A review by bisexualwentworth
Mort by Terry Pratchett

  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Honestly, I get why people recommend Mort as an intro book to the Discworld. Here, for the first time, the world feels fully-fledged. Things are going on that are unrelated to the main characters, the main plot, or anything we have seen before, and at the same time, the elements we've already seen are twining together with the new ones. The world has started to have a true identity with rules and lore and history outside of satire or one-off stories. All of that is excellent.

Unfortunately, I cannot stand Mort. He might be my least favorite Discworld POV character. He annoys and bores me by turn. And the plot of this book is only fine. Fortunately, Death mostly manages to make up for it, and it's still a fun read despite some unfortunate moments of misogyny etc.

Favorite quotes:

  •  "Scientists have calculated that the chances of something so patently absurd actually existing are millions to one. But magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten." 
  •  "[Priests are always telling folk how much better it's going to be when they're dead. We tell them it could be pretty good right here if only they'd put their minds to it." 
  •  "Mort had imagined that Death's handwriting would either be gothic or else tombstone angular, but Death had in fact studied a classic work on graphology before selecting a style and had adopted a hand that indicated a balanced, well-adjusted personality."