# What's the best Discworld novel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2004, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127 "2004-01-26T08:15:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/21 "2004-01-26T14:58:47Z")
I would say that **Small Gods** is probably my favorite overall book, but my favorite series are the _Night Watch_ stories. I believe **Men at Arms** is probably the best Carrot story, though. He’s the main focus of **Guards! Guards!** , but after that, he seems to just fall to the background, and it always takes me half a book before I stop thinking “Why did I like this guy so much again?” **Jingo** is a perfect example…the first half of it, he’s just mindnumbingly dull and annoying. But by the end, he picks up the pace. I also really like the Rincewind books, although of the twelve or so books I’ve read, **Erik** has to be the absolute worste discworld book around. Overall, if you liked the one you read, pick up **Guards! Guards!** and follow the rest of the Watch books from there. Carrot started off as one of my favorite characters, but now I just think Vimes is the biggest baddass on the Disc, which makes **Nightwatch** one of my favorites now. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/22 "2004-01-26T14:59:45Z")
Night Watch is my favourite, but you do need lots of backstory. It would be weird without having read _Thief Of Time_ and the rest of the _Guards_ books. I read them all out of order, and I like the later stuff much better. ---
**Author:** ![gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/23 "2004-01-26T15:15:53Z")
_Men at Arms_ is my favourite. The series about the Ankh-Morpork watch is arguably Terry’s best, possibly because it puts him in a slightly more modern element, with Vimes as the cynical, self-righteous commenter on life, death and people, constantly fighting against stupidity and moronic social customs, more so than against crime. It’s also a series where characters and times truly change. Vimes develops from a gruff man of the streets to, well, a gruff man of the streets who knows he must occasionally steep to navigating corridors of politics in the name of seeing justice served. Carrot, while underused, also develops, as does the increasingly human, delightful Patrician. And, of course, the city. The only other book cycle that shows anything close to this type of character development is the witches series. I also thoroughly enjoyed _The Truth_, which is pretty much _MaA_ rewritten, but with a newspaper instead of the city watch. _Small Gods_ is also one of my favourites, in spite of its flaws; it’s about 100 pages too long and riddled by thoroughly unfunny polemic, and boasting only a single memorable character. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/24 "2004-01-26T16:42:11Z")
I dont think Small Gods is one of my favourites, I agree it’s too long, there’s a really boring bit that slows it all down and I dont find religion particularly interesting so maybe that’s why I dont like it much. I like the Rincewind books and the Witches best. The Watch is ok but I get a bit bored of them after a while, espesially Carrot. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/25 "2004-01-26T16:46:11Z")
Hard question. My answer: Whichever one I happen to be reading right now. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/26 "2004-01-26T17:21:32Z")
I’ll go against the grain and recommend _The Color of Magic_. It’s not the “best,” but it’s the first. I had barely heard of Pratchett until I started reading the Dope. So many people seemed to be fans, so I looked into it. The advice I got was that The Color of Magic is not the best or most interesting Discworld book, but since it is the first, it sets everything up nicely. Plus, they get better from there, so there’s a lot to look forward to. After The Color of Magic, I read according to the maps that **Smeghead** linked to. Besides, it has the Luggage. The Luggage is cool. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/27 "2004-01-26T20:48:26Z")
To echo **photopat** there, I can’t pick a favorite Discworld novel – they’re all good! (Yeah, even the early stuff; I got hooked with **The Light Fantastic,** after all) And don’t forget pTerry’s other, non-Discworld stuff, like **Good Omens,** the **Johnny Maxwell** books, and the **Bromelad** trilogy ( **Truckers/Diggers/Wings** ). Can’t really recommend **Strata** or **Dark Side of the Sun** myself, but the ratio of hits to misses is still impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/28 "2004-01-26T21:33:25Z")
I’m a Pratchett neophyte myself. I long procrastinated on starting (after first hearing about these books on the SDMB) because I didn’t know where to start. After receiving good advice from many Dopers, I read _Good Omens_ (not a discworld novel), _Small Gods_, and _Mort_. _Small Gods_ was my favorite of the three. I’ll going to read _The Colour of Magic_ next, for reasons similar to what **Green Bean** states. However, I’m currently waist deep into Neil Stephenson’s _Cryptomonicon_ (600 pages into it, yet only half way through), so it’ll be awhile yet. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/29 "2004-01-26T22:14:35Z")
_Small Gods_ is hands down my favorite DiscWorld novel, and one of the ten best novels I’ve ever read. It’s the only book I’ve ever finished reading and immediately turned back to the first page and started over. Best villain ever, too. In terms of series, the Watch books are probably the best, followed by Death, then the Witches, with Rincewind trailing far, far behind. I can’t help but let out a little groan of disappointement when I hear that the next Disc novel is going to feature Rincewind. They’re still good books, mind, just not nearly as good as the rest. Except for _The Last Continent_. That was just lame. I’d say skip it entirely, except I know that once you’re hooked on Pratchett, you WILL read everything he’s ever written. ---
**Author:** ![Rabid\_Squirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Rabid\_Squirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rabid_Squirrel)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/30 "2004-01-26T22:31:02Z")
The last Watch book with significant amount of Carrot in it was _The Fifth Elephant_. I’m not a big fan of him, he seem to be a 2-D character, but I can’t really think of any other direction Pratchett could write him except for him to be denounced for something. May be in the 60th Discworld book entitled ‘Lets Kill off Carrot’. 🙂 I think Men at Arms was my first too and Feet of Clay seems to be a direct sequel to that, top stuff. My favourite is Pyramids, if only for the parody of the ‘suiting up for battle’ scene. ---
