Mort

Discworld, Book 4

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Nigel Planer

Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

Mort, like many teenagers, is gangly, unpromising, and struggling with a menial job - in his case, as Death's apprentice. He can barely handle his simple task of ushering souls out of Discworld, but he really screws up when he meets the beautiful Princess Keli, who is scheduled to be assassinated. Going against his boss's wishes, Mort kills Keli's assassin instead, which angers and interferes with Fate. But Mort's heroism seems to be for naught, since Discworld proceeds as though Keli had been killed, while Death has too much fun drinking and gambling to be any help. This is the fourth book in the Discworld series.  

Please note: This is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

(P) ISIS Publishing Ltd, 1995; Copyright © Terry and Lyn Pratchett, 1987; Cover Illustration © Josh Kirby

Not genius, but pretty good

Nigel Planer isn't my favourite Terry Pratchett reader - I think Stephen Briggs does the best job of interpreting Discworld's regular cast of characters - but he's pretty good, and the story here is kind of interesting, if you're the sort of person who likes to think about what happens to you after you die. And for some reason I found the whole concept of 'Mort' (I had never realized that 'Mort' is both a nerdy-sounding first name and a term for death, which is decidedly not nerdy-sounding) very clever and amusing.

Worth getting if you're a Discworld or Terry Pratchett fan.

Solid story and good narration

However the audio quality is quite hairy, like a caveman out for dinner at a Michelin star restaurant before the invention of scissors.

Great audio

Nigel is a very good narrator for these books and does a fantastic job in this one. Easily understood and with great inflection.

Well read but the quality is bad

The story is fine but the quality of the recording is bad. You can really hear that this recording was made decades ago.

definitly a must

at times i could hardly wait to continue this story truely well written book i am looking forward to some of Terry pratchettes other books

Well narrated.

Well narrated. Story is fantastic. Love the characters and plot. Terry Pratchett at his very best.

Excellent book, extremely well read!!

I could not reccommend it any higher. I am so impressed with the character voices. the writing is of course genius!

intrigue, death and kittens

fun although less abstract than the usual pratchett which came as a nice suprise. very short and could easily have a second part

Fantastic listen

A great intro into the discworld and its concept of death.
note amazon requires 15 words in a review so I'm writing this filler.

Absolutely to die for ;)

Another wonderfully hilarious and smart book by Terry Pratchett. This going up as one of my favourite fantasy novels of all time.

good but poor quality recording

recording was listenable but you could definitely hear people talking in the background at one point

Top story and lots of DEATH

I've always loved this story about DEATHS apprentice, but the sound quality of this recording isn't great.

Great writing, pity about mixed recording quality

Another beautifully written book by Terry Pratchett. Not a bad performance by Nigel Planer (although I didn't enjoy it as much as the earlier books). Unfortunately the quality of the recording was mixed - all OK, but varying between chapters; not what you expect from a professional recording.

Likely, my favourite Discworld book

If you could sum up Mort in three words, what would they be?

Funny,clever,brilliant

What did you like best about this story?

It's hard to pin down what is best. Any fan of Discworld has their favourite characters,however, for me it was the conversations between Death & Mort.The way Sir Terry writes the stories is sheer genius

What does Nigel Planer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The association of the role of Death. I've heard other narrators, but Nigel Planer brings the sense of humour & believability, when you're talking the anthropomorphization of Death

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Certain parts of the book & story really did make me laugh, as always leads to some strange looks from other people when I'm listening on public transport or even in the house

"THERE"S NO JUSTICE. THERE'S JUST ME!"

Where does Mort rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Mort as a book would certainly fail somewhere in my top 15 books of all time. The audiobook is overall excellent at maintaining the charm and comedy inherent in Pratchett's wordplay. Sadly the recording sounds muffled in places as though it was lifted from an old cassette recording so those who are hard of hearing may have some difficulties.

What other book might you compare Mort to, and why?

I believe the only thing you can compare Pratchett to is more of the same so I would compare this book to Reaper Man as it shares the same sense of humor and also makes Death the main character.

Which character – as performed by Nigel Planer – was your favourite?

Planer is an excellent narrator for characters like Death with a rather dry and sometimes unintentional sense of humour so I would say Death is his best character. On the other hand he can occasionally struggle to make Yssabelle and the princess sound convincing as his voice can sound too deep for them sometimes.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

I don't think a film of this book would need a particularly witty tag line - and I can't think of one anyway - but perhaps an endorsement wouldn't go amiss...

Quality of this recording is awful

What disappointed you about Mort?

This is a great story by Terry Pratchett, ably narrated by Nigel Planer but sounds as though it is coming from the bottom of a felt lined pit.

I listen to my books whist driving, and, with the lack of clarity in this recording, it is honestly almost too difficult to listen to.

it sounds as though this was converted from an old tape track with audio compression set to max. Not impressed, and as a result will steer clear of the other Pratchett books narrated by Mr Planer as well. Not because of how he reads, but because I might crash and die...

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Nigel Planer's narration is good

Love it.

Would you listen to Mort again? Why?

I am going to listen to mort over and over again. Terry Pratchett is an amazing author.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Death is my favourite character because of his cluelessness but his understanding of how the world works.

What about Nigel Planer’s performance did you like?

His voice was clear and put meaning into the words.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The book was amazing and I don't have a favourite bit.

Any additional comments?

Must listen. Utterly amazing.

Another Terry Pratchett triumph!

What made the experience of listening to Mort the most enjoyable?

A great mixture of superb writing and great narrative bought to life a great story that humorously throws new light on what a silly notion it is to fear ones own sorry demise.

What did you like best about this story?

The way that Nigel Planer manages to bring to life all the characters in the book.

Which character – as performed by Nigel Planer – was your favourite?

I felt his portrayal of DEATH'S daughter was very funny.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

It's nothing personal, it's his duty!

Any additional comments?

I loved this book, writing was excellemt and the narrator really bought the characters to life without boring you to sleep but I didn't feel it was Terry Pratchets best written book oft the series I would suggest reading/listening to Small Gods, Sourcery, The Fifth Elephant, theif of time or The Reaper man first but make sure to come back for this one :-)

Brilliant!

It's hard to keep reviewing Terry Pratchett's work because the same compliments apply again and again! He really was one of the greatest writers of our age.

In the first couple of books of the series the style that runs through the entire series is still settling down and being perfected - so I'd recommend that anyone new to Discworld starts later in the series and comes back to the earliest books later - once they've fallen in love with it.
This book, is where we really see the style of writing that makes Terry Pratchett a force to recon with, and a truly great author.

A brilliant story. Wonderful characters - clearly a great imagination is at work here, and woven through the whole thing is humour, wit, satire, a astute observation of the human condition, and a passion for ridiculing pomposity and stupidity.

Absolutely brilliant - highly recommended

Brilliant

Where does Mort rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Mort will always rank in the highest of regions for audio books as the quality or the written work has always been insurpassable, moreover when twinned with Nigel's narration it transports you to the disc and you feel like a member of the general disc mob.

What did you like best about this story?

As always with Pratchett's writing he makes you look at the larger picture whilst sniggering at the little things in life meaning that whilst you enjoy and experience the whimsy you can be caught thinking on a grand scale.

Have you listened to any of Nigel Planer’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Nigel Planer as a narrator is good his voice is clear and distinctive whilst portraying the characters we all know and love