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4.5/5 stars. One of the greatest Christmas stories ever told

This was a wonderful story, and Terry Pratchett continues to amaze me at what he is able to conjure up in that genius brain of his. Not only is he able to come up with truly unique fantasy plots, but he has the ability to make me laugh from start to finish along the way.

Story: 4/5

The story itself is fun, unique, and enjoyable. I loved the idea that Pratchett could decide that he wants to parody something like Christmas, but then end up churning out something so perfectly fit within the Discworld theme in ingenious fashion. I don't want to ruin the plot for anyone who may read this, as I think even the basics should be preserved so that you get surprised at how awesome the concepts are here.

The only reason that I knocked a little off the score was I thought that the last 1/4 of the book kind of slogged along and didn't finish very strongly - but other than that this was an extremely enjoyable read.

World Building: 4/5

The world wasn't really expanded on much here, it simply takes what we already know about Discworld and introduces a story within it. While I do love the Discworld itself, I do ultimately find myself wishing that it could be more thoroughly explored. There are so many interesting locations that could be gone into in more detail, but virtually all the books take place at the same locations.

Fantasy Elements: 5/5

The fantasy elements to this book are evident from the first few pages, and persist throughout the entire book. I don't really want to go into more detail here as I worry about ruining what makes this book so great - but needless to say the fantasy parts of this book are part of what makes this book so special.

Characters: 4/5

The story centers around the character of "Death", who is probably the person most people associate with being the best Discworld character. For me, while he is interesting, his monotone outlook on everything usually follows an arc of extremely interesting at the beginning, but it wears a bit thin towards the end. This is definitely my favorite story involving this character though, and it's the best story involving his daughter Susan as well - who I have found to be uninteresting gin the past.

Writing Style: 5/5

Terry Pratchett's writing style is what keeps me coming back. He is able to wonderfully blend some deep philosophical perspectives with uproariously funny humor in a way that nobody has ever been able to do when this book was written. He keeps you smiling from start to finish, and it just feels good to read a book from an author who is as good as he is.

Enjoyment: 4.5/5

I loved this book, it was funny, poignant, and I couldn't put it down. I did think the ending was the weak point in it, but I still thought this was one of the better Discworld books ever written.