Terry Pratchett' Discworld Books

[BrainGlutton]

@Twoflower

You’ll find quite a few dopers with Diskworld-derived user names.

I’ve seen that asserted, but I’ve never seen any actual examples.

[BrainGlutton]

@Trinopus

I’m trying very hard to avoid them, in fear that I’ll become addicted and have to read the whole series.

But I did read “Thud” and “The Fifth Elephant” and enjoyed them hugely. So…I’ve had two drinks so far and am not an alcoholic…er…yet.

Trust me, it’s too late. I was given a free copy of Equal Rites in my goody-bag at Nolacon II in 1988.

Addicted on one hit, I tell ya!

@Trinopus

What’s the name of the book where Pratchett explores the cosmology – the giant turtle – in the most detail? I do want to read that one.

Probably The Last Hero.

[DZedNConfused]

@gaffa

I Shall Wear Midnight has the single best bit of writing in Terry’s long career, and I can’t imagine anyone skipping them. I haven’t re-read it in a year or so, and I have goosebumps rising on my arms, a lump forming in my throat and tears gathering in my eyes via the sense memory of the first time I read it. I don’t want to quote it for fear of stealing that experience from anyone who has yet to have it.
*
What was it that Granny Weatherwax had said once? “Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things.” And right now it would happen if you thought there was a thing called a father, and a thing called a mother, and a thing called a daughter, and a thing called a cottage, and told yourself that if you put them all together you had a thing called a happy family.*

Oh yes! I love that book. It is one of the most poignant things I’ve ever read. If I can only be half as wise as Granny, I’ll be satisfied.

I enjoyed Only You can Save Mankind too. It was a bit rough, since it’s an older book, but it was a lot of fun to read even as a 48 year old.

[Ruby]

Oddly, I just started the Discworld books after a recommendation from my stepson. I decided to read them in order. I’ve only read the first 3 then took a break to read other stuff. Enjoyed it so far.

[silenus]

The first three aren’t really the Disc. More like the dress rehearsal for the Disc. Things really don’t take serious shape until Wyrd Sisters or Guards! Guards! Even Mort is not quite jelled Disc, IMO. Once you get to Small Gods it’s fully formed, and with Night Watch Pterry commits Literature.

[MrDibble]

@DZedNConfused

I enjoyed Only You can Save Mankind too. It was a bit rough, since it’s an older book, but it was a lot of fun to read even as a 48 year old.

The later Johnny Maxwell books (Johnny And The Dead, Johnny And The Bomb) are even better. I don’t know why people I know, who claim to love Pratchett, never read those (or the Bromeliad or the Sci Fi standalones). I love them.

[Rick_Kitchen]

Small Gods is my absolute favorite. The story is amazing, and there are tons and tons of cynical quotes that I like to pepper my conversations with.

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rats is glorious.

[Namkcalb]

Here’s a reading order guide.

I’d start with Guards Guards from the Watch series,
Though, if you are a fan of pulp sword and sorcery, you’ll really love Rincewind
Fairytale/Folklore lovers would really enjoy the Witches series, starting with Equal Rites.

I’d leave the Death series 'til later as they reference a lot of the other novels. (Plus, they start with Mort, his weakest book)

[MrDibble]

I run counter to received wisdom: Start at The Colour of Magic, read in published order.

Then again, I think Rincewind is the greatest character ever created in fantasy fiction, so I’m biased.

[DZedNConfused]

@MrDibble

I run counter to received wisdom: Start at The Colour of Magic, read in published order.

I agree, that book sets the scene and introduces you to the world and a lot of the characters, especially Death. But mostly because it has The Luggage.