**Author:** ![Astra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@Astra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astra)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/31 "2004-01-27T01:20:47Z")
I just started reading them a couple weeks ago. I’m now throughly addicted. “Guards, Guards” was the first one I read and I’m pretty attached to it. “Thief of Time” was also great. Unfortunately, my library’s collection is spotty, so I’ve been skipping all over the series. Favorite character? There’s just something about Death and Binky. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/32 "2004-01-27T06:47:40Z")
I can’t exactly pinpoint what it is I like about Carrot. I think it’s that he’s just so earnest, and, while an adult, he still retains an astonishing amount of innocence. He doesn’t have any guile. And he’s totally into history, which resonates with me. Vimes is a complete badass. He’s the Discworld equivalent of Shaft. Like in MaA when the Patrician (I think) shows up in his carriage and all of the sudden the sniper starts, um, sniping and the carriage gets knocked over, he just coolly pulls out his cigar. Okay, so the suggestions seem to be: The Guards and Witches series are the best, with The Guards winning out overall. Death is close behind. Rincewind is comparatively crap. And I should hold off on reading Last Hero and Monstrous Regiment until I’ve gotten through most of the other books, but I should definitely read The Truth before it. But should I find myself hopeleslly addicted, it won’t matter. Consensus? I hope this doesn’t turn into an equivalent of my Piers Anthony phase, which I look back on with shame and horror. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/33 "2004-01-27T07:02:34Z")
Another vote for **Small Gods**. First time I read it I was kind of meh about it. Next time through I abolutely loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/34 "2004-01-27T07:07:18Z")
Vimes is my favorite character as well. Although it’s not really his badassness that appeals to me. I think it’s the whole “Do the job that’s in front of you” attitude. He’s not the type of guy who love beating up on bad guys or feels like he’s the big hero. If he had his choice, he’d be sitting with Sybil or drinking cocoa at the Watchhouse, but he goes out there and does the job that needs to be done. I have one question though. Why doesn’t he want a vampire in the Watch? He was hesitant about adding dwarves, trolls and werewolves at first, but they’ve all proved invaluble. Now, with all the various types of creatures in the watch, why is he against a vampire? Just wondering. ---
**Author:** ![Netbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71e660/32.png) [@Netbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Netbrian)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/35 "2004-01-27T07:25:31Z")
Ouch, hard question. I say either the Truth or Monstrous Regiment. It’s interesting to observe how the series becomes less a fantasy, and really more about just normal humans. And believe me, the human villians are far scarier than whatever comes out of the Dungeon Dimensions. I did like Interesting Times, due to the fact I was in an East Asian history class while reading it. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/36 "2004-01-27T07:37:44Z")
> [@lillalette](#): > > I can’t exactly pinpoint what it is I like about Carrot. I think it’s that he’s just so earnest, and, while an adult, he still retains an astonishing amount of innocence. He doesn’t have any guile. And he’s totally into history, which resonates with me. What I like about him is that he’s neither innocent nor guileless. He just chooses to be honest and to not be cynical. Especially in the later novels, like _Fifth Elephant_, I get the impression that if he wanted to, he could be every bit as crafty and duplicitous as the Patrician. He just doesn’t want to be. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/37 "2004-01-27T07:54:30Z")
Just wanted to say I agree with a lot of the comments about _Small Gods_: polemic, not funny, too long, and a great, great villain. I really enjoyed the fate he met in the next world… ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/38 "2004-01-27T11:29:41Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > I have one question though. Why doesn’t he want a vampire in the Watch? He was hesitant about adding dwarves, trolls and werewolves at first, but they’ve all proved invaluble. Now, with all the various types of creatures in the watch, why is he against a vampire? > > Just wondering. I think Vimes equates the vampire’s blood lust with his own alchoholism. He knows how hard it is to keep his own “beast” under control, so I’m guessing he has doubts that a reformed vampire would have the same self-control. I don’t think it’ll be long before he’s forced to reconsider though. The vampire character in Montrous Regiment (who’s name I’ve forgotten) may be a fore-runner to a vampire guard character. For the record, the Guard books are my favourite (although I love the Witches and Death too), my favourite character is Vimes (he rocks) and my favourite book is Jingo. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/39 "2004-01-27T12:38:30Z")
I didn’t like Monstrous Regiment much, for a number of reasons: The “twist” [s] the whole books based around is repetitive enough that it stops being funny long before the end, but doesn’t go on long enough to mimic that one scene in the Simpsons where Sideshow Bob steps on 20 rakes in a row. Also, several things about it that bothered me: Yes, I know its the Disk. But even there I have a hard time imagining the Liutenant missing the fact that all his “boys” weren’t. Just broke the story for me. Second, What the hell is this stuff about people not being able to feel the sexuality of a Vampire? “With a vampire, who knows?” Ennnnnnnhhh! Wrong! There’s been no indication ever that vampires are some asexual-ous people in the Disk, and in fact just the opposite. Third, yes, Trrry, I know you think war is senseless and violent. Killing the one captive soldier was still pointless even in the context fo war. They already had a good idea of wher the unit was, and one slowly walking soldier going back to his unit would not change matters. And the main character was actually quite dull. And the Liutenant was underused, though he’s oddly similar to Carrot in a way. ---
**Author:** ![c\_carol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@c\_carol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/c_carol)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127/40 "2004-01-27T12:48:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Rincewind is comparatively crap I think that’s probably overstating it. The Rincewind books are relatively shallow and fluffy compared to the other subseries, which is why a lot of people like them less than the Guards, Witches, and Death books. But the Rincewind books, even the first two, are still very good, and Rincy himself is one of my favorite characters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-discworld-novel/226127.md?page=3)