Reaper Man
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| Terry Pratchett The Discworld series 11th novel – 2nd Death story  | |
| Outline | |
| Characters: | Death Unseen University staff |
| Locations: | Ankh-Morpork Lancre |
| Motifs: | Alien invasion SF, "Man With No Name" Westerns, Modernization, Shopping malls, Minority rights movements |
| Publication details | |
| Year of release: | 1991 |
| Original publisher: | Victor Gollancz |
| Hardback ISBN: | ISBN 0575049790 |
| Paperback ISBN: | ISBN 0552134643 |
| Other details | |
| Awards: | |
| Notes: | |
Synopsis
The Auditors are beings who watch the Discworld from above to ensure everything obeys The Rules. As Death starts developing more of a personality the Auditors feel that he does not perform the Duty (namely, sending dead people to the beyond) in the right way anymore.
They send him off with his own golden hourglass and his scythe to live like everyone else. Now called "Bill Door", he tries to work as a helper on a farm. Meanwhile, the rest of the Discworld has problems of its own. While every other species thinks of a new Death for themselves in seconds, humans "are capable of believing in very complicated things", and need a bit more time for their Death to be completed. As a result, the "life force" of dead humans starts to build up; this results in poltergeist activity, ghosts, and other paranormal phenomenon. Most notable is the return as a zombie of recently deceased wizard Windle Poons, who was really looking forward to reincarnation, and instead finds himself attending meetings of the "Fresh Start Club", an undead-rights group lead by Reg Shoe. Not only that, Windle and his new friends and the wizards of the unseen university discovers the city of Ankh-Morpork is being invaded by a parasitic lifeform that feeds on cities, and hatches from eggs that resemble snow globes.
When humankind finally thinks of a New Death, one with a crown and without any humanity, Bill Door returns to fight him and take back his place.
Reaper Man, features a "were-man", similar to Peter David's "werehuman" in Howling Mad.
Translations
- Жътварят (Bulgarian)
- Sekáč (Czech)
- Maaierstijd (Dutch)
- Vikatimees (Estonian)
- Viikatemies (Finnish)
- Le Faucheur (French)
- Alles Sense! (German)
- A Kaszás (Hungarian)
- Mannen med ljåen (Norwegian)
- Kosiarz (Polish)
- Мрачный жнец (Russian)
- El Segador (Spanish)
- Kosač (Serbian)
- Döden ligger lågt (Swedish)
- איש הקציר (Hebrew)
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