Review of Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

In 1987, Terry Pratchett published Mort, and by doing so introduced Discworld readers to what would become one of the series' most iconic characters: DEATH. Looking to build on the success and throw in an alien invasion (as one does), Pratchett returned to the character in 1991's Reaper Man.

Before going off the rails, Reaper Man tells two parallel stories, the first of which is of Windle Poons. Unseen University's oldest member, the wizards gather one evening to celebrate what is to be his last day alive. But things don't go as planned, and Windle finds himself with newfound life and the strength of the undead—which will be needed when aliens invade (as they do). The second is of Death. Where he normally attends to the hourglasses of ordinary mortals, at the story's outset he finds himself attendant to his own. His days are numbered, and Death decides to get the most of his final days. He abandons the robe and scythe and becomes an ordinary farmhand living on an ordinary farm on the ordinary outskirts of Ankh-Morpork. Windle lives on borrowed time and Death on finite time, the rest is Pratchett.

For those counting, Reaper Man is a wizards + Death Discworld novel with a handful of auditor and a splash of poltergeist. The Death portiona are a pastoral muse on mortality that manages to give the heartstrings a gentle tug by its conclusion. The wizard bits are zombie madness that starts contained, but as hinted, eventually goes off the trolley rails. Pratchett has a bit of a go at consumerism in Windle's tale, and by contrasting the resulting alien invasion with Death's farm life, he gives the reader the indirect question: what do you consider time well spent on Earth?

Despite the theme of mortality, Reaper Man would not be a Discworld novel without a joke or two. Pratchett keeps the humor in the Death portions appropriately dry, British, while in the wizards' portions, slap-stick and bumblery (appropriately). Pratchett seems to always be able to find the next gear when it comes to humor, and this novel is no exception.

A me-thing perhaps more than a book-thing, the alien invasion of Reaper Man didn't click. Oddly based on the film Repo Man, it was too often chaos for chaos' sake rather than a set piece closely tied to the narrative's undercurrents. I understand its thematic place in the novel, but too often the thought crossed my mind: is this just filler—to get to novel length?--given the Death portion of the narrative pulls its weight. But again, perhaps just me.

In the end, Reaper Man will deliver on reader's expectations for Death. It's both a humorous and earnest look at mortality through the skeleton that has the best perspective on it—the one who takes life and must face his own end. Weirdly counter-balanced with an alien invasion story, the juxtaposition works thematically but struggles to be an equal in terms of substance. Regardless, the book remains one of the building blocks that gives the Discworld the reputation it has, and for that is worth a read.