# A zillion people tell me I should read Terry Pratchett **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101 "2016-08-17T18:22:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/1 "2016-08-17T18:22:49Z")
Ok, where do I start? What’s his funniest? Is that different from his best? If so, what’s that? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/2 "2016-08-17T18:31:10Z")
Have you seen the thread [What should be my next Discworld book?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=801641) that’s going on simultaneously with this one? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/3 "2016-08-17T18:38:03Z")
I believe that I have read The Color of Magic, Guards! Guards!, and Reaper Man. Of those three, Guards! Guards! is the only one I have some memory of. Really, I’d suggest reading Good Omens. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/4 "2016-08-17T18:58:48Z")
I actually started with _Reaper Man_, which works fine as a stand-alone. _Small Gods_ is also a stand-alone and one of his funniest. _Guards! Guards!_ introduces you to the Night Watch series and has some pretty funny moments. _Wyrd Sisters_ introduces the Witches, who are some of my favorite characters. His later books focus less on comedy and more on characters, but are still funny. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/5 "2016-08-17T19:01:12Z")
Small Gods was the first for me and still a favorite. It’s a good standalone as it occurs mostly in a separate setting than the other story lines. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/6 "2016-08-17T19:03:50Z")
Guards! Guards! is a great starting point. Really though I like the Watch books better than any other books, mainly because of the characters, especially Vimes. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/7 "2016-08-17T19:05:06Z")
> **[Tiffany Aching](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiffany_Aching)** > > Tiffany Aching is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's satirical Discworld series of fantasy novels. Her name in Nac Mac Feegle is Tir-far-thóinn or "Land Under Wave". > Tiffany is a trainee witch whose growth into her job forms one of the many arcs in the Discworld series. She is the main character in The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, I Shall Wear Midnight and The Shepherd's Crown. Tiffany grows up over the course of the series, from nine years old in The Wee Free Men to bei... These are his best. Then there’s _The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents ._ Those are both YA and ease you gently into the world of richly done characters and bad puns. The problem is that _The Colour of Magic_ (and The Light Fantastic) altho hilarious and the first books in the series, were written as parodies of Fantasy literature. Later (and it is much argued which\*) the series \*became \*great fantasy Literature. Read either and you dont have to worry about starting in the middle. If you like them (altho they are a tad juvenile) then start at the beginning. \*_Witches Abroad_ is my vote, but… ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/8 "2016-08-17T19:06:14Z")
Another vote for Good Omens. Although it’s a collaboration with Neil Gaiman, the style of the whole book is very Pratchett and it’s one of the top ten, possibly the absolute best, books I’ve read. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/9 "2016-08-17T19:16:41Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Another vote for Good Omens. Although it’s a collaboration with Neil Gaiman, the style of the whole book is very Pratchett and it’s one of the top ten, possibly the absolute best, books I’ve read. Very true and a great choice. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/10 "2016-08-17T19:21:12Z")
I would say they are all good, just don’t expect perfect consistency of characters with the very first books. Vimes in Guards! Guards! is very different than he is in Night Watch. Not due to character growth, but due to a change goals of the author. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/11 "2016-08-17T19:24:37Z")
The books I use to hook students are **Guards! Guards!** , **Wyrd Sisters** and **Good Omens.** ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/12 "2016-08-17T20:35:56Z")
Which books are the best or worst are highly idiosyncratic. What I like and what you like are quite different. Also, don’t listen to friends. All friends recommendations on books to read are crap as far as I can tell. Read some summaries of the books, see if anything interesting pops up. See my posts in the other thread. And whatever you do, don’t ever read the Tiffany Aching books. They are young adult books and are awful. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/13 "2016-08-17T20:39:22Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > And whatever you do, don’t ever read the Tiffany Aching books. They are young adult books and are awful. I have been reading the Tiffany Aching and quite enjoying them. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/14 "2016-08-17T20:42:55Z")
My favorites are the Discworld novels that center on Death. This includes _Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music_, and _Hogfather_. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/15 "2016-08-17T21:02:17Z")
Read them from the beginning in order. You might not love some of the early books, but read them anyway. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/16 "2016-08-17T21:05:17Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > And whatever you do, don’t ever read the Tiffany Aching books. They are young adult books and are awful. Don’t listen to this, it’s objectively wrong. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/17 "2016-08-17T23:21:10Z")
Like I said in the other thread, I can only read book series in chronological order. As luck would have it, the first two Discworld books are the weakest. They start as a sort of Bored of the Rings for general SciFi tropes, but by book 3, Equal Rites, Pratchett was finding his voice, and in Book 4, Wyrd Sisters, the rocket boosters kick in. Wyrd Sisters is a pretty good place to start, assuming you’re already familiar with the Scottish Play. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/18 "2016-08-17T23:23:55Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Read them from the beginning in order. You might not love some of the early books, but read them anyway. Do this, at least to start. Or… > [@cher3](#): > > I actually started with _Reaper Man_, which works fine as a stand-alone. …start with Reaper Man. A great book in itself. Terry’s best IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/19 "2016-08-17T23:28:04Z")
For someone just starting off on Pratchett, I would give one of three or four recommendations: If you’re the type (like me) who prefers to read series in order, then start at the first one, _The Color of Magic_. It’s far from the best: It took him a handful of books to really hit his stride. So if you do start here, know that it does get better. If you want to start with the best, then _Small Gods_ is a good choice. Not only is it excellent, but it’s also disconnected enough from the other books (mostly taking place hundreds of years before then) that you won’t be missing out on many connections. The downside is that, because of that same lack of connections, it’s not as clear what to read second. It’s also not as humorous as some of them, but it really doesn’t suffer from that. If you want to start with a few books that fit well with each other, and ease you into the connections to the other books, then the Tiffany Aching books are a good choice, starting with _The Wee Free Men_. If you do this, though, then you really should read the other Witches books before you get too far (certainly, before _The Shepherd’s Crown_, Pratchett’s last work, which will be much less meaningful if you haven’t already read all of the other Witches books). And finally, if you want to start with something that’s completely unrelated to Discworld, and which happens to be uproaringly hilarious, then _Good Omens_ is a good introduction to Pratchett’s style in general (and to Gaiman’s). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/20 "2016-08-17T23:33:20Z")
GMTA. That’s pretty much what I said over in the other thread. Other than the “start at the beginning” bit. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101.md?page=2)