Pratchetts Discworld Story Poll - what is best in life?

[MGibster]

Going Postal, honorable mentions for The Truth, Small Gods, and Night Watch.

Going Postal was the first one I read. Then I started with The Colour of Magic and read them in order. I find it very difficult to rate one as my favorite, but I went with Thud! And even then I only made my selection to maintain the spirit of the thread. It was a very difficult choice.

 

[Parmandur]

Going Postal was the first one I read. Then I started with The Colour of Magic and read them in order. I find it very difficult to rate one as my favorite, but I went with Thud! And even then I only made my selection to maintain the spirit of the thread. It was a very difficult choice.

I mean, the guy wrote a few dozen five out of five bangers (and some novels about Rincewind), "best" is tenuous subjective vibes at best.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I think about Vimes every time I consider buying some clothes I know won't last. I'm happy to say I've been working, for the last few years, on delaying those purchases until I can buy something that will likely last me the rest of my life.

I remember when I was young and starting out on my career, I'd buy those cheap $20 dress shoes, and sure enough, I'd be replacing them in about six months. But that pair of $150 shoes, they're still glossy and going strong years later.

 

[Vael]

Any of the Guards series rate highly with me. The one I've reread the most is Feet of Clay which I do enjoy, but that's the one I own, so it has that over the others.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I remember when I was young and starting out on my career, I'd buy those cheap $20 dress shoes, and sure enough, I'd be replacing them in about six months. But that pair of $150 shoes, they're still glossy and going strong years later.

My future wife encouraged me to buy a $150 shoes (by people who left Dr. Martin's because they thought their quality control had gone downhill) back in 1997. Wore them the other day. Other than needing a bit of polish and maybe stain, they're practically as good as new.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

My future wife encouraged me to buy a $150 shoes (by people who left Dr. Martin's because they thought their quality control had gone downhill) back in 1997. Wore them the other day. Other than needing a bit of polish and maybe stain, they're practically as good as new.

Back-in-the-day Docs were legendary for being horrible to break in, but lasting forever.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Back-in-the-day Docs were legendary for being horrible to break in, but lasting forever.

Yeah, these soles in particular are in shockingly good shape. I do probably need to take the rest in to a shoe shop for touch-ups (the leather inner soles are loose, for instance), but this pair is coming up on its 30th anniversary soon and they don't look any older than a year or two.

 

[Distracted DM]

First, curse you OP for forcing me to pick one. This was really tough.
After a moment, I went for Thud!

I voted for the obvious best choice: Thud! My runner up is I Shall Wear Midnight.

Another Thud!-er! I think the WHERE'S MY COW scene underground is ... ugh. Too good. The Summoning and Guarding Dark, the scene with the guarding dark showing up, that's all too friggin' emotional for me. It's so good.

 

[pukunui]

First, curse you OP for forcing me to pick one. This was really tough.
After a moment, I went for Thud!

Another Thud!-er! I think the WHERE'S MY COW scene underground is ... ugh. Too good. The Summoning and Guarding Dark, the scene with the guarding dark showing up, that's all too friggin' emotional for me. It's so good.

Everything about Thud! is just chef's kiss. It hits all the right notes on so many levels.

Incidentally, I am currently rereading Thief of Time, which stars Lu-Tze the Sweeper and Susan the granddaughter of Death. It was an apropos one to reread after Small Gods because it makes a few references back to that one. It is also the one that led to Thud! because Susan, while researching the effects of the first clock, comes across Koom Valley and wonders if it's such a repetitive event because it just got pasted into history multiple times.

When I went to listen to Terry Pratchett talk about his writing style and all that, one of the things that stuck with me was how he'll come up with something small in one book that inspires him to make a whole book about it - so his brief mention of Koom Valley in Thief of Time led him to write Thud! Pretty cool, huh?


So I've said that Thud! is my #1, and I Shall Wear Midnight is my #2. It's too difficult to rank the rest in any order after that. The following books would most likely round out my Top Ten in no particular order, though: Going Postal, Night Watch, The Truth, Soul Music, The Wee Free Men, Interesting Times, Hogfather, and The Fifth Elephant. It's really hard to choose, though.

 

[TheSword]

I love the Truth. It’s mature Pratchett building on all the good Ankh Morpork work that has gone before.

Mr Tulip is my favourite Discworld character. A thug with a speciality in Fine Art appreciation, a habit of snorting any that’s ‘ing chemical and another habit of putting ‘ing before every other word. Such a good example of how three interesting easy to roleplay facts can make an interestingly memorable character.

I also like the Truth because like the best Pratchett it has a strong satirical message.