Discworld Recommendations

[Legato]

I was thinking of trying out the Discworld series so is thare any good Discworld books that you could recommend me?

[Surt]

I liked the Guards books the most. Check out 'Men At Arms' and 'Guards, Guards!' but stay away from Monstrous Regiment. I also enjoyed 'The Light Fantastic'.

[GUYANATHUGG]

It's better to read them in order. But I like Soul Music, Thief of Time, Nightwatch and Maskerade. There are also 'mini-series' within the series, which are fun to look out for once you're familar with the characters.

[Inkthinker]

It's actually a very good idea to start with certain books, since later books do carry on chronologically... if you read Night Watch before you read Guards! Guards! you'll end up going backwards in more ways that one.

There are, I believe, four major character subsets: The Witch books, The Watch books, the Death books and the Rincewind books. Then there are also a series of independant, stand-alones that can be read and enjoyed completely separate of the others.

I personally recommend that one start with an independant, my personal favorite being Small Gods. It's an excellent story, it's loaded with the sort of humour that Pratchett does well (simultaneously funny, satirical, and insightful), and it can be enjoyed completely aside from all the other books (in fact, I'm not even positive where in the "timeline" it fits).

Aside from the independants (I'd also recommend Moving Pictures and The Truth, thought the latter does contain a few Watch elements), my favorite subset is The Watch books, which revolve around the adventures of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. I suspect that these are Pratchett's favorites as well, since I think he's done more of these than any others, and the Watchmen have a tendency to pop up in other books often. With these, it's a good idea to start at the beginning, with Guards! Guards!. If you like that, you can move on to the next one, Men At Arms, then Feet of Clay and so on.

If the Grim Reaper is more your speed, big bony fella carrying a scythe and who TALKS LIKE THIS all the time, then the first one of those would be, I think, Reaper Man. Technically Mort comes first, but that's really more of a book about Death's first and last assistant, and not so much Death himself. Reaper Man is a better book anyhow, in my opinion.

If you like witches, the best witches, then you can start with Wyrd Sisters. Again, technically Equal Rites is first, but that's more about Granny Weatherwax, and it was more of an early draft of the character as it's one of the earliest Disc books

Lastly there's the series that Pratchett begain the Discworld with, the Rincwind novels. Rincewind is the worst wizard ever, but he's nonetheless one of the Disc's finest survivors. He can scream for help in 14 languages, and merely scream in an additional 27. He never wastes time look behind him, since it's smarter to pay attention to where you're running, and turning your head is bad for the aerodynamics anyhow. Rincewind also has The Luggage. Everyone ought to have a Luggage. The first Rincewind book is also the first Discworld book, The Colour of Magic and it's sequel The Light Fantastic, both of which are really the proto-Disc novels.

http://www.ie.lspace.org/ is probably the best place to check out everything Disc related... they've got the sort of archive of Disc data that only comes with true, deep-bone fandom.

[Scott Beeler]

http://www.ie.lspace.org/ is probably the best place to check out everything Disc related... they've got the sort of archive of Disc data that only comes with true, deep-bone fandom.

One bit of which is this Reading Order Diagram (http://www.ie.lspace.org/books/reading-order-guides/the-discworld-reading-order-guide-colour-1-25.gif) which illustrates the four major sub-series (moving from left to right) which you mention.

I haven't read many DW books myself. I read the first two back in the depths of time but they didn't really grab me so I didn't continue with the series. Then more recently I decided to try again, and picked up _Small Gods_, for recommendation reasons similar to the ones you gave. Excellent book, and I definitely recommend it to Legato. I'll try more sometime in the future, probably _Guards, Guards_ or _Mort_.

[The Adventurer]

If I was recomending a start order it would be as such...

The Color of Magic (Rincewind)
The Light Fantastic(the fact is, these introduce you to the Disc, period. Yeah, they're not the best but they are short)(Rincewind)
Mort (the first "good" Discworld book, from here on out the entire series is solid gold) (Death)
Moving Pictures (Independent, introduces alot of the status quo of the Disc)
Guards! Guards! (Guards)
Wyrd Sisters (Witches)


After that, pick a "line" you like the most, read the rest of the books from that line. Then move on to another, with maybe an Independent inbetween for good measure.

[Expletive Deleted]

If you're in the mood for one of the series, start with COLOUR OF MAGIC, GUARDS! GUARDS!, MORT, or WYRD SISTERS and continue on down. I'd recommend holding off on COLOUR OF MAGIC until you're well into the series, simply because it's not as good. Same with EQUAL RITES. It's technically the first book in its series, but WYRD SISTERS is a better place to start by several orders of magnitude.

If you just want a "what's this all about, then" book, check out SMALL GODS or MOVING PICTURES.

[Expletive Deleted]

I was particularly bored today, so I thought I'd do a little variation on that chart . . .

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/expletivedeleted/Pratchett2.jpg

[The Adventurer]

Wait, Eric's not illistrated.

[Expletive Deleted]

Yes it is.

