Reaper Man

Oʜ. Dʀᴀᴍᴀ.

There's a very good reason this is one of the most popular Discworld novels. And that reason is the A plot here. The B plot, as much as I love Zombie Windle Poons, doesn't always fit in well with it, and Pratchett's hatred of malls (a logical extension of the anti-commercialization themes of Moving Pictures) looks almost quaint today.

But then, again, there's the A plot. Which, on this reread, strikes me as the peak of Pratchett so far. Yes, there's a certain amount of melodrama, but... isn't that the entire point? One big refusal to just be cynical and do your job as if it didn't matter? That blind efficiency is Death itself? Each stalk matters. Yes, the arc that Death has had over the past couple of novels, and that Bill Door puts him through here, is absolutely stunning and his conclusion here is one of the most powerful moments in the entire series. But there's also the way it's balanced with all the other characters, the way the villagers quietly accept Bill Door, the meeting of wolf and man, the way the sharpest scythe in the universe isn't as useful as an ordinary sweat-soaked one with the right intention behind it.

Fᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴋᴇ ᴏғ ᴘʀɪsᴏɴᴇʀs ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ғʟɪɢʜᴛ ᴏғ ʙɪʀᴅs.