Mort by Terry Pratchett

I was really looking forward to reading this. In previous Discworld novels, I had loved the character of Death, and the idea of his having an apprentice was one that intrigued me incredibly. It’s something that is at the same time completely original and something surprisingly natural. After all, why not?
Mort is about a young boy who is instructed by his father to get an apprenticeship, but the only person who will take him on is Death. The only real trouble is that Mort, struck by the frequent injustice of his profession, attempts to save the life of a princess, thus upsetting the entire future of history.
I loved the way the book explains the ridiculousness of the Disc (a flat disc on the backs of four elephants, on the back of a giant turtle that swims through space) by saying that “A million to one chances crop up nine times out of ten”. And, in fact, the existence of something so mind-bogglingly random is possible, and once you have accepted that, it’s easy to believe that everything that occurs on the Disc is entirely rational and realistic.
The way the book ended was not at all what I expected at the beginning of the book, but I think I liked the way it did end better. It was a slightly less conventional ending to a fairytale and it suited the characters all much better.
Mort also had some brilliant lines. One of my favourites is when a man says to Mort, “Look, I’ll be frank, I can direct you to a great brothel” and Mort replies with all of his affable innocence, “I’ve already had lunch.” Another was when the book was was explaining Ankh-Morpork’s voting system of “One man, one vote”: “The Patrician was the man; he had the vote.” And a third was the line that I feel sums up the Discworld novels entirely: “When you’re a god, you don’t have to have a reason.”
I have to say, I was thrilled to see the unexpected reappearance of Rincewind. I especially liked that when he reappears, he is desperately and futilely apologising for some unknown drunken obscenity he had performed against a statue. Also, for some reason, I always forget that the head librarian at Unseen University is an orang-outang, so the reminder of that always makes me smile.
What slightly confused me was the certain amount of incongruity between Mort and the glimpse of the house of Death seen in The Light Fantastic. It’s a small thing, but I don’t understand why Mort speaksin block capitals in The Light Fantastic, whereas in Mort, he rarely does. Also, why do Deaths friends from The Light Fantastic not feature in Mort? And I found Ysabel to be a much saner and more likeable character in Mort, but that may be due to a more thourough development of her character. I suppose none of these things really matter, but they were confusing for me.
This is quite possibly the best and funniest Discworld novels I have read so far, and i recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy or humour, and anyone who can believe in the possibility of anything, however random.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

I first heard about Hyperbole and a Half through WordPress, and after hearing even more about it, I am still to hear a single bad thing about it. I am now slightly addicted to Allie Brosh’s blog. It is incredibly funny – even bits that I don’t understand why they are funny, but they are.
Hyperbole and a Half is a blog by a woman in her twenties or so called Allie Brosh. In her novel, she shares several stories about her childhood, her two dogs, and her depression, complete with illustrations which I must say really help tell the stories.
Allie’s wonderfully told stories made me laugh, entertained me, and made me think about depression in a way I never have before. It was interesting to hear an explanation of depression from someone who has actually gone through it – and it made it so much easier to understand.
Of all the stories included in the book, I think one of my definite favourites was The Party. I laughed myself silly at the illustration of Allie standing in a fast food restaurant saying, “Parp?”
I would definitely recommend Hyperbole and a Half to anyone wanting a quick, funny read that is capable of making you think. I think I still prefer the blog, but I loved the book as well.

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

The Colour of Magic is the first of many in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, and I have been desperate to read it for ages. However, I refuse to buy books full price when I know I can get them in a second-hand book shop, or in a library. You can call me a typical Scot for that, but I just call it good sense, and supporting these quirky little musty-smelling book shops I love so much. Anyway, I found it much more difficult to get my hands on this particular book than I’d anticipated, but I was eventually found in my local library. Needless to say, I took it out as soon as I got the chance.
The Colour of Magic is a bit of a strange book, and is really made up of four shorter stories that fit together to form a larger one, all about the travelling sand misadventures of Rincewind, a wizard who knows only one spell but is unable to perform it, and Twoflower, a ridiculously naive tourist. There are plenty of other characters, but those are the only main ones. The book is set on the Discworld, a planet in the shape of a flat disc, which rests on top of four giant elephants, which stand on the back of an enormous turtle, which swims through space. You don’t realise just how weird that sounds until you say it aloud.
Although the book has several very weird and slightly random aspects, such as a talking sword, dragons that only exist if you believe in them, an upside-down mountain and a king who is neither dead nor alive (and that’s just taken from one story) it doesn’t feel weird when you’re reading it. I must admit that there was a point when I put the book down and said the word “What!?!?” several times, but I understand it now. I think. To be fair, I get confused with lots of books – I’m still not clear on what happened to Gandalf after he was battling with the Balrog.
I found the book funny throughout reading it, or witty might be a better word. It’s not so much laugh-out-loud funny, as cleverly subtle wit. The “Big Bang Hypothesis” really made me laugh, for example. If you’re curious, I recommend reading it – it’s in the prologue, so it’s possible to read while still in the book shop.
I loved this book, and I can’t wait to read the second one. It is now fair to say that I love Terry Pratchett – the man is a genius. I recommend this to fans if clever wit and quirky tales with fun and believable characters.