Upon reading Mort, the fourth of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, I felt that the series had reached a new height. I’d enjoyed the three books which came before it, but this one felt like it had a little more heart to it and it’s storyline was certainly something rather unique.

All of the other books had featured appearances of Death to some extent or another. I always enjoyed his appearances (especially when his adopted daughter Ysabell was introduced) so I was delighted that Death was right at the heart of this novel. The story this time is that Death has decided to take on an apprentice and the titular Mort is that apprentice.

Something I especially enjoyed about this book is the way in which it tried to rationalise the way a living embodiment of Death would actually work. We learn a little about his systems and the domain in which he lives. We also learn more about him as a person and the toll that it would take on somebody if their entire identity was the very thing which most people fear the most. He’s something of a tragic figure… but in an oddly down to Earth sort of way which makes him quite relatable.

Though I do think that he is somewhat overshadowed by Death, I did rather like Mort as well. At first it felt like he was a little bit of a joke – a simpleminded fool who had found himself in a situation he couldn’t comprehend. As it went on, he was revealed to be a character with a little more depth than I expected. I have to admit, that he did start to feel like a little bit of a generic protagonist, but I did appreciate the journey that his character went on. His relationship with Ysabell was certainly an interesting one as well.

While it is the fourth book in the series, you could probably start with this one, if you wanted. Death and Ysabell have both appeared before, but you’re introduced to them through Mort as he meets them for the first time, so you can learn about them at the same pace as he does. Rincewind and the Unseen University also show up, but again, they are used in such a way that you’ll be fine if you have no foreknowledge.

The story is a fascinating one which deals with fate, the path of time, Death’s role in the universe and more. What would happen if Death refused to take somebody who was destined to die? Well, read this and you’ll find out. It’s a pretty profound book a lot of the time, with lots of very clever things to say. That’s all mixed in with a lot of very ‘ordinary’ humour and it might sound like that would be jarring, but it works beautifully. I don’t use ‘ordinary’ in a derogatory way either, just in the sense that the comedy helps the book feel grounded in reality without flying too far off into the realms of philosophic reflection.

If you think the idea of Death taking an apprentice sounds too silly, think again. It has a sense of humour, but this novel is far from being too silly. It’s really beautifully written is so different from anything else I’ve ever read. I strongly recommend it.

Rating: 8.9/10

Buy it here.

If you’re after a classic nineteenth century adventure novel, then this is one book I heartily recommend. I’m happy to say that this is one of my very favourites of its kind.

The story follows a group of three people (Professor Aronnax, his servant Conseil and a whaler called Ned Land) who find themselves on board the Nautilus, a highly advanced submarine belonging to the mysterious Captain Nemo. The four of them become involved in various adventures under the sea, all while wondering if any of them will ever get a chance to get home.

Captain Nemo is probably my favourite thing about this book. He’s such an enigmatic character. He has exiled himself to the bottom of the sea, after growing to hate humanity. This is possible due to the extremely advanced capabilities of his submarine and the fact that he makes genius use of the resources available to him under the water. It made me ponder the question, could somebody really manage to live exclusively under the ocean? It’s quite a whimsical image. On board, he has a huge library filled with many books and the idea of this library travelling under the sea was really very charming to me. This was just one of several things which Captain Nemo and his crew have on their vessel.

It wasn’t just his curious living situation which drew me to him though. As the story goes on, you’re left to decide for yourself whether or not Nemo is a sympathetic character and, for me, he certainly was. He acts as a kind of antagonist in that he doesn’t want to allow Aronnax, Conseil or Land to return to land – but this is because he doesn’t want to break his exile. By the end of the novel, you still don’t really know too much about his origins, but I read him as a man who was rebelling against the colonial attitudes of his time. Someone who didn’t want to associate with the increasingly destructive nature of humankind and so had become misanthropic… yet, despite his cold exterior, he’s shown to be a very compassionate man who is very sensitive to the great social injustices of the world. He’s a fascinating character.

The other characters were all pretty likeable too. Ned Land does sometimes come across as a bit of an idiot (and I’m not too keen on him, being a whaler), but even he has his moments. But besides Nemo, I’d say that it was Conseil who was my favourite. He is insanely loyal to Aronnax, even to the extent of endangering his own life, but despite all this, he never loses his calm demeanour – this contrasts (sometimes comedically) against Ned, who’s always quite hot headed. Meanwhile, Aronnax acts as a level-headed mediator and narrator of the story. Aronnax is fascinated by Nemo and is conflicted about whether he truly wants to leave behind the exciting life under the sea, unlike Ned, who definitely wants to get home ASAP. The contrasting interests of the different characters makes for some great reading.

Finally, as someone who finds the ocean really interesting, I enjoyed it being used as the setting for the story. In addition to using several real-life natural phenomenon as story points, it even delves into the world of mythology. At several points throughout the story, the characters head out on the sea bed in diving suits and I just find the whole thing terribly exciting. Plus, you have to respect the fact that Jules Verne did a pretty good job at predicting some of the ways in which submarine technology would improve in the coming years. There was so much to love about this book and if you’ve not read it yet, I strongly recommend it!

Rating: 9.6/10

Buy it here.

I always like the opportunity to read and review the novels written by people know, and The Prime Minister’s Cat is an example of this. Perhaps knowing as many writers as I do, perhaps I should make a special section for books by people I know.

Having said that, my feelings on this book are mixed. The story follows the story of a kitten named Barry who ends up homeless and then goes on a journey which ultimately leads him to become the prime minister’s cat, meeting several colourful characters along the way.

This is a book for children. When I first started, I was reminded of the writing style of Roald Dahl and at only 51 pages, it won’t be difficult for children to finish. The sentences are written simply and structured in a way which is appropriate for the target audience. Additionally, the story of cats and kittens will be appealing to children who will be able to relate the anthropomorphised characters to the animals they have in their own lives. I must also admit that I was rooting for things to go well for Barry, as he’s a nice and inoffensive cat who never really does anything wrong.

So why are my feelings mixed? Well, as much as it is a children’s story about a cat, it was still set within the real world. Nobody knows that the animals secretly talk to each other in their own language and that’s how it fits into reality, which is fine… but I struggled with is how several details didn’t seem true to life. A woman is sent into a care home and the process through which this happens is largely over-simplified and done very speedily. At one point, Barry hides in a restaurant’s dumb waiter and eats a little bit of the food from each plate as it goes up. I really struggled to imagine how a cat could hide undetected in a dumb waiter, especially while eating some of the food (which I’d think would leave obvious signs). A lot of the side characters were just stereotypes too – for example, the French waiter who is very uptight and speaks in a very heavily French accent (which is written in the text when he speaks). I don’t think it’s a good idea to include stereotypes in children’s fiction. These are just a couple of examples, but there were other issues.

A final niggle, was that there were a fair few errors in spelling and formatting. For young children learning to read, I think it’s especially important that these things be ironed out. Meanwhile, things like the font randomly changing sizes between paragraphs just grated on me a little. These may not bother other people quite so much as they do me, but as someone who has done a lot of work as an editor and proofreader, they really leapt out and were quite distracting.

Overall, it’s a book that you can read in just a couple of days. There are a few fun little references to history throughout it and some genuinely funny moments (The President of the United States’ reaction to seeing a rat, for example, made me laugh out loud), but I can’t deny that there are problems with it.

Rating: 5/10

Buy it here.