Speak to me of Pratchett, please.

Cafe Society
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[QUOTE=Yumblie]
That’s strange, because I’ve hardly read any fantasy yet I liked Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic.
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That’s generally the point of those who consider the first few Discworld books to be very weak. They’re rather heavy-handed parodies of genre tropes, which makes the books much more in the very broad humor tradition of Harvard Lampoon than the later ones. I’d go so far as to say that The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic are equivalent to Bored of the Rings or Doon with a lot less of a mean-spirited tone. In those books alone (both of which consist of one continued plotline), you have parodies of the Cthulhu mythos, McCaffrey’s Pern, Howard’s Conan, Lieber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and the Friday the 13th TV series. If you’re not familiar with the underlying sources, the obviousness of the parody will bypass you.

I love Pratchett, but the first two books at least are sort of hamhanded.

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I remember when Pratchett was called ‘Douglas Adams without the cynicism’. It was a review on the back of one of the very early books.

I liked CoM and tLF, but I was in my early twenties when they came out and they suited my sense of humour at the time - it helped that I knew just enough of the references to other genres that I felt really clever for getting them. Bored of the rings is a great analogy Jayjay, I loved it in my teens and just found it irritating later on.

The Young adult books are an excellent place to start, for no other reason than they’re stand alone books that introduce the world and some of it’s stock characters in a way that doesn’t require previous knowledge.

My vote is for Hat Full of Sky.

Toi-lutt!

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The earlier books are a quick read. I was usually able to get through them in a day. The later books got thicker and took a little longer to read.
I recently received Going Postal and Thud!, I ordered them used but they were actually new hardback books that weren’t sold. I noticed that GP had some editing errors but Thud! was loaded with them. In one instance Vimes sends Cheery away and a paragraph later Cheery says something. Obviously this wasn’t supposed to be Cheery speaking. It didn’t ruin the story but I did occasionally have to reread a sentence a couple times because of confusion. Did I get a cheap new hardback because they were loaded with errors and maybe were supposed to be sent back? If they need people to proofread Terry’s book, I’d be glad to volunteer. For the greater good, of course.

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I’m also a fan of PT’s work and have been since an early age (started reading them when I was 10) and pretty much followed them through publication order. Personally I’ve experienced a decline in his writing ability over the last 10 or so years and the books he produces now can be very hit and miss.

Jingo - bleurgh
The last continent - BLEURGH!
Carpe Jugulum - good
The Fifth Elephant - very good
The Truth - good
Thief of Time - good
The last hero - bleurgh
Night Watch - bleurgh (although I appreciate I may be in a minority with this one)
Monstrous regiment - possibly his worst book, I couldn’t finish it
Going postal - good
Thud! - very good
Marking money - bleurgh

So it’s not that he’s stopped writing good books, it’s just that they’re not as consistently good as they once were. He also seems to have stopped writing about new concepts/characters (with the exception of Moist von Lipwig) which is a shame as I enjoyed reading about new parts of the Disc or new people. I’m also not entirely sold on how he’s “evolved” the Disc (especially Ankh Morpork) to be a thinly veiled parody of the modern world. I preferred it when it existed in its own right as a medieval fantasy.

So, Sofaspud, I say give them a go - what’s there to lose?

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[QUOTE=TroubleAgain]
Kind of “dark”, though, isn’t it? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE it, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it for a first TP read. I read 'em in (publication) order and loved 'em all (although Hogfather, Eric and Jingo are not high on my list.)
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Small Gods was the first Pratchett book I ever read, and also the first (and so far only) book that, as soon as I finished it, I turned back to the first page and started reading it all over again. It remains one of my all time favorite novels, ever. So I think it’s a pretty good place to get started on the Discworld.

Interesting that you interpret “young adult” as “kiddies.” I mean, what with the word “adult” being right there in the genre’s name. Snark aside, they’re a good place to start in with Pratchett, because they don’t rely on any of the established continuity of the previous DW novels, and represent some of his best writing in the last few years. As near as I can tell, the only reason the Tiffany Aching books are considered “Yound Adult” is because the protagonist is a young girl. In theme and tone, there’s really nothing to set them apart from his regular Discworld novels.

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[QUOTE=Illuminatiprimus]
Jingo - bleurgh
The Last Continent - BLEURGH!
Carpe Jugulum - good
The Fifth Elephant - very good
The Truth - good
Thief of Time - good
The Last Hero - bleurgh
Night Watch - bleurgh (although I appreciate I may be in a minority with this one)
Monstrous Regiment - possibly his worst book, I couldn’t finish it
Going Postal - good
Thud! - very good
Making Money - bleurgh
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This is what I get for going away for Thanksgiving!
To give you a counter-point to the above rankings:

Jingo - Excellent! A story of rising islands, jingoism(natch), Crazed Inventors, Statesmanship and the unifying power of football.

The Last Continent - Latter Rincewind. Takes a number of rereadings to get the full measure of. Not one to start with, that’s for sure.

Carpe Jugulam - Latter Witches. You really need to know the dynamic to enjoy this one. Read the rest of the Witch books first.

The Fifth Elephant - Latter City Watch. Really meaningless unless you’ve read the preceding Watch books.

The Truth - Very good. Can be read whenever you get around to it, as it is a semi-standalone.

The Thief of Time - OK. Original idea and interesting characters, but it never really gelled for me.

The Last Hero - “Let’s bung everybody together for a book.” Not my favorite.

Night Watch - Pterry commits Literature. By far the best book he has ever written. But it must be read after you have gained familiarity with the Watch and Ankh-Morpork.

Monstrous Regiment - If you are a historian, you get the title and plot giveaway at once. Lesser Pratchett.

Going Postal - A great introduction to a new character. Doesn’t really need much set-up preceding it.

Thud! - Disk revisionism. Needs to be read after you have read the Watch books.

Making Money - The further adventures of the characters introduced in Going Postal. Good, but not as good as the first.
I introduce my students to Pratchett by handing them either Wyrd Sisters or Guards! Guards!
Sofaspud, I’d start with Wyrd Sisters and Witches Abroad, read as a set. Then move on to Mort and Reaper Man. Then Soul Music, Hogfather, and Small Gods. After that it’s up to you.

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Late last night I realised I meant Wee Free Men instead of Hat Full of Sky - WFM is the start of the Tiffany Aching subset and was the one that hooked my dad into the discworld series after not liking the ‘adult’ books (he does now, oh yes, I have created a fan).

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Personally I think Sorcery is a great book to start on, although I’m sure a lot of people would disagree with me. But then I like Rincewind a lot, he’s my favourite character. Failing that definitely Wyrd Sisters.

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Sourcery is a great book to start on. Gets right into the Disk and itsworkings without mucking about much.

Rincewind isn’t my favorite character, but on occasion he can be hilarious. Especially in Eric and Interesting Times.

Sofaspud, why don’t you look up some of the “Discworld Reading Club” threads that have been going on in this forum, and see if the discussions move you towards a particular book. Try this one to start.

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I’m rereading Discworld from the beginning right now. My son is about 2 books behind me, eating it up too. Pratchett is goooood.

I’m up to Moving Pictures at the moment.

“Do Deformed Rabbit! My kids love that one…”