A longer version of this review was published on Lost in a Good Book - https://wp.me/p3x8rS-30o
 

This book is amazing and it only got better and better as it went along. I love Mort, I love Death, I love everything about this book: the set up, Mort’s life, and the life of those around him. Essentially Death decides to take a holiday and Mort gradually finds a new vocation. It’s brilliant.

There is so much to love in Mort. The subtle but apt social commentary – timeless, naturally. Especially the ways you can see variations of our own world reflected in the mirrored, slightly askew, and distorted world in the book. Like Equal Rites, Pratchett is a master at sliding these in amongst the most absurd things, knocks you over with his insight before returning to the bizarre.

I am probably biased because I fell in love with Death years ago so I may have liked this book regardless, but Pratchett tells such a brilliant story that it’s hard not to admire everything about it and cherish all the characters involved.

The mysticism of Discworld is on show as the magic moves around and affects people. Being Death’s apprentice is a job that is both mundane and fantastic and seeing Mort learn what’s involved reveals more about the world and those in it.