I essentially agree with everything people are saying, and I like Guards! Guards!, but keep in mind that we all read The Colour of Magic first because that’s what came out (and, as Chronos explains, it is not “the worst”. If you do not like parody and satire of fantasy novels, or if you have never even heard of sci-fi/fantasy at all so that none of it will make sense, then this may not be the series for you.)
You’re arguing with the Librarian? Ook!
These days people are ignoring my advice even if I add a ;).
I wonder if @colinfred got half the jokes in Discworld.
FWIW I read Good Omens but many many years ago.
I always give my students “Guards! Guards!” or “Wyrd Sisters” as starters. Then a good early stand-alone like “Moving Pictures.”
Besides Good Omens, there are a few other less well-known Discworld books, like The Unadulterated Cat.
I bounced hard on several tries to get into Discworld, until this year when I tried Wyrd Sisters, that one did the trick and then I read all the other Witches books, then the Guard, and then assorted others ( I added a star to my review of Unseen Academicals due to the presence of the great Dengo Macarona).
I definitely do not recommend the color of magic or anything with too much Rincewind on it, but that can be personal, I can’t stand that kind of characters (Rincewind, Flashman, Jalan Kendeth of the Red Queen War series), I don’t much enjoy the point of view of the idiotic and cowardly.
It’s been years but I remember Moving Pictures being one of my least favorite ones. The parody was too on the nose.
My first Pratchett book was the non Discworld Discworld book Strata, which I definitely would not recommend. The I read The Last Continent which I liked even if it confused the hell out of me. Then I started reading in order. I know the books he satirizes in The Color of Magic so I like it more than most people do.
But my less than optimal reading order didn’t make me love Discworld any less. And I agree with Guards Guards as a good starting point.
(Just looked at my signed copy of Monstrous Regiment. Signed by the master himself.)
Coincidentally, I too just started a DW re-read.
When I first picked the series up years ago, I started with Colour of Magic. I do think it’s one of the weaker ones, but it didn’t deter me. And then it only got better. The Luggage really did a lot of the heavy lifting.
I think my favorite non-DW Pratchett is the Truckers series. It’s not Discworld, but really captures his talent and humor.
Well, yeah, that’s its job.
Same. I consider it the point where Pratchett first found his voice, moving away from the outright parody of the early DW books into humanist-tinged satire that characterizes his best books.
Another vote for Pyramids. I also liked Unseen Academicals although Raising Steam was horrendous. Going Postal, the first of the Moist novels, is another great read.
The only one so far where the Movie is better than the book.
Samwise Astin was quite a help also.
I have a little stuffed camel named You Bastard.
I did like Pyramids at least well enough for a couple of re-reads. The only downside is the fact that it gave some fan the idea to start calling Pratchett “Pterry,” and it caught on.
I considered that naming a character Ptraci was a pretty good one-off joke, but that’s all it was, a one-off. It didn’t need to be run into the ground, like an exploding penguin atop a telly in a Monty Python sketch.
nm. Conflicting information.
Got to go against the flow here and say start with The Colour of Magic. Even just starting out and doing broad parody, Pratchett was funnier than any other contemporary writer not named Adams. I feel like those early books lay a groundwork for what comes after and one would appreciate them even more having read the starting ones.
I personally started with Equal Rites, which I loved, then jumped to TCOM.
Got to disagree. It’s about 75% Pratchett, 25% Gaiman, I’d say.
I’ve heard Pratchett and Gaiman say, in interviews, that the parts of Good Omens that everyone thinks were Pratchett were actually Gaiman, and vice-versa.
I don’t have a photographic memory of books I read decades ago like some seem to have but my general feeling is that the early books were more laugh out loud funny and they got more clever, insightful and just plain better as they went along. Being “just” funny isn’t a bad thing.
Every now and then I think about getting a full set of the books and starting over but the cost makes me pause.