Discworld

Crothian · Feb 27, 2007

I've had a few people say I should read these but there are many many books in the series. Where is a good place to start? They don't seem to be numbered that I saw but I know that some go together. Can anyone help with an order they should be read?

Mycanid · Feb 27, 2007

Hmm ... well, you could look here for starters:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld

It gives an outline of all the books in the order they were published....

The Colour of Magic was the first book published.

Celtavian · Feb 27, 2007

re

I just started reading this series as well. It is pretty good. I started with Thief of Time. It seems to read pretty well all by itself. The guy who recommended the books to me said they could be read stand alone. I think you can start with just about any book.

Mustrum_Ridcully · Feb 27, 2007

Crothian said:
I've had a few people say I should read these but there are many many books in the series. Where is a good place to start? They don't seem to be numbered that I saw but I know that some go together. Can anyone help with an order they should be read?

Each book is a stand-alone book, and you don't have to read previous ones, though it's obviously more fun if you already know the characters from another book. The order isn't that important. I tend to prefer the later books - I started with Witches Abroad, and than read several books, trying to read them in order of appearance, though that wasn't always possible, and it didn't hurt my enjoyment at all.

I think there are five main character groups on which the books typically focus:
- Rincewind and Twoflowers (
- The men of the Night Watch
- The Witches from Lancre
- The Mages from the Unseen University
- Death
The newer Tiffany Aching (aimed at Children, but also a very entertaining read for grown-ups) stories add to the line-up.
There are also several stories that have different characters as focus, though most the time, you will see familiar characters again. Overlapping isn't uncommon either.

drothgery · Feb 27, 2007

I started with Interesting Times, which was kind of an odd spot (in the middle of the Rincewind sub-series, though it was closer to the end at the time), but that was okay. The Death books and the Rincewind books are easier to skip around in than the Witches books and the Watch books. I'd say the Watch subseries (Guards!Guards!, Men at Arms, Feat of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud!) is probably the closest thing to a traditional series, though I'd start with Men at Arms and get back to Guards!Guards! later if you like the others -- it's not as good as the later books in the subseries, but it's background.

Ankh-Morpork Guard · Feb 28, 2007

I started with Guards!Guards!, and I have to say the Watch stuff is my favourite(hence the name).

The other way to go is start with Colour of Magic and follow them in the order they were published. I've done that outside of the Watch books and its great.

Whizbang Dustyboots · Feb 28, 2007

I really recommend reading them from the beginning. If nothing else, it's only in the first few books that you get the D&D jokes.

shilsen · Feb 28, 2007

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
I really recommend reading them from the beginning. If nothing else, it's only in the first few books that you get the D&D jokes.

I personally think Pratchett is far better with the literary jokes and the wordplay, and the first books, esp. the first two, are the weakest of the lot (though they're still pretty good).

I'd start with either Guards! Guards! or Feet of Clay.

trancejeremy · Feb 28, 2007

The Watch stuff is the best. Or rather, the Wizards and the Witches related books are the worst. Rincewind is okay, but I just don't think the other Wizards are very funny. (Nor are the Witches, but at least they aren't as irritating as the Wizards. )

Whizbang Dustyboots · Feb 28, 2007

shilsen said:
I personally think Pratchett is far better with the literary jokes and the wordplay, and the first books, esp. the first two, are the weakest of the lot (though they're still pretty good).

I don't disagree, but they set up things pretty nicely, and as Unseen University is one of my favorite aspects of the setting, along with the Lancre Witches, this gets straight to the good stuff. And heck, most of the stuff from the first two books shows up again and again and again throughout the series.

Well all know he's going to read them all eventually anyway. Why not start at the beginning, in that case?