What's the best Discworld novel?

Cafe Society
1

I just read my first Discworld novel EVER, and I’m ready to dive in and read as many as I can, but I want to do it with a little more discretion than I usually do. (I generally dive in the middle of a series and “expand” towards the ends.)

Does it matter what order I read the books in? The one I read was Men At Arms, and I really want to read more about Carrot, but I’m not sure what his role is in the series overall. MaA really stood on it’s own, as opposed to some other books I’ve read (even some books that weren’t part of a series, really).

So, Dopers, tell me what I ought to know about Discworld.

2

There are several casts of characters in the books and it’s a good idea to at least read the books concerning each set of characters in order.

The Watch books are (in order)

Gaurds! Guards!
Men at Arms
Feet of Clay
Jingo
Carpe Jugulum
The Fifth Elephant
and Night Watch

My favorite of those is Night Watch, but there’s very little Carrot in that one, it’s mostly about Vimes.

There are also the Witch books (Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, and Maskerade)

The Death books (Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music, and Hogfather)

The Rincewind books (The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Sourcery, Eric, Interesting Time and The Last Continent)

There are a few more (Pyramids, Moving Pictures, Small Gods, the Truth and The Thief of Time) that are more stand alone.

Most of these books have characters that fall into one of the other catagories, but the main characters follow a certain set.

I havn’t read The Last Hero, The Wee Free Men or Monstrous Regiment yet so I’m not sure where these belong.

My favorites are Small Gods, Night Watch, The Truth and The Theif of Time.

3

Yiy, I had no idea I’d read so few of the damn things. I read three over December vacation: Small Gods, Reaper Man, and Sourcery. (I read the non-Discworld Good Omens first.)

I particularly liked Reaper Man. I just liked Death. Small Gods had some strong points too. I’m glad there weren’t any other books handy because as I was getting to the end of Sourcery, it was getting obvious that all the books were structured exactly the same way. If I’d read more, I think most would have blended together in my brain and I’d never know which was which. So my advice is pick a few and don’t overdo it, you’ll enjoy the ones you read more that way.

4

There’s an incredibly overly complicated reading order guide here that at least shows which books have prerequisites.

5

I skipped Wee Free Men on the grounds that the Nak Macfeagal or whatever they’re called are my least favourute characters.

Monstrous Regiment was fun, and relatively standalone, but it would pay to read most of the Watch books first.

6

I particulary liked Wee Free Men but maybe because it was set in the Diskworld equivalent of Lincolnshire Wold where I grew up …

7

Personally, I think for Monstrous Regiment one has to have read most of the previous Watch books, and The Truth in order to understand some bits of it.

My favourite book is Thief of Time…

8

That’s my favorite. Though Carpe Jugulum also stands up there. And the Truth was decidedly different. And Small Gods was great.

Of the earlier works, I think Pyramids stands out.

9

The Last Hero contains most of the characters, but is chiefly a Cohen/Rincewind story. Read it after Interesting Times and The Last Continent.

The Wee Free Men and its sequel, A Hat Full of Sky, are independent stories aimed at younger readers (which means they’re darker and nastier than regular Discworld). However, you should have read at least one Witches novel beforehand to get the most out of it. The other “Young Discworld” bok, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, is completely independent from the series as a whole - although they are namechecked in one of the books.

Monstrous Regiment should be read last, after you’ve read all the regular Discworld books.

10

I personally cannot stand the “Witches” books.
The “watch” books are probably my favourite and I’d recommend reading them (in order).

The Truth and The Thief of Time are both very good and if you are au fait with Australia/Australian culture then the Last Continent is a hoot.

11

Small Gods. The storytelling, the philosiphy, the humour… it’s just a fantastic piece of fantasy. Read it now or give up your rights as a Human Being.

12

If I had to pick one favorite, it would probably be Carpe Jugulum, just because I pretty much am Mightily Oats. (By the way, Odinoneeye, CJ belongs with the Witches, not the Watch.) My favorite subseries, though, is the Watch books.

It’s preferable, but not really necessary, to read each subseries in order. You’ll get more out of the later books if you already know the characters. There are only a few absolute requirements as to reading order: You pretty much have to read Mort before the other Death books to follow the way the character of Death develops. Monstrous Regiment is very slightly a Watch book, but mostly a standalone; I’d recommend reading The Truth first – if I tell you why, it’d spoil one of the best scenes in MR. You need to read as many Watch books as you can get your hands on before Night Watch.

(And how could anybody not like the Nac Mac Feegle?)

13

I’d pick “Small Gods” as the best, but the series about the Watch are also excellent.

14

I dunno, they just rub me the wrong way. It could be that I have a hard time reading their accent, ifyaknowwhatImean. :slight_smile:

I’d have to say that Monstrous Regiment should be read last, as has already been said. My gf was interested in Discworld and I gave it to her to read as it was the only one available at the time; she didn’t like it much since it’s pretty much assumed you know most of the backstory of the Disc from the get-go.

15

Hehe :slight_smile: Yes, you have to imagine a broad Scottish accent. Its hard enough for us in the UK to do this!!

16

Wee Free Men is my favourite - there is some beautiful imagery in that book.

17

One of my favourite characters is Ankh-Morpork, so I’m partial to the Watch books. Men at Arms, Jingo, and Night Watch are the best of the Discworld books in my opinion, even if Night Watch doesn’t have that Asterix & Obelix feel that most do.

18

Er, Ankh-Morpork isn’t a character, its a city. Admitedly, its a city with plenty of character, but its still a city.

19

I know that, but I always enjoy Pratchett’s descriptions of how Ankh-Morpork looks and works and especially smells.

20

I think I like Hogfather the best. I’m a big fan of Death and Susan.