The Fifth Horseman

If you love Jasper affords, you’ll love Jon Smith. This book is equal parts dark comedy and fantasy fiction, with plenty of the absurd thrown in for good measure. You’ll be taken on a journey of blended fiction, myth, and English life, and enjoy every minute of it. I’d definitely recommend this read

The book is a wonderfully fun read. It tackles some darker themes such as death, suicide and the growing hold that greed has over society as a whole. However it takes them on in a light hearted way that supplies plenty of laughs without losing the message along the way.

The book is written in a lovely tone that flows and is extremely easy to read, and before you know it you have devoured chapter after chapter! It also has a nice cast of characters, the great banter between Emma and Mark, the 2 main characters, the cantankerous old Death and his lovely and charming assistant Veronique, are all great additions that makes it a really nice read!

I am a sucker for Death being personified and turned into a character, especially one that subverts the standard expectations in some way and humanises him.

The Fifth Horseman by Jon Smith follows Emma, who is fed up life, and decides that chucking herself off of a building is definitely the way to go. And then we get fucking Mark. Her flat mate. Also standing on top of this building trying to convince her to rethink her decisions and maybe being like "Don't do it I love you!!" which who does that?! Mark falls from the building on accident... and Emma definitely made the jump. Instead of hitting the sidewalk, the pair get picked up by Death... on a horse because he is cool like that.

Their hourglass froze, with just enough life in those final moments. They are now literally caught between life and death, and Death has no freaking idea what to do with them. Naturally he takes them to limbo, and makes them his apprentices.

I love that Death was living his best afterlife in his cottage by the River Styx, and that he was pretty much living in nostalgia of the past. How does death become to old to do his job? He was definitely getting too old for this shit. Jon Smith did a great job finding humor in death, and creating a fun and imaginative world. it has been a whole mess of fun. The cover drew me in, but the humor kept me reading.

Emma feels her life isn't worth continuing and that she's achieved all she'll ever achieve. She decides to off herself by falling from the top of a high building. She's left a goodbye message for her roommate and friend, Mark. While trying to save her from this decision, he accidentally knocks them both off to their seeming death. Just before they are about to hit the ground, Death rides in and scoops them up. However, there is a hitch! Both of their hourglasses still technically contain some sand, which means they are now stuck between life and death.

I really enjoyed this book. It hit at a time when I needed to read something humorous, even if it is death. I loved the author's sense of humour that flowed through their writing. The characters are funny, and there is good banter between them which makes this an easy weekend read. Sometimes you just need to read something that makes you giggle.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC.

The Fifth Horseman has wit, charm, and entertainment all wrapped up with just the right level of dark humour. It's engaging enough not to drag but slow enough to let you enjoy the characters as they navigate this strange new situation they find themselves in.

Emma and Mark engage in some funny banter, and at times Death feels like a tired professor watching his students rip up the syllabus and submit a dance piece for thier final essay. It's a fun relationship that also knows when to throw the punch about the fragility and temporary state of living. Death, the reality, is terrifying for many, and Jon Smith doesn't shy away from that, but instead lets it thread this story together.

The Horsemen were fun and also depressing in the way they really exposed some of the horrors we often think of but fail to realize the shadows they cast, like just how severe starvation and disease are in the world and the boasting of the Horsemen feels like a jab at the system rather than a mockery of the situation which I appreciated.

I found this overall lighthearted and upbeat with quick humour that didn't overstay its welcome. A little over the top at times, but in the way that gave me sitcom vibes in the good way. Mark has some lines I was less fond of towards Emma which felt a bit tired and old but I also feel Emma was assertive in her boundaries with him.

I think the comparison to Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman is always a gamble. I didn't find as much delight in Death which I think is primarily a Me issue, as Death in Pratchett's books holds such a dear place in pop culture. But the presence of both authors is felt in this story without being overwhelming.

Overall this was a fun ride and I think offers an easy read.

When I saw in the synopsis that this book had that satirical humor that Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy had, I instantly wanted to read this. I was so happy to be given an ARC (Thank you!).

The beginning was great and I think the ending really sold the entire concept. Some parts in the middle get a little muddled. I liked how Time was represented in the book because it was even hard to figure it out throughout the entire book how long they had be "dead" and how that was just a reference to the whole Time is just a human invention. One thing I wished that had been flushed out a little more was the characterization with the romance subplot of this book. I felt like the ending was a bit rushed and that although you saw they had a great friendship, you didn't get to see the budding romance aspect as well. It felt like it was kind of just plopped into the story to make a certain audience interested. I think the two were a great match, they were humorous and I think they really made this book but that one aspect just needed a little more attention. The overall characterization was amazing and I love the talk of Money controlling the world as a plot point.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys books like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or someone who has a morbid sense of humor.