Not to start anything, but Small Gods is the weakest book, in my opinion

[Octarine]

@DZedNConfused

Not to start anything, but Small Gods is the weakest book, in my opinion

You wanna fight?! You wanna?! Cause I can . . . wossname . . . falls to floor

Anyway, huge Discworld fan over here. My favorites are probably The Truth, Interesting Times, The Fifth Elephant, Feet of Clay, and Wyrd Sisters. I was pretty much raised on them - when I was five I remember listening to the audio version of The Amazing Maurice on repeat and, for some strange five-year-old reason, being convinced it was nonfiction. The best part of the series is the interconnectivity of it all; you read a random book and the main character briefly encounters a person who was the main character of the last book you read. You can get inside everyone’s heads, see the world from all perspectives. Plus, vegan vampires.

[InfernoOrangeSS]

@MrDibble

I run counter to received wisdom: Start at The Colour of Magic, read in published order.

Then again, I think Rincewind is the greatest character ever created in fantasy fiction, so I’m biased.

I agree with you on this. I love when Rincewind makes an appearance! I’m also a huge fan of Moist.
(Reading in published order just made the most sense to me, though I don’t fault those who read them in series fashion.)

[MrDibble]

@DZedNConfused

Not to start anything, but Small Gods is the weakest book, in my opinion

Weaker than, say, Eric (my least-favourite Discworld book - it reads a bit like a Craig Shaw Gardner work, and he’s just absolutely shite.)?

[CandidGamera]

Been reading them in published order, myself, though a misordering of my pending stack resulted in Small Gods jumping the queue. I have to say, it and Guards, Guards (the last one I’ve read) are my two favorites thus far.

[Novelty_Bobble]

@gaffa

I Shall Wear Midnight has the single best bit of writing in Terry’s long career, and I can’t imagine anyone skipping them. I haven’t re-read it in a year or so, and I have goosebumps rising on my arms, a lump forming in my throat and tears gathering in my eyes via the sense memory of the first time I read it. I don’t want to quote it for fear of stealing that experience from anyone who has yet to have it.

Agree, it is a fabulous book. IMHO Terry Pratchett is one of those rare people in serious literature (and it is serious literature) in that he creates many, many female characters that eschew stereotype and display worth, depth and power.

If there is a Bechdel test for literature then Pratchett passes it without even trying.

[silenus]

Rincewind? Pah! The determinant factor as to whether the book is run-of-the-mill Pratchett (excellent) or great Pratchett (superb) is if Greebo is there. Secondary factor is Angua or the Librarian.

[Reno_Nevada]

@RealityChuck

I read them in published order, mostly because I started when he only had the first two published

…(I’m also considering Tom Holt in that genre, but so far I haven’t found anything that quite reached the level of Discworld).

I also started with, I think, *Equal Rites *and read the rest as soon as I could find them–for years I was ordering the British editions as they came out, since the US editions lagged by a year or two.

As is shown by this thread, all Pratchett fans agree that some of the books are better than average, and some are not as good as the average–but no Pratchett fans agree on exactly which are the best and worst.

Don’t forget Good Omens, the Pratchett/Gaiman collaboration. For a long time it was better than anything either had done on their own.

And, regarding Tom Holt, read *Goatsong *and *The Walled Orchard *if you can get your hands on them. Those are the books where Holt committed Literature. Nothing else by him that I have read have even come close.

[Reno_Nevada]

@Novelty_Bobble

If there is a Bechdel test for literature then Pratchett passes it without even trying.

I had not thought of it this way before, but *Equal Rites *is probably the first Pratchett book that would pass the literary Bechdel test.

[MrDibble]

@Reno_Nevada

I had not thought of it this way before, but *Equal Rites *is probably the first Pratchett book that would pass the literary Bechdel test.

First Discworld book. I don’t have them in front of me, but Strata would pass (especially if we consider Silver to count as a female character for the test but even if not). And Truckers would too, from what I recall (Oh, wait, that’s after ER, never mind).

[DZedNConfused]

Mmm… **Eric **was definitely not as well crafted as Small Gods, but I would be willing to read it again, whereas Small Gods will languish on my shelf til doomesday.

I know the Whacha Reading Thread participants panned Snuff but I loved it. That one will be reread until it falls apart.