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Mort: A Novel of Discworld (Discworld, 4) Mass Market Paperback – January 29, 2013

by Terry Pratchett (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 14,431 ratings
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New York Times bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett makes Death a central character in Mort, his fourth sojourn to Discworld, the fantasy cosmos where even the angel of darkness needs some assistance. 

Death comes to everyone eventually on Discworld. And now he's come to Mort with an offer the young man can't refuse. (No, literally, can't refuse since being dead isn't exactly compulsory.) Actually, it's a pretty good deal. As Death's apprentice, Mort will have free board and lodging. He'll get use of the company horse. And he won't have to take any time off for family funerals. But despite the obvious perks, young Mort is about to discover that there is a serious downside to working for the Reaper Man . . . because this perfect job can be a killer on one's love life.

Terry Pratchett's profoundly irreverent, bestselling novels have garnered him a revered position in the halls of parody next to the likes of Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen.

The Discworld novels can be read in any order, butMort is the first book in the Death series.

Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Discworld
  2. Print length
    304 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Harper
  5. Publication date
    January 29, 2013
  6. Dimensions
    4.19 x 0.68 x 7.5 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0062225715
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0062225719
  9. Lexile measure
    830L
  10. See all details
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  1. “It would seem that you have no useful skill or talent whatsoever,” he said. “Have you thought of going into teaching?”
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Editorial Reviews

Review

- The first seven Discworld titles are being reissued with stunning new covers, publication coincides with 21 years of Discworld anniversary and the hardback publication of "The Celebrated Discworld Almanak" and "Going Postal".

- "Like Jonathan Swift, Pratchett uses his other world to hold up a distorting mirror to our own, and like Swift he is a satirist of enormous talent... incredibly funny... compulsively readable." --"The Times"

- "His spectacular inventiveness makes the Discworld series one of the perennial joys of modern fiction." --"Mail on Sunday"

- "The great Terry Pratchett, whose wit is metaphysical, who creates an energetic and lively secondary world, who has a multifarious genius for strong parody... who deals with death with startling originality. Who writes amazing sentences." --A.S. Byatt, "New York Times"

"Consistently, inventively mad...wild and wonderful!"-- "Issac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine"Discworld takes the classic fantasy universe through its logical, and comic evolution."-- "Cleveland Plain Dealer"Unadulterated fun...Witty, frequently hilarious."-- "San Francisco Chronicle

From the Back Cover

Death comes to everyone eventually on Discworld. And now he's come to Mort with an offer the young man can't refuse. (No, literally, can't refuse since being dead isn't exactly compulsory.) Actually, it's a pretty good deal. As Death's apprentice, Mort will have free board and lodging. He'll get use of the company horse. And he won't have to take any time off for family funerals. But despite the obvious perks, young Mort is about to discover that there is a serious downside to working for the Reaper Man . . . because this perfect job can be a killer on one's love life.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper; Reissue edition (January 29, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062225715
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062225719
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 830L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.19 x 0.68 x 7.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 14,431 ratings

About the author

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Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett

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Terry Pratchett sold his first story when he was fifteen, which earned him enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter. His first novel, a humorous fantasy entitled The Carpet People, appeared in 1971 from the publisher Colin Smythe. Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, in 1983. In 1987 he turned to writing full time, and has not looked back since. To date there are a total of 36 books in the Discworld series, of which four (so far) are written for children. The first of these children's books, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal. A non-Discworld book, Good Omens, his 1990 collaboration with Neil Gaiman, has been a longtime bestseller, and was reissued in hardcover by William Morrow in early 2006 (it is also available as a mass market paperback (Harper Torch, 2006) and trade paperback (Harper Paperbacks, 2006). Terry's latest book, Nation, a non-Discworld standalone YA novel was published in October of 2008 and was an instant New York Times and London Times bestseller. Regarded as one of the most significant contemporary English-language satirists, Pratchett has won numerous literary awards, was named an Officer of the British Empire “for services to literature” in 1998, and has received four honorary doctorates from the Universities of Warwick, Portsmouth, Bath, and Bristol. His acclaimed novels have sold more than 55 million copies (give or take a few million) and have been translated into 36 languages. Terry Pratchett lived in England with his family, and spent too much time at his word processor. Some of Terry's accolades include: The Carnegie Medal, Locus Awards, the Mythopoetic Award, ALA Notable Books for Children, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Book Sense 76 Pick, Prometheus Award and the British Fantasy Award.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
14,431 global ratings
Very poor printing quality. Buy elsewhere
1 Star
Very poor printing quality. Buy elsewhere
Very poor printing quality. First 20 pages were cut and bound incorrectly. The cuts were not clean, requiring me to manually cut loose the pages. In addition, it’s hard to read because the poor cutting led to the margins being covered during binding. Very poor quality. Would not recommend if you have any appreciation for books.
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Top reviews from the United States

