# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/41 "2016-08-18T23:50:19Z")
My vote for _Small Gods_. And if you like a little Gaiman with your Pratchett, _Good Omens_, which is a masterpiece of collaborative effort. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/42 "2016-08-19T00:29:19Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Right, as i said the first two or so are fantasy parodies and pastiches. In tone, they are very unlike the later books. Tru dat. Just before he wrote those, there came [Strata](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strata_(novel)) which contains both a kernel of Discworld and a satirical approach to the Ringworld novels by Larry Niven. It took a while before Pratchett found his groove. I seem to recall that I was slightly disappointed by the Colour of Magic as well, but fell (hard) for his writing with Guards! Guards! And Small Gods is definitely one of his best efforts, if not the best. ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/43 "2016-08-19T01:35:55Z")
I also have had people recommend the Disk World books to me, and I have tried several different ones, but I can’t find a way into that world. I have heard that Pratchett is a wonderful writer, but I just can’t get going for some reason. Maybe I don’t read far enough, but you’d think that by, at least, the end of the first chapter, I’d be ‘hooked’, but no such luck. Bob ---
**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 19, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/44 "2016-08-19T01:47:39Z")
> [@urban1a](#): > > I also have had people recommend the Disk World books to me, and I have tried several different ones, but I can’t find a way into that world. I have heard that Pratchett is a wonderful writer, but I just can’t get going for some reason. Maybe I don’t read far enough, but you’d think that by, at least, the end of the first chapter, I’d be ‘hooked’, but no such luck. > > Bob He seems to enjoy writing a few chapters that eschew context and correlation to one another, before opening up with what’s going on and how it all relates. I’m not sure if his average reader enjoys the mystery of the first few chapters, but personally I didn’t care for it much. ---
**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 19, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/45 "2016-08-19T02:58:07Z")
Most of the Discworld books don’t even have chapters at all. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/46 "2016-08-19T03:40:58Z")
The first Discworld book I read was _Making Money_. It remains my favorite, somehow, although I also loved _Reaper Man_, _Hogfather_,\* Small Gods\*, and _Monstrous Regiment_. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/47 "2016-08-19T04:49:01Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Really, I’d suggest reading Good Omens. Or watch the movie Dogma. Same, same. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/48 "2016-08-19T10:48:19Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > Read 'em all. Hell, I even enjoyed _The Carpet People_ (first book, no relation to Discworld). Also Truckers, Diggers and, well, not really Flyers. Sort of childrens books, by identifiable early Pratchett. ---
**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 19, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/49 "2016-08-19T14:01:33Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Or watch the movie Dogma. Same, same. Not even close. ---
**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 19, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/50 "2016-08-19T14:45:50Z")
Thanks folk. I’ve reserved 3 of the titles mentioned here from our elibrary, and I’ll start with whichever becomes available first. Small Gods Guards! Guards! Good Omens ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/51 "2016-08-23T17:43:11Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Thanks folk. I’ve reserved 3 of the titles mentioned here from our elibrary, and I’ll start with whichever becomes available first. > Small Gods > Guards! Guards! > Good Omens If you haven’t already, check out one of the reading guides I mentioned upthread, because _Small Gods_ and _Guards! Guards_ are part of different series in the Discworld canon. \*Small Gods \* is not a starter novel (i.e., the first in a series), but it’s part of a small series, so no big deal. (_Good Omens_ is not part of the Discworld oeuvre at all, so enjoy it whenever you want.) _Guards! Guards!_ is the starter novel of the “Watch” series, so you would do well to follow it with _Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo,_ etc., since the characters and plots of the later novels build on the previous ones. There are several other series (Rincewind, Witches, Death, Industrial Revolution, TIffany Aching), each of which is like a multi-volume novel, in a way. It’s possible to read a novel in the middle of a series on its own, but in most cases there will be references to previous events that you won’t get. Each series focuses on a set of characters that are common to all of Discworld, but will generally appear only in cameos in other series, if at all. The Watch series is a good place to start, because several of its characters – notably Sam Vimes, Sgt Colon, and Nobby Nobbs – show up in the novels of many other series. Knowing who they are makes these appearances elsewhere more meaningful. On the other hand, few of the characters in the Tiffany Aching series show up elsewhere in Discworld. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/52 "2016-08-23T18:07:05Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Really, I’d suggest reading Good Omens. Ugh, no please. This book… I dunno. Maybe I’m just a freak and can’t stand most of Neil Gaiman’s stuff, but I feel like A) Neil Gaiman has great ideas but is a terrible writer and B) Beyond the core premise, he had nothing good to contribute to Good Omens, leading him to essentially dragging Pratchett down. > [@Chronos](#): > > Yeah, about “funny”: The Discworld books are often categorized as “humor”. They shouldn’t be. They’re fantasy stories that often happen to be funny, but if the humor and the story are interfering with each other, it’s the story that wins (except perhaps in the first few). Don’t go in expecting something like _The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy_. Well, as other folks have mentioned, the earlier Discworld books were definitely TRYING to be this. And the latest books were absolutely NOT this. But the books in the middle are where, to me, the real magic happens. They are treatments of real problems, yes, through a fantasy world lens, but they also find the genuine humor in the absurdity of it all. The earlier books are simple flat jokey often not very funny parodies, and the later books become a bit (for me) too heavy, with just a thin varnish of “fantasy” over characters who would be perfectly at home in a novel set in the modern age. The later books have a raw power to them, yes, but they lack the genius of wrapping that in devious humor to help it go down easier that you find in the middle books - this is the place where you get your Men At Arms and Feet of Clay and Small Gods, your Hogfather and Wee Free Men. This is where Pratchett truly shines. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/53 "2016-08-24T00:05:27Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Thanks folk. I’ve reserved 3 of the titles mentioned here from our elibrary, and I’ll start with whichever becomes available first. > Small Gods > Guards! Guards! > Good Omens Enjoy! And, please, keep us posted! Well… at least drop me a note to see whether you liked them 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/54 "2016-08-24T21:55:35Z")
I thought _Small Gods_ was a standalone. I read it that way. I loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Poto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ab992/32.png) [@Poto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poto)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/55 "2016-08-24T22:00:32Z")
Favorite (Pratchett) book: Thief of Time (Discworld) ---
**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 24, 2016, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/56 "2016-08-24T22:21:45Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I thought _Small Gods_ was a standalone. I read it that way. I loved it. It is. It just has…ripples in later books. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/57 "2016-08-24T22:25:06Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I thought _Small Gods_ was a standalone. I read it that way. I loved it. [This reading guide](http://www.lspace.org/books/reading-order-guides/the-discworld-reading-order-guide-20.jpg)says that it follows _Pyramids_ in the Ancient Civilizations series, which consists of those two books. ---
**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 24, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/58 "2016-08-24T22:36:02Z")
That’s more just a reflection of a desire to put things in nice neat categories, than an actual relationship between the two books. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/59 "2016-08-24T22:47:18Z")
Yeah, while _Pyramids_ and _Small Gods_ have some similar elements (desert setting, ancient Discworld history, deals with religion), there’s no continuing plot, no reappearing major characters, and they take place largely in different time periods and different countries. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2016, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101/60 "2016-08-24T23:44:32Z")
Now that I look more closely, the guide says there is only a “minor” connection between them, not a “major” one as between most books in other series. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-zillion-people-tell-me-i-should-read-terry-pratchett/763101.md?page=2)