# Favourite Discworld book. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459 "2009-10-03T16:55:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/1 "2009-10-03T16:55:52Z")
Vote for your favourite… ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/2 "2009-10-03T17:09:04Z")
Woohoo! _Small Gods_ leads the pack! ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/3 "2009-10-03T17:09:37Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Woohoo! _Small Gods_ leads the pack! For about a second! ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/4 "2009-10-03T17:33:49Z")
Damn hard to choose. I picked Night Watch just because it has such a gripping story, and because I like Vimes. Close seconds: Small Gods, A hat full of sky, and Thief of time. ETA: and Reaper Man. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/5 "2009-10-03T22:01:12Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Damn hard to choose. **I picked Night Watch just because it has such a gripping story, and because I like Vimes.** > > Close seconds: Small Gods, A hat full of sky, and Thief of time. ETA: and Reaper Man. Me too. Same reasons. Vimes is awesome. He’s the man. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/6 "2009-10-03T22:12:22Z")
You forgot Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook! But I’ve read too few and too long ago to be able to vote. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/7 "2009-10-03T22:14:31Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > You forgot Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook! > > But I’ve read too few and too long ago to be able to vote. Was that a ‘standard’ novel? I’ve deliberately excluded the ‘spin-off’ type books, like Science of Discworld and so on. ETA: quotes are intended to convey the fact that I couldn’t think of a better word or name. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/8 "2009-10-04T01:03:54Z")
Glad to see “Small Gods” leading the pack. That was my intro to Discworld and I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a mixed blessing, because the next couple I read, “The Colour of Magic” and “Mort”, were a big disappointment in comparison, so I abandoned the series for several years. Thank Gods that I finally decided to give Discworld another try just last year because I’ve fallen in love with most of the other titles, particularly the City Watch books. “Small Gods” is still my favourite but anything featuring Sam Vimes or Moist Van Lipwig are close runner-ups. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/9 "2009-10-04T01:45:21Z")
Nobody likes my favourite, _Maskerade_. It will be stuck on one vote, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/10 "2009-10-04T01:56:34Z")
> [@Hodge](#): > > Glad to see “Small Gods” leading the pack. That was my intro to Discworld and I absolutely loved it. _Reaper Man_ was my intro to the series, and the one I voted for in this poll. DEATH is one of my favourite characters, and much of what I read in _Reaper Man_ made the rest of the books that much funnier. . ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/11 "2009-10-04T09:39:28Z")
Definitely “Night Watch”. “Small Gods” would be my second choice, followed by a three-way tie between “The Wee Free Men” and “The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents” and “Wyrd Sisters” ---
**Author:** ![Rala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Rala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rala)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/12 "2009-10-04T11:56:53Z")
Don’t make me choose! OK, I choose _Feet of Clay_. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/13 "2009-10-04T12:30:15Z")
**The Truth** (which I have just finished reading). It’s a good take on the standards of modern journalism and the fact that some readers will believe anything because “I read it in the paper”. Second on the list would be **Jingo** , mainly because of this:- _It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone’s fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I’m one of Us. I must be. I’ve certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We’re always one of Us. It’s Them that do the bad things._ ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/14 "2009-10-04T16:42:44Z")
You left off _Nation_, which I thought was rather good for a one-off. I went with _Night Watch_ but I’m surprised that _Lords & Ladies_ isn’t getting more play. Granny Weatherwax is titanic. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/15 "2009-10-04T16:45:39Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > You left off _Nation_, which I thought was rather good for a one-off. It’s not a Discworld book. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/16 "2009-10-04T16:54:26Z")
It would have been a lot easier to choose my favorite half dozen or so Discworld books. 🙂 I went with _Wyrd Sisters_ because I’ve probably read that one the most times. Of all the Discworld books I own, it’s also the one I’m most likely to lend to someone who’s interested in the series. But if the only criteria were which Discworld book do I most enjoy reading, it might as easily have been _Lords and Ladies_, _Maskerade_, _Small Gods_, _Feet of Clay_, _The Fifth Elephant_, or _Night Watch_. I also have special affection for _Soul Music_ since it’s the first Discworld book I ever read. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/17 "2009-10-04T16:59:08Z")
FTR I was very tempted to make it multiple-choice. But I thought people would click too many books and it would get messy. I figured this way we’d be able to establish a clear idea of most popular books (and in doing so give newcomers an idea of which book(s) they should definitely read) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/18 "2009-10-04T17:02:38Z")
Well, I’m a newcomer and have only read 6 or 7 Discworld books so far, but I voted anyway (for _Making Money_, ftr; it was close between this and _The Colour of Magic_). ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/19 "2009-10-04T17:12:07Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > FTR I was very tempted to make it multiple-choice. But I thought people would click too many books and it would get messy. I figured this way we’d be able to establish a clear idea of most popular books (and in doing so give newcomers an idea of which book(s) they should definitely read) _Night Watch_ is in the lead at the moment, and I while I definitely understand why and could easily have voted for it myself, I don’t know that I’d recommend that one to a newcomer. In some ways I can see it being a good first Discworld book, especially for someone who doesn’t read much fantasy, because the time-travel element is the only major fantasy element. Recurring Watch series characters like Carrot, Nobby, Angua, Cheery, etc., also have minimal involvement in the story, so a new reader wouldn’t be confused trying to work out their relationships (or species). But I don’t think someone could fully appreciate _Night Watch_ unless they were familiar with Vimes as a character. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459/20 "2009-10-04T17:37:34Z")
They’re all fun, but I picked _Men At Arms_. All the books from _The Colour of Magic_ to _The Fifth Elephant_ have this goofy Asterix & Obelix feel to them, and _Men At Arms_ captures this best. I’m a big fan of those books that show off Ankh-Morpork the most, too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-discworld-book/512459.md?page=2)