In my opinion, the series really gelled when Ridcully entered the picture. That was when Pratchett figured out his characters’ personalities.
Small Gods or Mort would be the best to read next, I think. I don’t think that Moving Pictures was that good, and am surprised to see how many people did enjoy it. Small Gods and Night Watch, on the other hand, are books that made me glad I could read.
Personally, I’ve got this thing about always reading series in publication order, so I started with The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic. Having done so, though, I can say that if you don’t have a hang-up about reading in order like I do, you really can start almost anywhere in the series. And if you do have a hang-up about it, be prepared to read three or four books in before you give up, because they do definitely get better.
That said, I would not recommend starting with Pyramids. It rather fell flat with me, and I think that I actually liked the first two books better.
Oh, and for those keeping count, Ridcully first appeared in Moving Pictures. But to understand precisely what’s going on in the climax of that book, it helps (though it’s not essential) to have an understanding of certain aspects of the underpinning of Discworld wizardry, which can be found in Equal Rites and Sourcery.
Nifty chart, but it leaves me a bot 
confused about something: I was under the impression that the books it labels “Science Novels” were nonfiction (and were essential reading only for science nerds). Was I wrong?
TCoM was pretty meh, but for some reason I liked The Light Fantastic a lot more. Can’t really remember why…
I just want to make a note that if someone is reading the city watch series, be sure to read Thief of Time before Night Watch. The events of the former basically precipitate the latter and work together marvelously, in my opinion.
Nope. I found them tedious in the extreme.
I’ve read about half the books. I’ve just received the other half from Amazon. (Although I inadvertently ordered five duplicates, which I’ll send back.) Except for Reaper Man and Witches Abroad, which I read first, I’ve read the ones I have in order of publication. I’ll read this next batch the same way.
I blame Shayna and Spiny Norman. They gave me the first two books one Christmas. (Though I read Good Omens back in the '90s.)
Aren’t good friends wonderful? 
Indeed, they are. 
My personal two cents is that I prefer City Watch to Witch stories and that those stories dealing with DEATH the character,are even lower down on my scale of appreciation,but even the worst books that Pterry brings out are totally works of genius.
And thats all I have to say.
Coincidentally I’ve just gotten back into the Discworld series after reading CoM and tLF years ago. I wasn’t particularly put off by them but I got sidetracked. After reading a few more into the series, I think the first two weren’t necessary but it is nice to have that bit of back story about what octarine is and why the number eight is so significant to wizards.
You mean 7a don’t you?
They’re *half *science popularisation (non-fiction) and half Discworld framing story (fiction, featuring the UU faculty, HEX and various historical earth settings). I enjoy them, but I can’t say what someone who uses the expression “science nerds” would think of them.
Thanks, everyone. I’m enjoying all of the replies, & I’ve even understood some of the references.
I’m about halfway through COM (I’d be done if I didn’t have some other books going right now), and I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit so far. If the other ones are significantly better, I think I must be in for a great time.
Quick question: Is the game the Gods are playing supposed to be of the RPG variety?
I want to thank everyone who suggested starting elsewhere in the series, after I found CoM underwhelming. I’m about halfway through Guards! Guards!, and after the first few pages, I could tell it was miles funnier than CoM.
For years I listened to people say how funny Pratchett was and assuming that CoM was typical, I could only marvel at the apparent differences in taste. But now I see my mistake was relying on too small a sample of the Pratchett ouevre.
And now I’ve got dozens of funny Pratchett books to read!