still done so cleverly. Gosh I love Pratchett. How do I still love this storyline so much even though my main gripe with the story is from their plotline.
The plot. Or, this half of it. (I promise we’ll get to the other half later). Oh no. 4.75 stars is so close to perfect but... Not quite. It’s a shame really. For a book that, looking at everything else, I would genuinely have given 5 stars if I could (which is so rare, as everything must be perfect, and nothing able to be changed) if it wasn’t for this plotline. I love the vision. The cleverly setting it all up to turn into a shopping mall, the whole build up, the meaning behind it. But the execution. I’m sorry Terry, not your best. This feels like it should all be set up by a main antagonist, but it’s all due to the overflow of life, which everywhere else is simply unscrewing things and making things move. Life doesn’t spawn things from nowhere, it moves them. Then, once the snowglobe had impossibly spawned in, it then (impossibly) morphs into a shopping trolley, which steals a bunch of things (including CHILDREN) to take to the mall. What even is the point of that. Then the trolleys being ants, once again, cool idea, really cool. But the queen was so underwhelming. This is where I think, if this whole plot had been a different book, the queen would be the antagonist. I just feel like the overflow of life doesn’t explain this enough, as well as it not being explained enough in general. Sorry, did not like this. Luckily, everything else made up for it. And when I say everything else, I really mean...
Death. Death made up for it. Ten-fold. This book without the care that was put into Death, would be 4 stars. This is why I read. This is art. This is Pratchett. Funny, heart wrenching, and somehow, almost adorable. This is why Death is my favourite character in Discworld. We are taken on Deaths ride to... Well death. We see his initial enthusiasm to having Time, and slow descent into madness as everything that shows the passing of time scares him. Just a simple clock ticking makes him fear for his life. We see Death begin to understand people and their legacy more and more throughout the book, with many stories and messages being planted in your mind and not being explained until the end. A Pratchett staple. We see Death himself handle emotions, a remarkably interesting background story. Death and Miss Flintworth were cute as anything, and their scenes at the end was so beautiful it made me cry. Death learned to care, about Miss Flintworth (so much so that he wanted to make her death a happy event), about the child (who was the only person who saw him for what he was), and, most importantly, for the harvest. When thinking of mundane jobs that Death himself would do (specifically ones that would make him learn about his job), farmer is not the top of the list. Doctor, maybe, or funeral director. Something which death affects. But after reading this book, I realise that no job is better than a farmer and his crops. “What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the Reaper Man?” What a quote. Showing exactly why farmer is the best. Death learnt that care is always necessary, in everything, but specifically in his job. The ending scene with azrael and the watchers is stunning. Death has understood, and that is why he’s amazing. He cares. That’s what matters. Read this book, it’s the closest thing to 5 stars I’ve read in a while. I will be back to it again, Dieing for more.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I wasn't very interested in the Windle Poons or wizard plots. I enjoyed the Death plot, though.