# Is there an order I should read the "Diskworld" books in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-order-i-should-read-the-diskworld-books-in/728037 "2015-08-17T01:55:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-order-i-should-read-the-diskworld-books-in/728037/1 "2015-08-17T01:55:26Z")
Basically that’s it. I’ve read Thief of Time, because it was highly regarded in a previous thread. I’d like to read more, but where to start? ---
**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 17, 2015, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-order-i-should-read-the-diskworld-books-in/728037/2 "2015-08-17T02:01:53Z")
The first thing to realize is that Discworld isn’t really one series; it’s several different series all set in the same world. There’s some intersection between the subseries, but they’re mostly disconnected. Within each subseries, you probably want to go in publication order, since they build on previous ones. And you can of course read the whole shebang in publication order, but if you do, be advised that the first two or three aren’t as good as the later ones. [Here’s a handy chart](http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/22600000/Discworld-Reading-Order-discworld-22614060-1280-960.gif). ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-order-i-should-read-the-diskworld-books-in/728037/3 "2015-08-17T02:04:20Z")
Perfect, thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-order-i-should-read-the-diskworld-books-in/728037/4 "2015-08-17T14:12:07Z")
I read them in publication order. (Mort and Sourcerer are easily skipped.) I enjoyed watching the world grow over the course of the books. ---
**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 17, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-order-i-should-read-the-diskworld-books-in/728037/5 "2015-08-17T14:24:24Z")
Ditto, but IMO the ones easily skipped are _Sourcerer_ and _Equal Rites_. ---
**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:** [August 17, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-order-i-should-read-the-diskworld-books-in/728037/6 "2015-08-17T14:29:17Z")
It’s _Sourcery_. But yeah, not his best work. Still got some good jokes in it, though. ---
**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 17, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-order-i-should-read-the-diskworld-books-in/728037/7 "2015-08-17T15:51:36Z")
So you can see how much of an impact the book has - we can’t even be arsed to remember the title! But yeah, comments about the efficacy of a half-brick in a sock were pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-order-i-should-read-the-diskworld-books-in/728037/8 "2015-08-17T17:34:38Z")
I thought _Mort_ was a lot of fun. I listened to the audiobook version, though, so that may have helped. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-order-i-should-read-the-diskworld-books-in/728037/9 "2015-08-17T19:04:18Z")
To me the answer to any similar question regardless of the genre or medium is the order in which it was made. To me Discworld is no different. It’s not because of not understanding what went on before. Most of them can be read on their own without much difficulty. It is mostly because of how much Pratchett grew as a writer as the years went by. It would be jarring to read one of his more maturely written books and then go back to one of his early light parodies. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-order-i-should-read-the-diskworld-books-in/728037/10 "2015-08-17T19:16:49Z")
You may not know if you will like the books if you read just one. Try at least a couple of books from the different sub-series. Order isn’t all that important, if you like them you’ll have the fun of reading them again to pick up the references from preceding books. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-order-i-should-read-the-diskworld-books-in/728037/11 "2015-08-17T19:18:09Z")
Sorry - it was Eric, not Mort that I was thinking of.