Out of all the Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series I really like the books which include Death as one of the main characters. The Discworld for those of you not familiar with it is a flat world held aloft by four elephants which move through space on the back of the turtle, ’’the Great A’tuin’’ (sex unknown). Reaper Man is the second of what is fondly called the Death trilogy which begins with Mort and ends with Soul Music. Although since then the Death Trilogy has continued in Hogfather and the Thief of Time.
In Reaper Man we see Death take a well deserved break. Well deserved for him but not for all the dead people relying on him to take them away. Meanwhile in a small village a newcomer arrives who is incredibly handy with a scythe. Combined with this we have the auditors plotting to get rid of Death which results literally in a fight to the Death.
Reaper Man is the story where the Death of Rats makes his first appearance and if you are reading the Death books it helps to read them in order, although this is not a pre-requisite as all of the books are complete novels in themselves. Reaper Man is Pratchett at his best and with one of my favourite characters in it for me it was an incredibly enjoyable read.