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5.0 out of 5 stars Impossible to review
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2019
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It’s impossible to do justice to reviewing a classic. The Death series and character is my favourite in Pratchett’s disc world, maybe followed by the wizards. Who knew the grim-reaper’s story could be so sweet?

Somehow Pratchett draws almost every character, however fearsome, as a public servant, just trying (not overly hard) to get by. Only the women are powerful and determined in these books, even when inclined to frills.

You just can’t beat the scene of Death interviewing for a job, seeking something with cats and flowers.

The use of capitals as Death’s voice is hilarious and so clever, adding a third dimension to two-dimensional words on a page. I wish Pratchett had lived to turn the world of texting and tweets on its head in the same way as he did with these books.

Pratchett builds relationships between the characters with the barest line or two, almost incidentally or outside the narrative, yet with complete conviction.

The poetic rambling writing, while seemingly leading to nowhere, other than to footnotes, builds an incredible story and powerful characters. In Pratchett’s beautifully unassuming way, this book is, simply, masterful.

In this, Pratchett’s cynical witty honest world, where “there is no justice, only ME” (Death), where there is no way Mort can win, Death delivers the most unexpectedly just end. With hardly any death. Poetic justice at its finest.

Only Pratchett could write about death and eternity in this way. It’s bittersweet reading this when Pratchett has passed. Few people leave behind this kind of creative, enjoyable, thought-provoking legacy.

That’s the best inadequate review I can give.
28 people found this helpful
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Nicole Sergov
4.0 out of 5 stars My First Discworld and definitely not my last!
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2024
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My first Discworld novel! I have been hearing about this series for so long, and I was curious to give it a try! These books feel like something a middle schooler would love, not that an adult cannot enjoy these as well, but I wish I would have known about these when I was younger. I still really enjoyed this book and I plan to read more of the series but I just wish I knew about them sooner.

I understand with Discworld that while there are a ton of books, some are standalones and others are mini series within the series. So, I figured I would start with the story about the personification of Death. The book begins with Mort—who is an younger boy that cannot seem to fit in. His father gets frustrated with him and has Mort line up for an apprenticeship with someone. No one picks Mort, and he is the last one standing—it is not until the event is just about to end does Death show up and takes Mort to be his apprentice. Death lives in this area between time where time does not move and he can access all parts of the Discworld. Death takes Mort with him to usher souls into the next life—he shows up right about when the person is about to die. After showing Mort how to do this part of the job, he allows Mort to take responsibility for a few souls on his own, but Mort makes a choice that leads to some problems.

The book moves quickly as it is a short novel (approx. 250 pages) There are a few really interesting ideas that take place in this story. I enjoyed the idea that everyone’s life has its own biography being written and the sand-timers of everyone’s life. The story also tries to follow the idea that everything is predestined, but it then shows the loopholes in this idea since there are choices that can affect what may have already been determined. The choices we make do matter.

