Book review: Reaper Man – A light-hearted look at Death by Terry Pratchett
Reaper Man is the eleventh novel in the Discworld series from the great literary mind of the late Terry Pratchett, an English author of fantasy novels with a largely comical element. Pratchett is well-known for his boundless imagination and an unmistakably witty style of writing.
“DEATH is missing – Presumed… er… gone.”
“Which leads to the kind of chaos you always get when an important public service is withdrawn…”
After being fired by the Auditors of Reality for developing a personality, the Grim Reaper and his trusty horse, Binky, set off on an adventure to ‘live’ out Death’s final days before the sands of his newly-acquired hourglass run out.
The absence of a Grim Reaper leads to a chain of unnatural events taking place on the Discworld. After all, where do the souls of the deceased go when there’s no one employed to collect them?
Such is the case with Windle Poons, a recently deceased wizard at the Unseen University. Confusion, and eventually frustration, sets in among the other wizards, and Windle himself, as Death fails to reap his soul and he returns as a zombie. Finding himself quite unable to die, despite his best efforts, he resigns himself to his body and life as an undead person in Ankh-Morpork.
After several attempts by his colleagues to banish or destroy Windle, with Windle’s full cooperation, of course, they bury him at a crossroad, but to no avail. Windle emerges from his grave after seeing an advertisement in his coffin and joins ‘The Fresh Start Club’, a support group for the undead. After all, this is from the mind of Terry Pratchett and anything can happen.
But the build up of extra life force on the Discworld due to the lack of… well, death… has to go somewhere…
With no one harvesting it, it manifests itself in an array of bizarre occurrences, as inanimate objects take on a life of their own and ‘city eggs’ in the form of snowglobes, and dangerous trollies begin to appear all over the city of Ankh-Morpork.
Meanwhile, on a little farm belonging to an elderly lady named Renata Flitworth, there is a tall, dark stranger by the name of Bill Door, who is turning out to be rather handy with a scythe…
Reaper Man is the eleventh novel in the Discworld series from the great literary mind of the late Terry Pratchett, an English author of fantasy novels with a largely comical element. Pratchett is well-known for his boundless imagination and an unmistakably witty style of writing.
First published in 1991 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, Reaper Man is a light-hearted look at a somewhat grim concept. The storyline however, allows one the opportunity to view Death in an almost affectionate light, as his personality endears him to the reader, which, when one considers it, is the very thing that got him fired in the first place…
This book review is dedicated to the memory of Jenny Seegers, a kindred spirit and an avid Pratchett fan, like myself.
Read: Farewell, Jenny Seegers, and rest in peace