They've just been foisting the crappy, non-illustrated version on us here in the States.

[The Adventurer]

Those rat bastards!

[Sanagi]

Small Gods is the one I usually reccomend. It stands alone and it's one of the best DW stories.

[The Adventurer]

Small Gods isn't one of my favorites. I prefer The Truth and Moving Pictures over it in terms of stand alones.

Actualy I'd probibly recoment Monsterous Regiment over it. I loved Monsterous Regiment.

[Josh_G]

I'm Stunned that no one has mentioned the pure Comedy Brilliance that was Going Postal! In my opininion that was probably the funniest one out the whole mess of them, it really shows how a criminal mind can go along way in the government.

"Have you heard about the Fracas on Weaver Street?"
"I heard it was a rumpas."
"I'm afraid it got worse. There was a house on Fire when I left."

Moist Von Lipwig is by far the most memorable Charecter in all of the Disc.

[Donald M.]

There are plenty of good places to start. Any of the starter novels shown in that chart someone posted would likely be a good place to start.

Except maybe The Colour of Magic. I started with that one and it nearly put me off the whole series. It took me two goes to get through it, but when I finally did and got to Light Fantastick I was hooked.

[Beacon]

Wow, that chart is great


Yes it is.

They've just been foisting the crappy, non-illustrated version on us here in the States.

Has the illustrated version ever been out here?



Gah, and to think I was annoyed when I found out the Discworld books got worse covers over here

[Matt]

Outstanding chart.
Well done!

[Inkthinker]

Gah, and to think I was annoyed when I found out the Discworld books got worse covers over here

WHY can we not get Kidby covers here? WHY?!?!!!

I just re-read A Hatful of Sky and Thud. I want Wintersmith noowwww...

[twilight]

Moist Von Lipwig is by far the most memorable Charecter in all of the Disc.

:D

That's quite ironic.

ED how come your chart says Monstrous Regiment is an Ankh-Morpork book?

[Expletive Deleted]

I can't remember my exact logic, but I think it was because of Vimes, de Worde, and company.

[Ontir]

A friend bought me a copy of, and INSISTED I read Moving Pictures, which I read on the bus, and laughed loud enough that people wondered what was wrong with me! It's not only very funny, and highly satirical, but a pretty good history of Hollywood, as well!

I left my heart in Ahnk-Moorpork!

[rric528]

I was thinking about getting the young adult books for my son.

Are they any good and do they "stand alone" for his sake?

Thanks.

[Ghost]

I highly recommend Going Postal and The Last Hero, as both may be my top favourite Discworld book ever. They are followed closely by Thief of Time, Maskerade, Interesting Times, and just about all of the Watch books. (Thump! is bloody amazing.)

[Expletive Deleted]

Are they any good and do they "stand alone" for his sake.I think MAURICE is stand-alone, but I haven't read it.

The others are a series (currently at three books - WEE FREE MEN, HAT FULL OF SKY, and the not-on-my-chart WINTERSMITH) about a young witch-in-training and her various adventures with a bunch of tiny blue Scottish barbarians, but each one does tell a complete story.

[rric528]

I think MAURICE is stand-alone, but I haven't read it.

The others are a series (currently at three books - WEE FREE MEN, HAT FULL OF SKY, and the not-on-my-chart WINTERSMITH) about a young witch-in-training and her various adventures with a bunch of tiny blue Scottish barbarians, but each one does tell a complete story.

Thanks, as long as he dose not need any background on the rest of the series. His birthday is coming up, so I may pick them up for him.

[Acecool]

Small Gods is the one I usually reccomend. It stands alone and it's one of the best DW stories.

That was my first Discworld book.

[Inkthinker]

The Amazing Maurice is completely stand-alone, and highly recommended.

aaaannnd I just realised that I wrote a reply to a message over a year old. Dratted old threads rising from the grave...

[TCJohnson]

I'm Stunned that no one has mentioned the pure Comedy Brilliance that was Going Postal! In my opininion that was probably the funniest one out the whole mess of them, it really shows how a criminal mind can go along way in the government.



Problem is that you do have to be somewhat familiar with Ahnk-Morpork to get all the humor.

Guards! Guards! and Small Gods is usually the best places to start. You don't need much knowledge about the rest of the books to really enjoy them. That is not true of other Discworld books.

[Mort]

I personally started with The Last Continent, and that was enough to draw me in.
I'd agree with Guards, Guards. You get the Watch and its set in Ankh-Morpork.

If you're going to start reading around this time of year, the Hogfather is always an option.

[Jared H.]

I agree with "Guards! Guards!" as a great starting point. "Small Gods" is actually my least favorite book by Pratchett.

[Puma]

I personally started with The Last Continent, and that was enough to draw me in.
I'd agree with Guards, Guards. You get the Watch and its set in Ankh-Morpork.

If you're going to start reading around this time of year, the Hogfather is always an option.

Except with Hogfather some background really helps in the enjoyment. I think Guards! Guards! is an excellent start because it is such an excellent introduction to the City, the Watch, and the Discworld.