This kind of made me feel like this was BBC show. It was cute and insightful. I am glad I am read it especially with some of the thoughts on death. I wouldn't pin it as a comic fantasy. I would pin it as thoughtful fantasy. I didn't feel like there was much comedy. Overall, I enjoyed the book.

It did lie heavily on some tropes that I will not reveal.

-Copy given through netgalley-

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book and give my opinion of it.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It was a very easy read. The humour is on the darker side but not to the extent it’s distasteful. I found myself laughing as the characters were reacting and saying things I know I would be thinking myself.

This book also didn’t shy away for the harder realities of death and I felt it dealt with these with a good balance of humour and empathy.

5 stars from me and I would happily recommend this book to family and friends.

This is a fun and heart warming read. Of course the characters being from my home city helped a lot. I enjoyed the references to places I frequent a lot. This book managed to deal with some heavy emotions and issues whilst putting it in a more light hearted way.

This was a beautiful satirical piece, made better by the fact that it was set primarily in Liverpool which meant I could really see the streets and locations. I loved the characters and the dry humour.

4.5★s
The Fifth Horseman is the first adult novel by award-winning screenwriter and best-selling British children’s author, Jon Smith. When Emma and Mark fall off the Royal Liver Building, they would have died, but for Death on his pale horse scooping them up before they hit the ground. And that is due to some cheap, clearly shoddy hourglasses. So here they are, at Death’s quaint little white pebble-dash cottage, on the wrong side of the River Styx.

Emma had been ending it all, and her flatmate Mark was trying to save her when they fell. Now, Emma wants to be dead, and Mark doesn’t. It’s all academic anyway: Charon refuses to ferry them across, because a. body and soul, they’re too heavy and b. they don’t have a gold coin to pay him.

While Death tries to rectify things with the hourglasses, his assistant, Veronique explains how overworked he is. Death is tired and under a lot of stress “More people die, and he has less time to find the ones who are worth his reaping.” She’s organising a party to cheer him up, so soon enough, War, Pestilence and Famine arrive for the festivities.

While Pestilence and Famine complain about the state of affairs: medical advances, new technologies, well-digging and crop growth are reducing their own impact, War feels things have never been better, although she’s soon in for a bit of a surprise: treaties and agreements, who would have thought?

Veronique suggests that if Emma and Mark give Death a hand, maybe he will be persuaded to find a way to help them die (Emma) or have a second chance at life (Mark). Death reluctantly acquiesces: “Your success will be my success, and your failures will be your failures”, something with which Emma is too familiar in the job she just lost.

They go into training to become reapers. Scythemanship, horsemanship, sandmanship (management of hourglasses), anatmanship (reassembling spirits post-scything) are all studied or practiced. Eventually, Emma is riding a fine stallion (Princess Die) while Mark gets around on Stormrider (his Shetland pony, see cover art) and they’re getting a lesson from Death on how to make a tear in the veil between the worlds: they are apprentice grim, bringing in a set quota of souls on a trial basis.

One tiny complication is that, just before their fall, Mark confessed his undeclared love for Emma, and he hasn’t abandoned hope that they might live out their lives together. He feels they are a good match, each bringing their unique talents to their encounters with the spirits of the dead, be they sad, angry or disbelieving, acquiescent or resistant, argumentative, bent on delay or escape: between them, they seem to have it covered.

Will they manage to put themselves in Death’s good books, and what then?

There’s plenty of laugh-out-loud humour in this tale: Mark’s inner monologue and candid comments are often hilarious. “He was an organiser. A list writer. It wasn't on his radar if it wasn’t scrawled on a Post-it note. Plunging off a tall building and hurtling towards the street whilst embracing his roommate wasn’t even on this month’s additional goals”. The dialogue is often darkly funny, and other little inclusions like Death’s pantry, the Horsemen’s abodes, Charon’s coin tossing and Death’s improvisation with a tractor will likely amuse. A very entertaining read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Balkon Media.

Ever want to take over ferrying people across the river Styx? Then all you have to do is accidentally/on purpose fall off a tall building after declaring your love for someone. Easy peasy.

So in here we have Emma and Mark. Emma was having a really bad day and decided to jump off the building while Mark has been into Emma and tried to stop her. Both went over the edge.

That starts the hijinks of working for death. Death, who just wants to retire and loves the past.

I have to say that parts of this book was much smoother than others. There was a lot of humor yes, but it seemed forced? I am not sure if that is the correct word, but it's what I felt when reading.

I did enjoy this over all and I do want this in audio. I think this is a book made for audio.

The Fifth Horseman had an interesting premise that immediately grabbed my attention. It was definitely a fun reading experience for me. I liked the character's dynamic and the humor is more sarcastic. I laughed out loud while reading it. I understand this book may not for everybody but it will find the right reader for sure.

I liked it, there's echo of Fforde and Prachett, there's a lot of humour and two compelling story.
I laughed, it made me think and ejoyed the story.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

There were so many things that I enjoyed about this book. It was such a fun, funny, and unique story that made something we usually see as sad and depressing, jovial.

I mean this story is so unique and has so many fun and twisted ideas about what death is and what we think the after life will be. This author took all the myths and ideas that we could possibly have ever had and twisted them in such a fun way. I have never read anything close to this hilarity and I had a fun time reading it.

THIS BOOK WORLD IS JUST SO FUN. I mean Charon is just a pure delight and I was so in love with the fact that War was a fierce Amazonian like female and Death was a depressed grump..... Although some of the characters turned out to be villains, I loved them all equally and I enjoyed getting to know all their points of view.

ALSO the start of this book was a very very interesting one and it just sucked me into the story immediately and I couldn't wait to read more. The way these main characters meet the world of death is definitely one that some people might find triggering, but it made a unique start to the book so I appreciated it.

The only thing I had a little issue with is that I feel like the story dragged a little.... It kind of hit a lull in the middle of the book and I had to take a couple breaks in order for me to continue.

BUT... the ending was so cute and what I hoped for for the entire book!

Overall, I did really enjoy the book, the book world, and its characters, but I just wish it was maybe more exciting all the way through.

<b>the cover:</b> drew me in immediately- perfect depiction of a dark humor book… and look at that cute little pony!!!
<b>FMC:</b> Emma- we enter this book with Emma ready to take her life. As a 30-something with an unfulfilled life, a boatload of debt, and a dead-end job that takes her for granted she longs for a purpose- will she find one in her afterlife?
<b>MMC:</b> Mark- after some attempts at talking Emma off the ledge… literally… he instead pushes them both to their death. Except they don’t quite die. They offer to help Death by agreeing to reap souls in exchange for a second chance but those second chances look very different for Emma and Mark. Will they find common ground? Will they get their second chance?
<b>POV:</b> 3rd person, multiple perspectives
<b>HEA:</b> yes
<b>spice:</b> there are a couple fade-to-black or suggestive scenes, but this book does not focus on a true romantic relationship, so they are very minimal
<b>TWs:</b> death, suicide (multiple characters, nongraphic), murder, child death (nongraphic)
<b>standalone?:</b> yes
<b>final thoughts</b>: Death, Veronique, Charon, and the Four Horsemen were funny, interesting, and were very interesting to read. They were great side characters (and we get most of their POVs at different times throughout the book) that added different layers to this novel. I loved nearly everything about this book except a few concepts that were introduced toward the end (I’ll block the spoilers below if you want to read)

<spoiler>Mark confessed his love for Emma basically on page 1, she was very clear this was not reciprocated yet he mentioned it in almost every chapter until the end. It felt like we were beating a dead horse (pun intended? 😜)</spoiler>
<spoiler>after an entire book of denying her feelings, making Mark feel bad for expressing his feelings, and saying she just wants to stay alone she then turns around and expresses <b>her</b> love for <b>him</b>??? I was so confused but I guess if you want a HEA this is the easiest way to do it</spoiler>

read this book if you love
☠️ depictions of Death/the afterlife
😆 dark humor
⚔️ adventure
🔮 fantasy/magical elements
😈 supernatural characters

My cheeks hurt from smiling through this delightful book. This one kept me hooked and entertained until the last page…

The Fifth Horseman introduces us to Emma and Mark, who become Death's accidental assistants. Follow along as they learn the skill of reaping the dead, while contemplating their own (late) mortality. This book was a fun little tale and I would definitely read another book by this author.

Jon Smith swings for the fences with The Fifth Horseman, and from the cutting critique of the odds stacked up against millennials, he swings a scythe.

Of course there is a long legacy of interpretations and personifications of “Death” as a character in all kinds of fiction. Smith’s portrayal of the character seems most closely related to that of Terry Pratchett in the almost universally popular series Discworld (the premise of becoming Death’s assistant recalls Pratchett’s own Mort!). In a few instances, I think Smith even references Pratchett by having the character speak in all-caps, but it is not kept up consistently.

We also experience some very Good Omens style horseman of the apocalypse, and one very clumsy Ancient Greek boatman, Charon. Our two main characters, Mark and Emma, run around reaping souls in Death’s stead, gathering tid bits of moral philosophy before hauling the deceased off to The Great Beyond. If you’ve ever played an Assassin’s Creed game, the format will feel very familiar to you.

I was at first intending to decry these structures as derivative and unoriginal, but as I continued to think about The Fifth Horseman after two or three days from finishing (always a good sign), it occurred to me that these things — while fun — where not really the core of Smith’s work. They may have been the stones mixed into the cement used to pebble-dash the walls but they were not the home within.

That home was the trials of our two protagonists and the judgements they faced on nearly every step along their journey in the afterlife as well as Smith’s answer to all the arguments millennials are tired of hearing. Interestingly, these answers are not always rebuttals necessarily.

For the last part of this review, I’ll talk about the humor. There are a few good laughs in this book, but I think I was hoping for more. I’m American, and many of the jokes seemed to involve English places and events so perhaps I just wasn’t connected to them in the way someone from the UK might.

Given its comic lens, and the characters it seemingly shares with Discworld and Good Omens, The Fifth Horseman feels like a natural successor to Terry Pratchett. Reading it with this expectation will be a disappointment for you, and a diservice to the book itself.

Instead, consider the problems and anxieties laid bare within the text. How does Smith try to play the hand delt to millennials? Do you agree with his interpretations? These are the questions that make reading The Fifth Horseman a fun and engaging read.

The fifth horseman was entertaining with wonderfully deadpan, British humour. The personification of death, war, pestilence and famine was well done. Emma and Veronique were by far my favourite characters though I enjoyed Mark’s outlook on life. A light hearted and introspective read. I did feel at some moments there could have been a little more showing rather than telling through dialogue but even with that I enjoyed the book and story as a whole and would read books by this author again.

We first meet Emma atop a dome high above Liverpool. You see she has decided to end it all by jumping to her death. But wait, her flatmate, Mark, has come to rescue her, while also declaring his love for her. One teeter later and they are both plunging to the ground and certain death. But they are caught by a mythical figure mid-fall. It is Death, The Fifth Horseman, complete with boney visage, huge scythe, and a pale, flying horse.

It appears a technical issue is preventing them from crossing over into the land of the dead. Death lets them stay at his house while he tries to find a solution. In the meantime, perhaps they can lighten Death’s load by becoming his unofficial assistants.

The Fifth Horseman is a fun comic romp through mythological fantasy. I enjoyed the plot but in particular the characters a lot. You meet all four of the horsemen (though War is a woman) and Charon, the boat keeper. All of them are tired, otherworld-weary, and having a bit of an existential crisis. It makes for many comic moments but also encourages pondering some deeper issues.

Overall, I loved The Fifth Horseman. It was refreshingly different from my usual reads. 5 stars!

Thanks to Balkon Media and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

3.5 ⭐️
This book was a completely different genre to what I usually read , but it still made an okay read.
The whole concept of death & the afterlife was interesting & the wit of the characters regarding those topics added to that.
Although, I was expecting slightly more dark humour that what was given based
*see TW*

The Fifth Horseman is a quirky lightly humorous fable about life/death/friendship and fate by Jon Smith. Released 7th Feb 2023, it's 321 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is an unusual take on the afterlife. The author goes to pains to include the quintessential archetypes: Death, Charon, Cerberus, and the other personifications (War, Famine, and the other boys in the band) and sprinkle in some modern twists, including a French domestic helper named Veronique. Dropped into the middle of the Limbo afterlife party uninvited are Emma, who's chosen to be there, and Mark who was just trying to do a good deed and save Emma's life, and failing rather spectacularly.

The humour is mildly funny, but not overly so. The plot is quite meandering and I didn't find any profound insights along the way. There's a modicum of Benny Hill(ish) slapstick, but much of it is rather exhausted and trite, like giving hapless Mark a pale horse to ride in the form of a Shetland pony. There is a lot of suicide ideation, death (obviously), along with a surprisingly satisfying denouement and resolution. Spelling and vernacular are British English, but won't pose any problems in context for readers from North America.

Three and a half stars. Comparing this book to Pratchett, Gaiman, and (checks blurb) Aaronovitch does the book a huge disservice. This isn't them and suffers by comparison.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.