by Damla
Ahh, death: one of life’s greatest mysteries. The knowledge (and fear) of our mortality has shaped our history, guided our civilization, built religions, and propelled scientific studies since prehistory. And naturally, the mortality that has inevitably bound our fates to every other living being on the planet has inspired many a lore, myth, art, and literature.
So, as Halloween approaches, what better time to shine the spotlight onto the one in charge of it all: the Grim Reaper, the Pale Rider, the Dark Angel, Death himself and his many facets.
As a great rock song once advised, don’t fear the reaper. Embrace the mystery and dive into these books where Death (with a capital D) is the main character:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. By her brother’s graveside, Liesel’s life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger’s Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library, wherever there are books to be found.
Death at Intervals by José Saramago
What happens when the Grim Reaper decides there will be no more death? On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This, of course, causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, morticians, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially mass celebration. Then reality hits home—families are left to care for the permanently dying; life-insurance policies become meaningless; and funeral parlors are reduced to arranging burials for pet dogs, cats, hamsters, and parrots. Death sits in her chilly apartment, where she lives alone with scythe and filing cabinets and contemplates her experiment: What if no one ever died again? What if she, death with a small “d,” became human and were to fall in love?
Mort by Terry Pratchett
When he came to Mort, he offered him a job. Henceforth, Death is no longer going to be the end, merely the means to an end. As Death’s apprentice he’ll have free board, use of the company horse—and being dead isn’t compulsory. It’s a dream job—until he discovers that it can be a killer on his love life…
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
“Death has to happen. That’s what bein’ alive is all about. You’re alive, and then you’re dead. It can’t just stop happening.”
But it can. And it has. So what happens after death is now less of a philosophical question than a question of actual reality. On the Disc, as here, they need Death. If Death doesn’t come for you, then what are you supposed to do in the meantime? You can’t have the undead wandering about like lost souls. There’s no telling what might happen, particularly when they discover that life really is only for the living…
Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
It’s hard to grow up normally when Grandfather rides a white horse and wields a scythe—especially when you have to take over the family business, and everyone mistakes you for the Tooth Fairy. And especially when you have to face the new and addictive music that has entered Discworld. It’s lawless. It changes people. It’s called Music With Rocks In. It’s got a beat and you can dance to it, but… It’s alive. And it won’t fade away.
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
In a world where disease, war and crime have been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed (“gleaned”) by professional scythes. Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythes’ apprentices, and despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation, they must learn the art of killing and understand the necessity of what they do. Only one of them will be chosen as a scythe’s apprentice and as Citra and Rowan come up against a terrifyingly corrupt Scythedom, it becomes clear that the winning apprentice’s first task will be to glean the loser.
Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own sparsely-attended funeral, Wallace is outraged. Then when Hugo, owner of a most peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace reluctantly accepts the truth. Yet even in death, he refuses to abandon his life—even though Wallace spent all of it working, correcting colleagues and hectoring employees. But as Wallace drinks tea with Hugo and talks to his customers, he wonders if he was missing something. The feeling grows as he shares jokes with the resident ghost, manifests embarrassing footwear and notices the stars. So when he’s given one week to pass through the door to the other side, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in just seven days.
On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
After would-be suicide Zane confronts and kills the incarnation of Death, he finds himself forced to assume the office of Death, with all its duties, in a world revolutionized by magic and science.
A Fig for All the Devils by C.S. Fritz
An abused, grief-stricken, and impoverished Sonny has all but given up on life. That is, until he meets death, by way of the Grim Reaper. The Reaper, a junk food loving, poetry reading, cigarette-addicted entity, has no time to waste as he searches for a suitable successor who would become “Death” for the next millennium. By training the boy in the ways of death and dying, Reaper grooms his young apprentice and through suspenseful and horror-laced events, he unknowingly gives Sonny something he never intended: a reason to live.
Death Wins a Goldfish: Reflections from a Grim Reaper’s Yearlong Sabbatical by Brian Rea
Death never takes a day off. Until he gets a letter from the HR department insisting he use up his accrued vacation time, that is. In this humorous and heartfelt book from beloved illustrator Brian Rea, readers take a peek at Death’s journal entries as he documents his mandatory sabbatical in the world of the living. From sky diving to online dating, Death is determined to try it all.
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They’re even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie’s doing okay—until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Charlie Asher, it seems, has been recruited for a new position: as Death. It’s a dirty job. But, hey! Somebody’s got to do it.
Death: a Life by George Pendle
At last, the mysterious, feared, and misunderstood being known only as “Death” talks frankly and unforgettably about his infinitely awful existence, chronicling his abusive childhood, his near-fatal addiction to Life, his excruciating time in rehab, and the ultimate triumph of his true nature. Intense, unpredictable, and instantly engaging, Death: A Life is not only a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a universe that, despite its profound flaws, gave Death the fiery determination to carve out a successful existence on his own terms.
Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden
Mrs Death has had enough. She is exhausted from spending eternity doing her job and now she seeks someone to unburden her conscience to. Wolf Willeford, a troubled young writer, is well acquainted with death, but until now hadn’t met Death in person—a black, working-class woman who shape-shifts and does her work unseen. Wolf travels across time and place with Mrs Death to witness deaths of past and present and discuss what the future holds for humanity.
Graveyard Shift by Angela Roquet
She resides in Limbo City, the modern capital of the collective afterlives, where she likes to stick it to the man (the legendary Grim Reaper himself) by harvesting the bare minimum of souls required of her. She’d much rather be hanging out with Gabriel, her favorite archangel, at Purgatory Lounge. But when a shocking promotion falls in her lap, Lana learns something that could unravel the very fabric of Eternity. If the job isn’t completed, there could be some real hell to pay.
Happy reaping reading!
