"Reaper Man" by Terry Pratchett

The sheer number of Terry Pratchett's books has always intimidated me. But when my bookclub picked one of his novels as our next read, I took the plunge. Reaper Man technically is book number 11 in Pratchett's expansive Discworld series. However, having read the book, I can honestly confirm that his novels can be read in any order.

Pratchett's writing is witty, clever and hilarious. I kept chuckling throughout the book. It is filled with puns, wordplay and clever allusions to customs, historical facts or other books. Overall, I got the impression that Pratchett really loves and gets humanity. He laughs at people, but it is always good-naturedly and with deep affection. It really touched me for some reason.

Now to the plot. The book begins with Powers that Be determining that Death has been exhibiting an unforgivable character flaw - he has been showing sympathy. They thus decide to fire him. Death receives his verdict and goes into a retirement of sorts where he tries to live the rest of his life among people. In the meantime, living things all over Discworld cannot properly die what with Death's job being vacant. All sorts of mayhem ensues as the world is filled with built up lifeforce.

Apart from Death, we follow other hilarious characters: wizards from the local magical University, a clairvoyant, a boogeyman, and a whole bunch of other undead creatures. They all try to figure out what is going on as things start spiralling out of control, and Death is learning a thing or two about being alive.

I really enjoyed this book. 5 out of 5 stars.