Best of Pratchett

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

This is up to you. I recommend it, if you can, because it is easier to know the "who is who".
But you don`t need to do it.
(My first Prattchet book was "Witches Abroad", which was the successor of "Wyrd Sisters" - And I really LOVE the witches - but actually, I love every Prattchet character, and it is difficult to figure the best one...)

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[Sammael99]

At the risk of sounding heretical, I got kinda bored with the discworld around Pyramids time although I read Small Gods (very good), Guards, gyards (pretty good) and Soul Music (lame) later on.

However, I strongly recommend non discworld pratchett books, in particular Good Omens and the Nome Trilogy.

 

[drnuncheon]

My favorite Discworld subseries are the Death books, so I'd go for those. (Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hogfather, Thief of Time)

The best of the Witches books is probably Maskerade - at least if you are a theatre fan.

But really, I think you should try Good Omens, which is not a Discworld book at all. Cowritten with Neil Gaiman, it is the funniest book I have ever read about the end of the world.

J

 

[Tonguez]

Well I can boast of having read all of the Discworld stories (except The Last Hero and including Troll Bridge <obscure reference>) I've also read the Bromeliad (Nome Trilogy)

I'd say get the Nome Trilogy! - its great and its the way I imagine gnomes

Also their is a Death Anthology (Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music) and a Witches Anthology (Wyrd Sisters, Withches Abroad and Equal Rites (I think)) so get those.

Anyway imho the best Discworld books are

Hogfather
Feet of Clay
Theif of Time
Small Gods
Last Continent (very good for XXXX jokes)
The Fifth Elephant
Maskerade
Capre Jugulum (and elements of a Goth White Wolf spoof!)

Anyway those familiar with the books might notice a theme here

However I like all of the books but these best of all...

 

[kengar]

dang! everyone has already recommended my top choices!

My best recommendation is read them all! Even the so-so ones are good for a chuckle. Many public libraries have at least a few Discworld books. If yours doesn't and there is a mega bookstore like Border's near you, just take a Saturday and sit in one of those big chairs and read it there. Just don't spill your latte on it and you can read it for free!

 

[drothgery]

Not necessarily. Check the list by drothgery above that breaks them down into series (which isn't actually in the order that all of his books came out, since he jumps back and forth between series). It might be wise, if not reading them in actual order, to at least not jump ahead in any individual series (unless one of the books is touted as simply terrible). *shrug*

I think the standalones, the Rincewind books, and the Death books can be read in any order. The Guards books should be read in order, though skipping Guards!Guards! isn't a problem (despite what some have said, I think it's the weakest Watch book). The Witch books are probably the most dependent on being read in order, though you could easily skip Equal Rites (I wouldn't, but it's not really part of the main chronology).

 

[Writer@Large]

I love Pratchett, but since all the books have been mentioned several times, I won't bother repeating most of them! Suffice to say, I agree that the individual sub-series should be read in order, and that IMO the Witches and Death series are best, and the Rincewind are the worst (Rincewind started out funny, but he began to annoy me by The Last Continent).

Also, for a treat, you might want to track down The Sea and Little Fishes, a novella that Pratchett wrote for the Legends hardcover antology (it got broken up into two or three paperback anthologies). IMO it is one of the single best Discworld stories out there.

--W@L

 

[GuardianLurker]

I'm not sure (I think it's Hogsfather) but one of the books has an encounter between Ridicully and a bathroom designed by Bloody Stupid Johnson.

I laughed almost as hard at that as I did at the Dork Towers script where the group is RPing the Fellowship.

Ridicully (squeaky voice): "I've never felt so ... clean."

Bwah-hah-hah! Ehhhehh heh heh, ahaha bwah-ha!

Igor: "How much is the Ring worth on the black market?"

BWAH-HAHA! HAHA-BWAH-HA!BWAH-HAHA! HAHA-BWAH-HA!BWAH-HAHA! HAHA-BWAH-HA!BWAH-HAHA! HAHA-BWAH-HA!

<gasp> <repeat>

 

[Samurai]

IMHO, every Pratchett book is excellent, especially his newer ones. They are the only books that make me bust out laughing uncontrollably while reading. The Rincewind books are the least funny of the lot, but it took Pratchett a while to get into the feel of the Discworld. Even so, the worst Discworld book is better than 90% of the other stuff I've read, and the best ones are simply phenominal. He is my favorite author, bar none, and the ONLY one I will buy every new book he writes sight unseen.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

Wyrd Sisters is a Briliant Shakespear Parody