Reaper Man (by Terry Pratchett)

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I am enjoying re-reading the Discworld books in order, interspersed with others of my favourite books and some new ones. I’ve just finished reading ‘Reaper Man’, 11th in Terry Pratchett’s brilliant and lengthy series. I recalled liking it very much the first time I read it. I had not remembered that I was less impressed last time I read it, which was in 2005.

Since I hadn’t read the book for nearly fifteen years, I didn’t remember much about it, other than the overall theme. Death, an important character in the Discworld narrative, goes missing, and an elderly wizard, due to die, finds himself in a kind of not-quite-undead situation. But that’s as far as my memory went.

It’s a dual narrative book, with the differences made extra clear in my paperback edition, as there are two slightly different fonts used. One story concerns Death: he is deemed to have developed too much of a personality to be suitable for his job. So his life is now limited - and he decides to make the most of it. He doesn’t exactly go on strike, but goes out into the world to discover what it’s like to live.

In the process, Death learns about getting drunk, about making friends, and about the satisfaction that comes with hard work. He takes on a poorly paid job with an elderly farmer called Miss Flitwick, and strikes up a rather unusual friendship with her. He also discovers that the best way to be liked by the locals is to be very bad at darts and other similar pursuits.

The other part of the book is set in Ankh Morpork, mostly featuring the wizards. Windle Poons is the very old wizard who knows that he is due to die. But Death doesn’t turn up, and he continues to exist in a way that he finds quite disturbing. And strange things start happening as the life force becomes increasingly unbalanced…

Pratchett was a master at creating the most unlikely plots that become almost believable (if one accepts the premise of the Discworld itself). So the story switches between Death (who calls himself Bill Door) and his pursuits in the world, and Windle Poons’ attempts to make sense of his own odd existence. He meets some genuinely (so to speak) undead people who want equal rights for vampires and werewolves and other similar beings. And he also finds himself surprisingly alert, his mind clearer than it’s ever been.

As with all the Discworld books there are many satirical references to situations or items in the world as we know it, and also some literary references. I’m sure I didn't get anywhere near all of them, but there are - for instance - subtle (or not-so-subtle) references to the Biblical book of Genesis, the game of monopoly, supermarket trolleys, snow globes, combine harvesters and a Monty Python sketch. It doesn’t matter when one misses references, and there are places where they can be looked up afterwards if curious about some of them.

Overall I enjoyed re-reading this very much, and would recommend it to anyone who likes the Discworld series, or slightly surreal light fantasy, a genre of which Pratchett was a master.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews