Mort by Terry Pratchett

Mort is the first Terry Pratchett Discworld novel to revolve around Death as the major character and not just running around scaring Rincewind. It follows the education of his apprentice, Mort. The best part of this novel is the exploration and further description of Death's "life".

Some great character's were introduced or further developed, like Alpert and Death's daughter Ysabell. Mort himself grows quite a bit through the novel, and if your characters don't grow in the telling then your don't really have a story. After reading Mort I went on to read 8 other Discworld novels, so be careful this is a gateway book.