Hardcover, 224 pages
Published Dec. 31, 1987 by Orion Publishing Co.
Terry Pratchett's hilarious fourth Discworld novel established once and for all that Death really is a laughing matter....
'He is screamingly funny. He is wise. He has style' Daily Telegraph
'His spectacular inventiveness makes the Discworld series one of the perennial joys of modern fiction' Mail on Sunday
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.
Me ha gustado muchísimo. La saga de la Guardia ha conseguido que me adentre en este mundo asombroso, y la forma en la que el autor te sumerge en el Mundodisco, esa forma de enlazar las cosas, los personajes... es que no me puedo quejar, me impresiona muchísimo. Además, se disfruta más cuando ya le has cogido el truco al sentido del humor. No puedo hacer otra cosa más que recomendarlo. Próximamente, review en la web.
Enjoyable read. Not my favourite of the first five, but had plenty of good moments.
Story revolves around Death taking on a (human) apprentice.
Of course, humans feel compassion and love and so on - so are not especially well-suited to the job of Death. Which is where the drama for the story comes.
But Sir Terry does a good job of 'humanising' Death - yes, he does not really experience life, and he seems to be trying to learn by copying what he sees - but he comes across as a very lonely creature indeed who cares greatly for those entrusted into his care, and it is quite poignant to read this after he took Sir Terry in the end.
This is such an amazing book (my first Terry Pratchett book), would have given it a 5/5, but the last 20-30 pages just falls apart pacing wise and depends on some rushed exposition crammed into the last 2-3 pages that I had to open up the plot of the book on Wikipedia to understand it, the end also just feels out of place with the rest of the book. The first like 90% however has to be one of the most enjoyable reads I've ever had, every page (up to those last few) a pure joy.
The ending of this book really doesn't make justice for the whole setup and build-up.
One of the Pratchett books that certainly gets worse on the re-read. I will dare to say that both Colour and Light were significantly better as a whole than this one.
Me encantó esta entrega de MundoDisco. La traducción que leí no es del todo buena, aunque debo aclarar que no es precisamente la de éste ISBN que cargué aquí arriba pero es que me daba pereza cargar uno nuevo. Muy recomendable para los que gustamos del género.
