# Does Pratchett ghostwrite?? (or) Noticed that his writing style fluctuates from book **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-pratchett-ghostwrite-or-noticed-that-his-writing-style-fluctuates-from-book/235934 "2004-03-23T17:25:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-pratchett-ghostwrite-or-noticed-that-his-writing-style-fluctuates-from-book/235934/61 "2004-03-29T11:49:14Z")
> [@TOTBP](#): > > I’m very interested in picking up a Terry Pratchett novel to read sometime. I have a few questions though. Since I tend to be a completist, is there any particular order to the _Discworld_ books (aside from publication date)? And, how important, if at all, is it to read them in a particular order? > > The local bookstore only has one copy each of two Discworld novels - The Fifth Elephant and Reaper Man. Books either someone ordered and didn’t pick up, or extra copied the store got with someone’s order. The Discworld series is not really a series in the traditional sense; the only thing _all_ the books have in common is that they’re set on the same planet. Within the series are several sub-series dealing with different sets of characters, and several “one-off” books with characters that do not appear in any other books. It’s helpful, but not necessary, to read the sub-series in order. The only books that really need to be read together in order are the first two, _The Color of Magic_ and _The Light Fantastic_. That’s not only because they’re stylistically different from the rest of the series but because they’re really two volumes of the same story. _The Color of Magic_ ends with a literal cliff-hanger that is resolved at the beginning of _The Light Fantastic_. But you can worry about reading those later. First things first. _The Fifth Element_ comes very late in the Sam Vimes/Ankh-Morpork City Watch sub-series, while _Reaper Man_ comes fairly early in the Rincewind/Wizard sub-series. It also prominently features Death (that’s _the_ Death, you know, the Grim Reaper), the only character who appears in all the books. So you’re probably better off starting with _Reaper Man_ although personally I think _The Fifth Elephant_ is the better book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-pratchett-ghostwrite-or-noticed-that-his-writing-style-fluctuates-from-book/235934.md?page=3)