A question about Pratchett's Discworld...

[TZ]

I have never read any Prachett but several people I respect have praised it profusely. So I am thinking I would like to read this series..Is there a good book to start with? What ones should I avoid?
I think several people here are familiar with my warped sense of humor which apparantly is a perfect trait for appreciating Prachett...:)

[Orrex]

1. Start at the beginning: The Colour of Magic

Discworld chronology isn't important per se, but some stories make more sense if they're read in sequence. Any of his books will include a list of the whole series in order. If memory serves, you'd read The Light Fantastic second and Mort third.

I stopped reading after Truth a few years ago, so other people can advise you on his most recent stuff.

I don't know that you should necessarily "avoid" any of the main books, but if you skip Moving Pictures you won't have missed much. I read Eric and regretted it, and I'm not really interested in the several titles specifically aimed at the "young adult" demographic. They might be just fine, objectively, but I'll leave them to other fans...

[JPettus]

2. I can't get into Colour of Magic

And I've had some others say that they also had trouble with it. I may start on the second book.

But, I've read the three Tiffany Aching books ("Wee Free Men," "A Hatful of Sky," and "Wintersmith") and all are wonderful, very funny. They are listed in the young reader's books but don't let that sway you, they are very funny and very well written and my wife and I both loved them all.

[Orrex]

3. Blasphemy! Well, not really

Probably part of my fondness for TCoM is based on nostalgia, since it was the first one I read, way back in 1990. It's also our first encounter with Rincewind, Twoflower, and Death, and there's no way you can top our first glimpse of Ankh-Morpork! Also, the nod/wink to H.P. Lovecraft strikes a chord for me.

The Light Fantastic is arguably better written, and one almost gets the sense that Pratchett was surprised to get the chance to do a sequel at all!

[TZ]

4. Well I just ordered both...

So I will let you know how that meshes with my view....Although the fact that you are a H.P. Lovecraft fan is not overly encourging to me on how alike my opinion is gonna be....:hide:

[Orrex]

5. A pox on you as well, in that case

Actually, it's hard to be a fan of H.P. Lovecraft. His racism is so sickening and impossible to overlook that one can't help apologizing for it even with him in the ground for seven decades. Also, his writing is pretty consistently dreadful.

But the ideas! The stark pessimism of it!

When I first encountered him back in '91, I was amazed. I'd never heard even a peep about him, or his "weird fiction" genre, and here was a whole dismal universe waiting to be slogged through.


Anyway, the Lovecraftian element in The Colour of Magic takes maybe six pages, and the writing is a lot better than HP's!

[pecwae]

6. I can't recommend one over the other

because I'm such a fan of Pratchett. Being a woman I rather enjoy the ones featuring the witches, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Magrat Garlick, Agnes Nitt, the most; Granny being my hero(ine). I have to say that while I read his last two, Going Postal and Making Money, Moist von Lipwig just didn't resonate with me like all the other characters.

Just be sure to read some earlier ones first to get the feel of Disc World. I admit to having read all the Pratchett books at least six times (except those last two). You'll be hooked in short order and will totally enjoy every minute!

[TZ]

7. Oh I have now read both

The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic and loved them. Hilarious. Its rare that any piece of literature makes me laugh aloud but these did. Looking forward to getting my hands on some more of them in the very near future!:thumbsup:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. If you liked those, you'll love his later stuff.

He's one of those writers that gets better with age.

His City Watch discworld novels are my favorite.

"Guards, Guards!" was the first in the series, it really hits a stride with "Feet of Clay" and his more recent "Night Watch..."

Well, "Night Watch" transcends Discworld into the rarefied air of high literature, IMO.

but you might want to also read "The Thief of Time" before you read that one.

[Orsino]

9. Avoid COLOUR OF MAGIC and LIGHT FANTASTIC.

I heard great things about Discworld, and was anal enough to want to read the series in order. These first two failed to excite me, and I've since heard the opinion everywhere that they're the weakest. I can happily recommend Mort and Guards! Guards!. As far as I know, the order you read books in doesn't much matter. Just as attempts to map the Discworld fail, pinning down a chronological order is similarly doomed, I gather.

[Orrex]

10. Clearly you're mad. Mad, I tell you!

But you're also not wrong. The first two lack some of the polish of his later (and, I suspect, better-edited) works. But they're first, gosh darn it! Why not skip The Fellowship of the Ring and dive right into The Two Towers while you're at it?

Okay, I know the answer to that one.


The first two also have profound differences from the tone of the rest of the series, most notably the sort of casual attitude toward magic in general and the characterization of Death basically as a vindictive and petty guy in a skeleton suit.

But IMO nothing else in the series can match the coolness of those first encounters with the Disc and with Ankh-Morpork.


Also IMO, the weakest stories in the series are Moving Pictures and Carpe Jugulum. The former because it just seems, I don't know, ill-planned, and the latter because it was the first time I suspected that Pratchett's work was being steered by forces beyond his control to achieve profitability at the expense of story. Come to think of it, the hands-down worst of the series is Eric, which is so half-assed that I seriously considered suing Pratchett to get back those hours of my life wasted in reading it.

Incidentally, re: the chronology, Pratchett himself has indicated that it isn't essential but can be helpful in understanding the Disc's events. He discusses it briefly in the gaming supplement GURPS: Discworld, from the late 90's.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. That's what I like about Pratchett.

You see his writing mature with age.

"The first two also have profound differences from the tone of the rest of the series"

With the first two he was trying to satirize fantasy literature, notably Lieber. With his later work, he satirizes the human condition. Much more material there.

"The former because it just seems, I don't know, ill-planned"

The problem with "Moving Pictures" is that it's too forced. He wanted to satirize Hollywood, so he used this cheap macguffin "dungeon dimension" device to force the satire. Nobody does anything related to Hollywood without being hypnotized by unseen forces. When he satirizes the post office or the media in his later stuff, people have real and proper motivations for their behaviour.

[TZ]

12. He,he Prachett is sooo quotable

I have a new favorite line from "Mort", the perfect way to say "I don't know" in a very cryptic way..."Sodomy non sapiens"= buggered if I know= I have no idea.
Filing this one away for use (don't be surprised if it makes in an appearance in a health post one of these days)...
:rofl:

[MrCoffee]

13. lspace has some Discworld reading guides

I rely heavily on these to help me keep the order straight. They list the books by subject (i.e. Wizards, Witches, Death, The Watch)


http://www.lspace.org/books/reading-order-guides/