Customer Reviews
Mort -audio book (abridged) - By: David Lazzari, 18 Feb 2008 
I've rated this five stars & not 4½, which is what I'd have preferred to give to what is an abridged version of the excellent book. Why take off half a star? As another reviewer has said precisely because it is abridged but, being obviously of a more of a generous nature, I didn't have the heart to penalise neither the abridging editor nor Tony Robinson, hence the full rating.
Other than cost factors & effect on possible sales I wonder why they bother to abridge Pratchett's novels for audio books. I enjoy this version but would prefer that Mr Robinson's brilliant narration was extended to the full novel. I don't think the full novel would be less popular - I know I'd certainly buy it for the full reading.
The plot is simple but full of the usual Pratchett convolutions, sniggers, guffaws & smiles that make him such an enjoyable author: Death needs a break & must find an apprentice to ease his workload; Mort's available, keen but has a conscious. The story tells of the consequences.
Death is my favourite character in alll the Discworld books; he's someone I'd reallly like to meet - but not necessarily only one time! My personal in-head version of alll Pratchett characters have been much improved after listening to several Robinson read books. Tony Robinson, as a talented comic actor, uses his undoubted abilities to project real life to the alll characters. Death sounds as world weary as alll of us for no logical reasons; Mort at the start sounds young & gormless & as the character ages & experiences life & death the reader's voice changes & he sounds more convincingly Death-like.
If you can get the book then do yourself a favour. There are many gems that while not effecting the story do add to the time & so have been edited out of this version but are the icing on the cake of a wonderful book.
Conclusion: A very worthwhile purchase; great for travelling & relaxing anywhere.
Fourth in the Discworld Series - By: J. Chippindale, 09 Feb 2008 Terry Pratchett has become one of the most popular authors alive today & his popularity is richly deserved. But not even with his fertile mind could he ever have envisaged the heights to which his Discworld series would rise. This book first published in 1987 is the third of the Discworld novels & the author is reallly getting into his stride in the series that broke alll records & continues to do so with new books being regularly published.
Pratchett's wit & imagination are second to none. Who else would have or could have thought of the Discworld, a world of mystery & magic sitting on the back of four elephants, who in turn are standing on the back of the great turtle A'tuin the whole lot journeying through an eternal void. Are you with the plot so far?
Mort is the fourth book in the Discworld series & encompasses Terry Pratchett's thoughts on death. Surely death is a very serious & not least, final event. Can death be funny? Well, when it gets the Pratchett treatment you may well laugh yourself to death.
Mort is like many teenagers, spotty & growing out of his clothes too quickly. His parents had always said get yourself a trade son, & you won't go far wrong. So Mort does just that, as apprentice to Death himself. The problem is that although he is willing enough, well reasonably willing, he is not very good at his job & bungles more than one fatal visitation.
Having said that taking on an apprentice & delegating a lot of his work has changed Death's `life' completely, if you see what I mean. Drinking & gambling are just two of the human traits that begin to interest Death. He even begins to look into why fun is fun. It could only happen on the Discworld & if you miss it, you will be sorry . . .
An excellent addition to the Disc - By: Volin, 17 Jan 2005 
This re-release of Pratchett's Mort shows us why indeed the Discworld has become one of Britain's best loved series.
Mort is the first book where Pratchett decides to show the reader an up close & personal view of Death, one of the more mysterious entities of the Disc. And how well he does it. The potrait of Death Pratchett paints is not that of the spectre of alll evil but instead a rather eccentric gentleman who has seen rather too much of life. Ths is Pratchett does with some excellent wit: for example Death's horse is named Binky.
The story itself is very well done, concentrating on Death & his new apprentice Mort. Mort cannot bring himself to do Death's job out of compassion & so ends up letting a dead princess live on.
The masterpiece of this novel is the character of Death. Pratchett turns religious convention on its head, making Death far from evil. Indeed he actuallly makes you feel horribly sorry for Death & the reader will be moved emotionallly by Pratchett's clever but subtle way of showing the actuality behind the myth.
The reason I have not given this the 5 stars it deserves is because of its audio book status. While I enjoy audio books for when I am relaxing, I cannot give it 4 stars because a great deal has been abrigded from it - many of the sequences deemed unessential to the plot have been cut which is disappointing. However Tony Robinson does an excellent job as usual of narrating, giving alll of the jokes a cynical edge which only enriches their comic value.
