The English Student

The fourth in Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy Discworld series, Mort sees Death taking on an apprentice, the eponymous Mort (short for Mortimer). Explaining any more would probably veer into spoiler territory and, more to the point, make me sound less sane than I actually am (which admittedly isn't difficult), but suffice it to say that there is much chaos and much weirdness.

To be honest, I didn't enjoy rereading Mort as much as I thought I was going to. I've always preferred the later books, which are less pastiche and more realised in terms of world-building, and Mort doesn't make a ton of sense (though it probably isn't meant to) and though I laughed a couple of times it isn't as funny as Going Postal or The Truth. But then, humour is a personal thing, and your mileage may vary.

A couple of things about the treatment of female characters kind of shocked me: there's a bit of fat-shaming going on here with relation to Ysabell, Death's daughter (it's a long story), there's a joke which relies on the old misogynistic cliché of the harridan wife, and Cutwell the wizard keeps ogling Princess Keli. But, I'll be honest, I haven't got the energy to think about whether all this is actually problematic right now; just made me a little uncomfortable.

Still, Mort was a light read, at least, and a return to some familiar characters - mainly Death; I have a soft spot for Death, which is the kind of thing only Terry Pratchett can make you say - which was nice.