Terry Pratchett wasn’t simply a master of his genre, conjuring one of fiction’s strangest and most beloved fantasy realms in the form of the Discworld; he was also a master storyteller, and one of our greatest modern writers. In her introduction for this edition, A. S. Byatt describes his ‘maddening and delightful’ imagination, and how the core of his work always contained a ‘reflection on the nature and language of things’. Whether describing the personification of Death in a curry house or threatening the great city of Ankh-Morpork with a dragon, Pratchett’s focus was always on the humanity of his characters. He knew their passions, failings, hopes and desperations, revealing them with compassion and wisdom – and if the truth bit a little close to home for the reader, a joke would be along at any moment to take away the sting.

Mort is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. Published in 1987, it is the fourth Discworld novel and the first to focus on the character Death, who only appeared as a side character in the previous novels. The title is the name of its main character, and is also a play on words: in French and Catalan, mort means "death", while in Romanian means "dead". The French language edition is titled Mortimer, and the Catalan language edition is titled Morth. Along with this stunning edition Folio also created a limited edition leather bound ’facsimile’ of the very book that Death presents to Mort - this sold out in less than 13 hours.As a teenager, Mort has a personality and temperament that makes him unsuited to the family farming business. Mort's father Lezek takes him to a local hiring fair in the hope that Mort will land an apprenticeship; not only would this provide a job for his son, but it would also make his son's propensity for thinking someone else's problem. Just before the last stroke of midnight, Death arrives and takes Mort on as an apprentice (though his father thinks he has been apprenticed to an undertaker). Death takes Mort to his domain, where he meets Death's elderly manservant Albert, and his adopted daughter Ysabell. Mort later accompanies Death as he travels to collect the soul of the King of Sto Lat, who is due to be assassinated by the scheming Duke of Sto Helit. After Mort unsuccessfully tries to prevent the assassination, Death warns him that all deaths are predetermined, and that he cannot interfere with fate. To attempt to capture the richness, humour and depth of the illustrations (without rubbing too many fans and connoisseurs the wrong way) was a daunting task but a most enjoyable one – a dream job for any book illustrator’ An English musical adaptation of Mort was presented in Guildford in August 2008 by Youth Music Theatre UK. The adaptation was by Jenifer Toksvig (sister of Sandi Toksvig) and the composer was Dominic Haslam. [5] A new production, directed by Luke Sheppard, was staged at the Greenwich Theatre in 2011. His gift has always been in treating the big subjects with the lightest touch and in smuggling huge banks of wisdom past unsuspecting, giggling readers’

Death convinces the gods to change the original reality so that Keli rules in place of the Duke, who was inadvertently killed during Death and Mort's duel due to the destruction of his lifetimer. Mort and Ysabell – who have fallen in love over the course of the story – get married, and are made Duke and Duchess of Sto Helit by Keli, while Cutwell is made the Master of the Queen's Bedchamber. Death attends Mort and Ysabell's wedding reception, where he warns Mort that he will have to make sure that the original Duke's destiny is fulfilled, and presents him with the alternate reality he created, now shrunk to the size of a large pearl, before the two part on amicable terms. Dave Langford reviewed Mort for White Dwarf #96, and stated that "After a slightly less successful experiment in Equal Rites, Pratchett has sussed the combination of hilarity with a tortuous plot, and the rest of us would-be humorists hate him for it." [7] Omar Rayyan, a long-time fan of the Discworld series, has provided 7 colour illustrations that capture the humour and vibrancy of Pratchett’s remarkable creation. This beautiful collector’s edition features printed endpapers illustrated by the artist, a slipcase printed with a silver line drawing, and a cover bound in tactile velveteen cloth, with an illustrated inset paper label. The spine sports a tiny silver A’Tuin, the great disc-carrying turtle – truly an edition fit for the Unseen University’s very own library. It's an offer Mort can't refuse. As Death's apprentice he'll have free board, use of the company horse - and being dead isn't compulsory. It's a dream job - until Mort falls in love with Death's daughter, Ysabell, and discovers that your boss can be a killer on your love life . . .The fourth Discworld novel and first in the Death series - revamped with a fresh bold look targeting a new generation of fantasy fans. In 2004, Pratchett stated that Mort was the first Discworld novel with which he was "pleased", stating that in previous books, the plot had existed to support the jokes, but that in Mort, the plot was integral. [1] Plot summary [ edit ]