Book:Mort

Mort
File:Cover Mort.jpg Cover art by Josh Kirby
Co-author(s)
Illustrator(s)
Publisher	Victor Gollancz
Publication date	May 1987
ISBN	0575041714
Pages	221
RRP
Main characters	Death, Mort, Ysabell, Binky, Albert, Keli
Series	Death Series
Annotations	View
Notes	Book #04
All data relates to the first UK edition.

Blurb

Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job.

After being assured that being dead was not compulsory, Mort accepted. However, he soon found that romantic longings did not mix easily with the responsibilities of being Death's apprentice ....

Characters

Main characters

Minor characters

Lezek, Mort's father
Duke of Sto Helit
Igneous Cutwell, a wizard
Terpsic Mims, an angler (fisherman) saved by Death ("for later") and his wife, Gwladys (largely the reason that Terpsic is an angler)
Lord Rodley of Quirm
Cripple Wa, who runs a floating crap game
Liona Keeble, Ankh-Morpork's first job broker
Sun Emperor, boy emperor who nominally runs the Agatean Empire, though the Grand Vizier, Nine Turning Mirrors, is really in charge (until his attempt to assassinate the boy emperor backfires)
Rincewind

Mentioned (incl very minor speaking parts)

Hamesh, Mort's uncle
King Olerve the Bastard, Keli's father
Pilgarlic, leader of a group of thieves who unwisely try to rob Mort
Ammeline Hamstring, a witch who's scheduled to die, and Granny Beedle and Gammer Nutley, her colleagues
Abbot Lobsang, a monk (member of the Listeners) who's scheduled to die.. again
Offler
Mrs. Nugent
Artorollo, past King of Ankh
Lesser nobles of Sto Lat:
- Lord of the Privy Closet
- Lady of the Small Hexagonal Room in the North Turret
Staff of Sto Lat castle:
- Chamberlain of Sto Lat
- Yeoman of the Pantry
- Moghedron, the wine butler
- Royal Astrologer
The Patrician
Queen Ezeriel, a Klatchian queen who bathed in asses' milk, had many lovers, and killed herself by sitting on a snake, parodying Roundworld's Cleopatra
Hummok M'guk
Ug and Zog, names for several proto-humans
Catroaster, a philosopher with a negative (albeit short-lived) opinion of Ankh-Morpork
Blind Io and his somewhat more blind High Priest (in Sto Lat)
Heavenly Guard, who patrol the Great Wall
Ly Tin Wheedle (mentioned)
King Zetesphut of Tsort (mentioned)
Fate (mentioned)
Destiny (mentioned)
Sek (mentioned)
Hoki (mentioned)
Steikhegel, God of isolated cow byres (mentioned)

Locations

Death's Domain
- Death's Library
  - The Stack for biographies more than 500 years old
Ramtops
- Octarine Grass Country
  - Sheepridge
Ankh-Morpork
- Patrician's Palace
- Curry Gardens
- The Shades
- River Ankh (mentioned)
- Mended Drum in Filigree Street
- Harga's House of Ribs, owned by Harga
Bay of Mante (mentioned)
Klatch (mentioned)
Klatchistan (mentioned), there's a promising war there
Sto Lat
- Wall Street, where Cutwell lives (until he's transferred to the castle)
- Quene's Hed aka Duke's Head (depending on which reality you're in; presumably the King's Head before King Olerve died)
- Sto Lat Castle
Cori Celesti (mentioned)
Great Nef (mentioned), Ysabell's parents died there
- The Light Dams
Pseudopolis (mentioned)
Krull (mentioned)
- The Edge (mentioned)
- Hakrull River
Carrack Mountains (mentioned)
El-Kinte (mentioned)
Dungeon Dimensions (mentioned)
Agatean Empire (mentioned)
- Bes Pelargic (mentioned)
Tsort (mentioned)
- River Tsort (mentioned)
- Pyramids of Tsort (mentioned)
Leshp (mentioned)

Sentient Species

Humans
Trolls (mentioned)

Supernatural Entities

Death
The Gods (mentioned)
Old Dark Gods from the Dungeon Dimensions (mentioned)
Tooth Fairy (mentioned)
Sandman (mentioned)
Water Sprite (mentioned)

Things and Concepts

Reannual plants
Hogswatch, time frame at start of book
Granny Weatherwax's Ramrub Invigoratore and Passion's Philtre, a potion accidentally consumed by Cutwell
Aurora Coriolis
Shield of Passion ointment, a form of birth control
Maidens' Longstop, a potion
Pizza
Caroc Cards
Ching Aling
Stardrip, a kind of drink
Scumble
Brass Gongs of Leshp
Book of the Magick of Alberto Malich the Mage, a book by Albert that first alerts Mort that Death's butler is more than he appears to be
Rag Week, a time when Albert's statue is traditionally (albeit unceremoniously) defiled
Rite of AshkEnte (when Albert says this backwards many years ago, he summons himself to Death, instead of keeping Death away from himself; he later uses it to summon Mort)
Ankh-Morpork Chamber of Commerce/Guild of Merchants (mentioned)
Serpent Dance, Discworld equivalent of the conga.
Peach Corniche, a type of drink
Drinks sampled by Death
- Melon Brandy
- Spring Cordial (contains wasps)
- Old Overcoat
- Amanita Liquor
Klatchian migratory bog truffle: it's pale, brown, and warty, but it's food
Monster Fun Grimoire, which contains instructions (not very good ones) on how to make fireworks
Deepwater puff eel, whose bladder and spleen may only eaten by those beloved of the gods (though it suspiciously sounds like bloat could come from this animal as well)
Smoking Mirror of Grism

Adaptations

Mort was adapted into the graphic novel Mort A Discworld Big Comic in 1994, illustrated by Graham Higgins.
Mort was the second Discworld novel to be adapted into a stage-play by Stephen Briggs.
A fan film of Mort was created in 2001.
A radio play was broadcast by BBC Radio 4 in 2004.
A Mort film was announced in 2016 to be directed by Terry Rossio.