Reaper Man

by Terry Pratchett

I love Terry Pratchett - or rather, his books.  What a lively sense of humor and imagination.  Candleman and I listened to the audio on our trip to Las Vegas to help youngest move into her first apartment.  I guess she's lived in an apartment before but it was her sister's and so youngest didn't worry about the bills.  Now she is.

In Reaper Man one of my favorite Discworld characters is running out of time.  The sand in the top globe of his timer is almost gone.  Death is facing his own demise.  You can see why I was sad - I like Death and didn't want to see him replaced.

With only a little time left he is kicked out of his mansion and wanders homelessly until he discovers a nice, little, old lady who needs help reaping her crops. While living there he becomes friends with some of the country folk.

Several times Candleman and I shared the thought about what it must be like to live inside the mind of Terry Pratchett.  He does fantasy, satire, humor and plot with ambidextrous ease.  To read, or listen to Pratchett, is unlike anything else I've experienced in reading.  On second thought, Jasper Fjorde comes to mind, but they are still different.

One thing I like about the Discworld books is that you don't have to read them in any order.  They all deal with Discworld and different characters will appear in multiple books but there isn't really a time line.  If you haven't read any of Pratchett's you really need to - just to bring some whimsical amusement into your life.  And usually there's a worthy plot.  One of my favorites is Mort who becomes an apprentice for Death. 

I like the English/Canadian cover, too.  I know, you're thinking this does NOT look like my kind of book.  That's what I thought when I was the cover of Mort.  It had a picture of Death in a black cape on a big stallion, riding through the wind.  I send to the library worker who recommended it to me "You see, this just doesn't look like a book I would like to read.  I mean a skeleton in a black cape..." But he reassured me and I didn't need a fantasy/scifi for the library challenge I was doing at the time, so I took it home and read it and loved it.  Step out of your comfort level, turn off the reality switch, and settle in for a fun story and lots of belly jiggles.