Death takes an apprentice - a gangly, awkward young man named Mort who is no good at anything else. While Death goes on holiday to experience what it's like to be alive, Mort is left to do the reaping, and promptly saves the life of a princess who was supposed to die. This introduces a crack in reality that grows wider by the hour. The first truly great Discworld novel, a story about love, duty, and the consequences of well-intentioned interference.