I am excited that I did finally give Discworld a try, and I would recommend trying it if you have not already. I know I have not read the other novels yet but I think this book was a fun one to start the introduction to Discworld.
8 people found this helpful
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Constant Reader
5.0 out of 5 stars Amusing Story with Death, Humanity and Magic
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2017
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Terry Pratchett was brilliant and the master of a fantasy sub-genre that probably belongs to him alone. Mort is a novel set in Discworld. The Discworld novels fall into different categories: Tiffany Aching, Rincewind, the three witches, Sam Vines and the guards, and Death. Each book focuses on one of them, although they cross over and pop up in each others' books all the time. It is best if you start from the beginning of a particular grouping and work your way through, otherwise you'll miss a lot of inside jokes, references, etc. There are charts on the internet that will show you the groupings. You can trust Terry Pratchett to not be too linear and to not be very predictable. Mort is an early novel of Death. Mort is a bumbling young adolescent of no particular talent when his father takes him to the job fair to find an apprenticeship. Just at the stroke of midnight, Death arrives to offer Mort the apprenticeship. Death lives with his man servant, his daughter, and Binky, an immensely powerful horse, at a compound of his own creation. Like all of the Discworld books, the tone is satirical and clever. This book did not make me laugh out loud like Wee Free Men, but it was amusing. Ankh Mopork is much the same (a city impossible to describe here). Mort is sincere but naïve. Death is suffering from burnout and mayhem ensues. Somehow, Terry Pratchett makes all the nonsense work. These books do not contain any scenes, language, or images that would rate even a PG-13 rating at the movies. If a reader does not have sufficient maturity, much of the book will be wasted, because you won’t get the jokes or understand the satire. I count myself lucky to still have so many novels of Discworld ahead of me.
24 people found this helpful
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Zetsumei
5.0 out of 5 stars Immensely fun
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2023
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I was very excited to get into this one since Death was such an odd and interesting character in the earlier books. While Mort tells a familiar coming of age tale, all the charges remain immensely entertaining. I like that in nearly swapping roles, both learn a bit more about their roles in the world. My only gripe was that, like Equal Rites, the ending felt a bit rushed. Some plot points felt like they got vaguely resolved. In general, I felt like I didn't have a great grasp on why Death spared Mort in that final conflict. Regardless, the story kept me riveted and was an enjoyable read through and through. I can't wait to see more of these characters further down the line.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Peter Gergel
5.0 out of 5 stars Death is a bureaucrat.
Reviewed in Canada on July 20, 2021
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First novel of Terry Pratchett in the Discworld series to focus on the character of Death, a civil servant on the Discworld. The title is the name of its main character: in French, mort means "death".
Mort is a teenager who's personality and temperament makes him unsuited to the family farming business. So his father takes him to a local hiring fair in the hope that Mort will land an apprenticeship and possibly a good profession. Just before the last stroke of midnight, Death arrives and takes Mort on as an apprentice. And as the story goes, the rest is history. Great book!
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Tom A.
5.0 out of 5 stars Very funny excerpt from the Discworld
Reviewed in Sweden on January 27, 2024
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I truly enjoyed this book, it's now one of my favorites from Pratchett. Many big laughs, quirky environments, and not too confusing metaphysical stuff going on. I especially love reading EVERYTHING that Death says haha, that character is amazing. I'm reading the second book in the Death series, Reaper Man, now and the character is just as good there.
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José Quijano
5.0 out of 5 stars Estupenda entrega del Mundo Disco
Reviewed in Mexico on May 27, 2019
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Muy divertida novela de Pratchett, excelente historia y desarollo. ¿De las mejores del universo? No lo creo, pero ciertamente una novela que entretendrá a quien tenga la fortuna de leerla.
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Bruno Novo
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun!
Reviewed in Brazil on October 30, 2017
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I had such a lot of fun reading this. I was sad the day I picked it up and couldn't stop reading and laughing with Mort.
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Y. P. Cruz
5.0 out of 5 stars Genial y chistoso
Reviewed in Spain on December 19, 2018
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Todos los libros de Terry Pratchet que he leído me han hecho feliz. ¿Qué más se puede pedir?
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