Public Service – DaneCobain.com

Title: Reaper Man

Author: Terry Pratchett

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 288

Rating: 8/10

Terry Pratchett – Reaper Man

As you might have guessed from the title, Reaper Man is all about Death – the anthropomorphic creature of narrative causality, not the thing that happens when your body stops moving. Death has disappeared, which, as the blurb explains, “leads to the kind of chaos you always get when an important public service is withdrawn.”

The force is strong in this one, and it’s my opinion that Pratchett was at his finest during the era in which this was released – it might not be my favourite Discworld book, but it’s up against some stiff competition. It is, however, a great book to read if you want to learn more about Death, in all his glory.

For me, it’s weird to think that this book first came out in 1991, two years after I was born. I got into the Discworld series sometime around my fourteenth birthday, and so by the time I got round to reading this, it was already old. That said, I highly enjoyed it, both as a teenager and as an adult, when I re-read it.

I’d say that the best Death novel is Mort, the first one to feature him as a main character, but this comes in at a close second – either way, if you’re a fan of Death and his antics, then I strongly recommend that you read each of the Death books in order, starting with Mort. But look forward to Reaper Man, because it’s awesome, and you’ll be glad that you kept on reading by the time you get around to it. Oh, and be sure to let me know what you think.

Terry Pratchett

Click here to buy Reaper Man.

Chuck Palahniuk – Choke | Review

Title: Choke

Author: Chuck Palahniuk

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 296

Rating: 9/10

Chuck Palahniuk – Choke

When you read a Chuck Palahniuk book, you know what you’re getting yourself into – something awesome, with an alternative twist. Here, we follow the exploits of a guy called Victor Mancini as he wheedles out a living, largely through working at a historical re-enactment theme park or by pretending to choke in restaurants. Palahniuk’s take on this latter profession is interesting – in some ways, Mancini sees himself as performing a vital public service, bringing meaning to people’s lives by allowing them to ‘save’ him. Of course, getting regular cheques through the mail from his saviours, who are looking to continue to save themselves, also helps.

There are plenty of fun little plot devices here, including the idea that Mancini might be the second coming of Christ, after being cloned from Christ’s fossilised foreskin. Like I said, in many ways this is similar to a lot of Palahniuk’s other work – it’s weird, and I like that. And this is just the core of the story line – there are plenty of other weird things going on to keep you entertained, and it’s definitely the sort of book that will keep you turning the pages.

For me, the difficult thing to decide here is whether I’d recommend this over other Palahniuk books – so far, I probably would. I’d say it has an edge over Fight Club and isn’t quite as good as Rant, but the good thing about reading Palahniuk’s work is that it doesn’t really matter which book that you read, because they’re all good and they all make you think. In the end, everyone is different, but if nothing else, this book has the potential to change your life. Go!