Terry Pratchett

Mort

Eilidh 

People don't alter history any more than birds alter the sky, they just make brief patterns in it. Inch by inch, implacable as a glacier and far colder, the real reality was grinding back towards Sto Lat.

Terry Pratchett's profoundly irreverent novels are consistent number one bestseller in England, where they have catapulted him into the highest echelons of parody next to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen. In this Discworld installment, Death comes to Mort with an offer he can't refuse -- especially since being, well, dead isn't compulsory.As Death's apprentice, he'll have free board and lodging, use of the company horse, and he won't need time off for family funerals. The position is everything Mort thought he'd ever wanted, until he discovers that this perfect job can be a killer on his love life.

Alex T Hughes

Sarah Sammis

Mort comes early in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. It's number four in a series containing nearly forty novels. It has the freshness of humor that makes Colour of Magic so charming.

Mort, the title character, needs a job. Death, or rather, the anthropomorphic personification of death, needs a break. It's a match made in the after life: Mort becomes Death's apprentice.

Death has a fatalistic view of the universe and certainly of how things work on the Discworld. Mort, being young and mortal has a decidedly different view of how things work. Their differences come to a head at the botched assassination of princess.

The princesses' death or not depending on where one is on Discworld calls into question basic assumptions about reality. It also brings Death to a breaking point. I liked seeing how the two literal interpretations of reality (Death's and Mort's) play out. My favorite scene, though, is Death's final breakdown where he decides to leave his "job" and become a fry-cook.

Eugene

This book kept me smiling all the way through. I felt just like a kid discovering fantasy again

Mort (Discworld Novels)

Anna Concannon 

Bern de Belen

atlantisli

I finished the book in a day, I just realized how much I missed Terry Pratchett and his writing style. Definitely I will continue to read other Discworld books.

Bir günde başlayıp bitirdim, o kadar özlemişim ki Terry Pratchett'in anlatım dilini, bayadır fantastik okumuyordum o da çok iyi geldi. Kesinlikle serinin devamını da okuyacağım.

Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job. Henceforth, Death is no longer going to be the end, merely the means to an end. Itâe(tm)s an offer Mort can't refuse. As Death's apprentice he'll have free board, use of the company horse - and being dead isn't compulsory. It's a dream job - until he discovers that it can be a killer on his love life...

Discworld Novel 4

Marie

I'm afraid to admit that this was my first Discworld book, though not my first go at it. I tried reading The Colour of Magic about ten years ago, but apparently for some unfathomable reason I was unsuccessful. 

Now that Death has finally collected his creator, I couldn't help but learn more about both of them. 

Mort was quite a delightful read. I enjoyed reading it altogether and I think I will continue with Reaper Man and pave my own path through the Discworld.

It is known as the Discworld. It is a flat planet, supported on the backs of four elephants, who in turn stand on the back of the great turtle A'Tuin as it swims majestically through space. And it is quite possibly the funniest place in all of creation... Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job. After being assured that being dead was not compulsory, Mort accepted. However, he soon found that romantic longings did not mix easily with the responsibilities of being Death's apprentice. Terry Pratchett's hilarious fourth Discworld novel established once and for all that Death really is a laughing matter...

Discworld: The Death Collection

Dave Walker

Sade A

Well......this was certainly different from the previous Discworld novels i've read.

Unfortunately did not ❤ this installment, which is a real shame because this is apparently one of the better Discworld novels. 
I can't imagine why to be honest.

Ryan LaFerney

In this Discworld installment, Death comes to Mort with an offer he can't refuse -- especially since being, well, dead isn't compulsory.

As Death's apprentice, he'll have free board and lodging, use of the company horse, and he won't need time off for family funerals. The position is everything Mort thought he'd ever wanted, until he finds himself filling in for the grim reaper and discovers that this perfect job can be a killer on his love life. Things get complicated, when Mort, out of love and chivalry, prevents the scheduled demise of a pretty teenage princess, thus his actions cause a rift in the course of history from that point on, causing two realities to exist simultaneously on the Discworld, confusing the locals no end. Meanwhile, Death is off enjoying a much needed holiday, discovering for the first time this strange human thing called "fun," and deciding he rather likes life now that he's had a chance to see what it's all about.

This is a wonderful book by Terry Pratchett, possibly one of my favorites. To take a theme such as death and turn it into a story that is this amusing and warm-hearted is a remarkable achievement. 

Mort marks Death’s first major appearance in the Discworld series, and is one of Pratchett's early works but it serves as a great entry point into Discworld. Death is one my favorite Discworld characters. And it's really to Sir Pratchett's credit, that beneath the gags there's a really warm and endearing outlook on life, death, and the need to cherish the time we have before us....


Reread 2022. I will forever love this book.

ashley

"This edition from Terry Pratchett finds Mort ending up as Death's apprentice. The job comes with some perks, bed and board, plus free use of the company horse.

Toyah Blackburn

Who says death can't be funny?! As always, Terry Pratchett manages to make you think about the really serious, philosophical stuff at the same time as making you literally laugh out loud. 

