Mort

Mort is a novel by Sir Terry Pratchett, published in 1987. It is the fourth book in Pratchett’s hugely successful Discworld series of humorous fantasies.

The story follows Mortimer, a lanky and thoughtful teenager known as Mort, who is poorly suited to his family’s business of growing reannuals (plants that grow backward in time). His father, Lezek, concerned about Mort’s impractical nature, decides to take him to the hiring fair in the town of Sheepridge on Hogswatch Eve, hoping to secure him an apprenticeship. At the fair, Mort stands with the other hopeful boys, but no master chooses him. As midnight approaches, he is the last one left, feeling ashamed and stubborn.

Just as the clock strikes midnight, a tall, black-robed figure arrives on a large white horse named Binky. The figure is Death, and he offers Mort a position as his apprentice. To secure Lezek’s approval, Death places them “outside time,” causing Mort’s father to perceive him as a respectable undertaker. Intrigued by the offer and eager to escape his current life, Mort accepts. He and Death depart on Binky, leaving Lezek with only a vague, confusing memory of the encounter.

Death takes Mort to the bustling city of Ankh-Morpork for a curry, explaining that most people cannot see him unless it is their time. While there, Death shows a compassionate side by rescuing the souls of three kittens from a sack submerged in water. Mort later awakens in Death’s domain, a house decorated entirely in black and purple that exists outside of normal time and space. He meets the other residents: Ysabell, Death’s adopted 16-year-old daughter who has been 16 for 35 years, and Albert, Death’s elderly, manservant.

Mort’s apprenticeship begins with mucking out Binky’s stable. He soon discovers Death’s vast library, where the biographies of every living person are located, each book actively writing itself. Death then takes Mort to observe the Duty, his work of ushering souls into the next world. Their first assignment is the assassination of King Olerve in the castle of Sto Lat. There, Mort is instantly smitten with the king’s red-haired daughter, Princess Keli. Compelled to act, he shouts a warning to the king just as an assassin fires a crossbow. Death freezes time, allowing the bolt to hit its mark, then severs the king’s soul from his body. He reprimands Mort for attempting to interfere with fate but decides not to fire him for showing compassion.

After several more assignments, Mort is granted an afternoon off and transported to Ankh-Morpork. There, he escapes thieves by discovering he can walk through walls, acquires a champion racehorse, and rides toward Sto Lat. As sunset approaches, Death appears and gives Mort his first solo assignment: handle three deaths while Death takes the evening off to experience human life.

Mort’s first two tasks have unexpected outcomes. He collects the soul of Goodie Hamstring, a witch who calmly accepts her fate, and then assists the Abbot of the Listeners, who is on a cycle of reincarnation. His third assignment is Princess Keli, who is to be killed by an assassin hired by the Duke of Sto Helit. Unable to let her die, Mort intervenes, killing the assassin and saving Keli’s life.

This act fundamentally alters history, creating a new, separate reality in a bubble around Sto Lat where Keli is still alive. However, within this new reality, people cannot perceive her, as their minds know she is supposed to be dead. Desperate, Keli seeks help from a local wizard, Igneous Cutwell, who becomes her “Royal Recognizer,” tasked with reminding people of her existence.

Meanwhile, Death attempts to understand human pleasures by fishing, dancing, gambling, and getting drunk. He eventually finds a sense of happiness working as a short-order cook. Mort discovers that the reality bubble around Sto Lat is shrinking as the true, original reality grinds back to reclaim it, threatening to erase Keli. Mort returns to Sto Lat and consults with Cutwell. After recognizing Death’s manservant Albert as the legendary wizard Alberto Malich from a picture, Mort and Ysabell return to Death’s domain to confront him. Channeling Death’s authority, Mort forces Albert to provide a magic spell that can slow time, but Albert makes it conditional on Mort first completing two urgent duties.

Mort and Ysabell race across the Disc on Binky, collecting the souls of a Grand Vizier in the Agatean Empire and a handmaiden in Tsort. While they are away, Albert returns to Unseen University, reveals his true identity, and forces the senior wizards to perform a ritual to summon Death. The powerful spell begins to pull Mort, who is becoming more like Death, but Ysabell breaks the connection by knocking him unconscious. The ritual then summons the real Death, who, furious at the interruption and Mort’s actions, returns to his domain with Albert.

Mort and Ysabell awaken in the desert. Mort realizes that because light moves slowly on the Disc, they can travel faster to reach Sto Lat before midnight arrives there. They get to the palace during Keli’s coronation, just as the reality interface is closing in. The Duke of Sto Helit has launched a coup, but Mort and Cutwell defeat him. Unable to stop the interface, Mort gets Keli, Ysabell, and Cutwell onto Binky, and they escape to Death’s domain moments before Keli’s reality is erased.

They arrive to find Death and Albert waiting. Enraged, Death confronts Mort, who challenges him to a duel for Keli and Cutwell’s lives. During the fight, Mort’s own hourglass runs out. He discovers his sword can now pass harmlessly through metaphysical objects, including Death’s own seemingly indestructible hourglass. He disarms Death but cannot bring himself to strike the final blow. Death easily defeats the exhausted Mort but, just as he is about to kill him, Ysabell intervenes, accusing Death of hypocrisy for meddling with fate himself. Death relents and turns over Mort’s hourglass, restoring his life.

Death speaks with the gods and convinces them to permanently alter reality. Keli is established as queen, and the historical record is changed to show the duke died in an accident. The story ends at the wedding of Mort and Ysabell, with Mort now the Duke of Sto Helit. Death attends the reception and gives the couple two gifts: a “pearl of reality” containing the universe Mort created, and Mort’s own biography, now with many blank pages. Death then departs to resume his duties, leaving Mort and Ysabell to begin their mortal life together.