Hot take: Death is the best, but he’s the bestest best when he’s paired off with a human who can observe and call out the weirdness of his life
Actual review: Having read Hogfather last Christmas for Book Group, I thought I’d start over again and read all of the DEATH series as I very much enjoyed Death’s characterization. And even though I already know part of how Death will turn out–e.g., we know about Susan and obviously Death still exists as Death etc–it’s still fascinating how these books work truly in any order.
I’m writing this review after having already read more of Death books, so while it might not feel fair to describe this one in context that’s what I’m doing. Death is great, but books with him need to be tightly contained to really allow him to shine. In this case, our B plot and C plot are rather confined in their number of characters, and so you can get more Death absurdity. The entire vibe–just a kindly old Death, trying to understand these fascinating humans and their humanity, while also necessarily being apart from them and never accepted–it sings in a way that makes me dreadfully sad that there aren’t more of these.
Mort has been deemed apprentice of Death, and the issue with that is that humans, when given a little power, are necessarily going to go NUTS. Add in trying to woo Ysabel, Death’s adopted daughter who cannot be less interested, and Albert, who has found a minor loophole in the whole immortality thing, Mort is a bit over his head but trying his best. Seeing Death’s realm through the eyes of someone who’s fundamentally normal makes it all the better. I cannot wait to re-read all of these once I’ve gotten through them the first time.