I have mixed feelings about this one. The story is quite gripping, and it introduces Susan, the granddaughter of Death, and one of the Disc’s best characters. I like Susan, although here she’s still a teenager, inexperienced and somewhat unsure of herself.

On the other hand, the main purpose of this story is to introduce the Disc to rock music, and I don’t think the two go together. In the absence of an electricity supply, only magic can make rock music go at all.

Then, Pratchett starts taking it all a bit too seriously, and starts worrying about rifts in the fabric of the universe because someone hasn’t died when he was supposed to.

I don’t require him to be funny all the time, but when he’s serious it works for me only sometimes, and this is one of the times that it doesn’t really work for me. Perhaps he’s trying to make some important point, but I don’t see what the point is.

In case you’re wondering, yes, there are funny bits in here; there usually are. ( )

Music with Rocks in tries to gain a foothold on Discworld while Death has an identity crisis and his granddaughter takes over

The start to the Discworld, and what a start indeed. A bit rough at first but once you get a handle on it the writing just enraptures you. Rincewind is a sopping wet cat of a man and I love him dearly. I want to wring him like a rag. ( )

And so we meet SusanDeath's granddaughter, hear of the listening monks, and see the development of Music with Rocks In. Susan is probably my favorite Discworld character beside Granny Weatherwax and Tiffany Aching (three-way tie). The complications of the Musicians Guild give this novel a bit of edge, and the Librarian's contraption is a delight. A favorite re-read. ( )

Felt about this pretty much the same way I felt about the previous one – it's got some fun elements, but I'm still not as convinced as I was with Mort... ( )