The premise: 

A young boy named Mort gets apprenticed to Death as he's just no good at the family business. After he messes up on his first solo job under Death's guidance, weird things start to happen, as the fabric of reality starts to tear. Cue an adventure to restore the Discworld back to normality. 

This book has existentialism, theology and a lot of magic. He tackles the difficult subject of death in an astute, critical and above all hilarious way that leaves you comforted by the lessons learned, and looking at life with a new perspective.

Omar AlHashmi

Unfortunate /: I was so excited to start reading the Death Series of Discworld. The problem I had was the book featured Death in like 15% of the book. The entire book was just about characters I don't care about really. Mort was really uninteresting and I saw myself just waiting for his parts to be over. Ysabell as well was bland. I was literally just flipping through waiting for Death to come back into the story. I don't know. It sort of had the same problems with Equal Rites, where the main character wasn't the most interesting one. However in Equal Rites there was a fairly good amount of Granny Weatherwax. 
Hopefully the next books of this series give me a better experience.

Sabetha Danes

Love the quirkiness of this read. First time reading Pratchett, and it was enjoyable. 

Throughout the book I had no clue how it was going to end, instead of making me anxious it kept me guess. It was such a weird tale of self discovery for so many characters. 

Loved the way the world building was layered in, not slap you in the face dumping but also not, YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS BY NOW absent. 

Looking forward to the next book.

GokhanCa

Alanie Rhodes

I loved this book. It had a great sense of humor, romance, and adventure. It was equally balanced out.

Nadine 

Just so darn clever. Such wonderful use of language.
I'd even say if there is one book to set loose amongst teens as a way to assess their vocabulary and general knowledge and acclimatising them to western culture this is it. You could spend a week on a page.

a girl never forgets her first time (reading terry pratchett)

Silvia D.

It took a while to get into it but the end was worth it.

"Not my Death," said the Vizier firmly. "Where's the Black Celestial Dragon of Fire?"
HE COULDN'T COME, said Mort.

I was a bit worried in the beginning. The book took about thirty or so odd pages before I really started to fall back into the Terry Pratchett universe. Oh, but when I did, I fell hard.

It's such a nice break to be reading something written by someone who has mastered the art of adding in humor that is something more than slapstick when one is surrounded by themes like death and the universe. What truly wowed me in Mort was that he handled the idea of everyone having a different belief system without actually getting into a theological debate. It doesn't matter, you just die when you die, and maybe you're reincarnated or maybe you end up being a concubine in the stars.

My biggest detractor in this would be the ending. I was hoping that the apprentice would become a master, although it isn't the end of the world.

Definitely a great first Terry Pratchett book if you're just starting out, and if you've read at least one, it's interesting because you will see some characters from other story lines pop up along the way.

Lea de Sousa

I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard from a book - because I haven't! My favourite Terry Pratchett so far!

Babsi Kro

4,5 
Really good entry-point to the Discworld novels!!!

Marley 

Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job.

After being assured that being dead was not compulsory, Mort accepted. However, he soon found that romantic longings did not mix easily with the responsibilities of being Death apprentice...
Death comes to Mort, a young lad from the middle of nowhere, with an offer he can't refuse- especially as he's the last prospective apprentice left at the fair.

"Mort" is an addictive tale of comedy, staire, irony and humorous adventure. The characters are wittily written and Mort is an intriguing and comedic take on life vs death and what happens when we die.

Amit Gawande

A great fun read with extremely witty subplots is how I remember this book. But then I think about it a bit and it is not how I felt throughout.

It is extremely slow, occasionally (just) funny in the initial half. It does have that moment of laugh-out-loud humour in between -- but slow nonetheless. So much so that I had lost the interest in between. It was as if jokes were written around characters (mostly caricatures) and thrown in. And the pages spent in describing the fantasy land and the surroundings were too much at times. But that is before the plot picks up and fun kicks in again.

The novel is sheer pleasure after that. I couldn't put it down and wanted to know what happens next. Frankly, more than what happens, I was interested in how Terry Pratchett tells it. I have realised that Pratchett is a master of witty fantasies. It was not that rare when I used to pause and admire how unnaturally a feeling (like fear, anger etc.) can be described without sounding stupid. If there ever was an university of metaphors, Pratchett would surely be the founder of that. And he would still be teaching a course on thinking big -- weird, but big.

So here I am confounded for the first time after reading a book. Do I like the book, the story or do I like the way it is often spun? And it turns out I find the book to be just OK. But then I would pick it up any day, go back to my highlighted passages and admire the mastery at work.

And just for this master Pratchett, I will pick up another of the Discworld novels soon and start taking notes.

Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job. Henceforth, Death is no longer going to be the end, merely the means to an end. It's an offer Mort can't refuse. As Death's apprentice he'll have free board, use of the company horse - and being dead isn't compulsory. It's a dream job - until he discovers that it can be a killer on his love life...

(discworld Novel 4)

Zach Spencer

Quirky, fun and an enjoyable read. This was my first read in Discworld and I am very interesting in continuing on with Terry's creation. His style was more relatable to my tastes than I realized.

Mort

Reviews

Highlights