REAPER MAN - 1991
Reaper Man is a much better book than Mort. That’s my first thought. My second is that while the events of Bill Door must occur for the events of Windle Poons to occur, this book feels very much like two books in one. While Pratchett’s tone is fairly consistent, it is much more somber when dealing with Death and his farm friends.
This is also after the time Prachett was working with Neil Gaiman to write Good Omens. I suspect some of his thoughts there bled into this book.
We’ll never know the precise workings of TP’s brains, but it feels like two ideas that couldn’t quite be books on their own. But together, they do work. The idea of a city parasite and Death facing his…death. It’s very good.
It’s no wonder he set Death down again for a couple years at least. The passages of Reaper Man that ARE Reaper Man are some of the most interesting, beautiful thoughts Pratchett gives us on the Discworld.
The parts with the snow globes and Windle Poons are also interesting, but in a different way. They are funny. The Faculty of the University takes shape firmly in Reaper Man. We get to meet Ridcully’s brother! We also meet Reg Shoe for the first time and its a reason to read chronologically - you learn quite a bit about Reg in Reaper Man so his later Watch appearances have a bit more depth.
1 Guards! Guards! (A)
2 Wyrd Sisters (A)
3 Pyramids (A)
4 Reaper Man (A)
5 Mort (B)
6 Moving Pictures (B)
7 Sourcery (B)
8 Equal Rites (B)
9 The Light Fantastic ©
10 The Colour of Magic (D)
11 Eric (F)
This is TOUGH. As I said, the Death parts are fantastic. The Windle Poons parts are only okay. I really enjoy Windle being able to think clearly after death and he’s pretty smart. But he’s also not very interesting. His journey is much more about exploring the idea of the undead and the city predator. I think it’s an A-tier book. If it was just the Death bits, I’d put it higher but I think I like Pyramids a bit more. I’ve certainly read it more often.
FOOTNOTES
Good ones. Also, slight spoilers, but this is such a great “Final Death” book before we move on to Susan. This is a far as Pratchett can go with Death. It’s so interesting to me how we talk about the sub-series, but even the sub-series have little parts. Mort and Reaper Man are about Death, but Soul Music brings us to Susan and she pretty much takes over from there.
It’s more explicit with the Witch books and Tiffany Aching. But we’re still learning about the coven in Lords and Ladies.
What do you all think of Reaper Man? Is it two books in one, or do you think it is a more cohesive narrative?