Terry Pratchett fans get in here!

[Kermi]

...I want to know where Rincewind is these days...

Rincewind is just a member of the faculty these days, he has 19 positions, along with his position of Egregious Professor of Cruel and Unusual Geography at UU. He gets to sit in on their meetings, and his self-esteem is a getting better. He's also now a member of the Unseen Academicals football team. I'd say he's well wrapped up. He's finally living the boring life he wanted.

I think that Discworld is going to be impossible, but very easy, to wrap up. There's no end point, because there's no persisting story. But the world is so vibrant and full of character you can't ever imagine it dying.

Who knows, the end might be the Great A'Tuin reaching his final destination...

Ah, al that Rincewind stuff is covered in Unseen Academicals isn't it? I have to get around to reading that.

 

[Trivun]

Okay so after hearing nothing about this mans writing, i've decided to pick up some stuff by him.
where should I start?

Look at any of the books first. There's a list in the later releases, and all the latest editions of every book, with the official (current) list of every single Discworld book published so far, along with add-on titles like Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, or The Discworld Mapp.

Anyway, the list in there gives the main series, in order of publication. The publication order is basically considered, and backed by Word Of God (i.e. Pterry himself), to be the proper chronological order of the books, though certain unrelated books do take place around the same time to allow for the fact that in over thirty-odd books, only about five years or so have passed (a rough estimate, but certainly no later than 7a years - you'll understand that number when you read the books...). There is, however, a single exception to that chronology rule, and that's Small Gods, which apparently takes place a few hundred years before the rest of the series.

Different books are split into broad groups, with the same characters and themes, which easily become apparent when you read them (the Wizard books, the Watch books, the Death/Susan books, the Lipwig books later on, and so on). However, personally I'd start at the very beginning, with the first published and chronologically, which is The Colour of Magic. Then read The Light Fantastic, which is a direct follow up, then read the books in the order that the list in each book tells you to. That's the best way to make sense of the series as a whole, especially when you consider over time various continuity nods, character development, and Pterry's own evolved writing style...

To be fair, this is probably the best advice any of us can give you. If there's anything you don't understand then just ask and one of us will again be happy to explain things more clearly . Also, make sure to keep chocolate with you at all times, for protection. When you read Thief of Time you'll understand why...

 

[thylasos]

The writing's somewhat shaky at the start, so I might start with Equal Rites, but otherwise, chronological order (of publishing) is advisable.

 

[Purple Shrimp]

Does Twoflower ever reappear after the first two books? I always hear about the Rincewind-related books, the Guards-related ones, the Death-related ones etc but never anything about Twoflower, which is a shame because he was always my favourite character

 

[Nelson McCulloch]

The Wee Free Men is quite good.

 

[Camaranth]

*Glances at avatar* You've got three chances to guess my favorite character.

Honestly it shouldn't really matter where you start in the disc world. Pratchett himself said he wrote the books to be like star trek in the sense that you could watch any random episode and if you like it you'll watch another even if you don't fully understand all the details but the more you watch the more you piece together (like why Spock has pointy ears, or why Warf is the only Klingon in a Star Fleet uniform, and that tribbles are just generally awesome)*

I started with the first four because they were a gift but then just picked up which ever I felt like at the time and now I'm re-reading them in publishing order and enjoying seeing how the world evolves between books as more details are added from the previous one.

As linwolf suggested Pratchett has many other books although they tend to be aimed at a younger audience (Johnny and the Bomb etc)

Fair Warning if reading in public there is bound to be some part of the book which makes you laugh uncontrollably.

*Apologies if I got a Star trek reference wrong I am a rather "casual" star trek watcher.

 

[Bobbity]

Alright, it's already been said, but start with 'The Colour of Magic'. It's the first book in the series, and amongst the funniest. It also establishes the world and some of the major characters within.
Personally, I picked up on Terry Pratchett maybe two months ago, and I'm nearing the end of 'Interesting Times'. Still loving the series, even if some of the Granny Weatherwax stuff is a bit of a chore to get through. Before I get flamed, I said some. For the most part, she's still pretty interesting.

 

[SubstanceD]

Ah, al that Rincewind stuff is covered in Unseen Academicals isn't it? I have to get around to reading that.

A bit of it is in Unseen Academicals, but most of it is in Science of Discworld. Which I recommend reading, and is cannon.

 

[Blitzwarp]

I always recommend that newcomers start with the City Watch books (Guards, Guards! onwards) because I could never get along with the Rincewind novels. Plus, being the first two Discworld books ever written, The Colour of Magic & The Light Fantastic are quite crude representations of the fantastic universe that develops. I came back to them after reading almost every other DW book, and mostly they just confused me because a lot of characters were portrayed differently. :[

Oh, and may I also recommend the Johnny Maxwell trilogy, also by Pratchett? They were ostensibly written for teenagers, but in terms of themes and plot they are absolutely brilliant. Johnny & the Bomb, especially, is a brilliant exploration of time travel that could rival Douglas Adams's Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Mort was the first one i read, picked it up for 60p at a used book stall in Uni coz some one said it was good. I now own nearly every single book he has written lol.

 

[Trotgar]

Well, I'd probably suggest reading The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic first. Even though they are in my opinion inferior to his later books, they are still good and give info of the world.

However, after those books, I recommend you read the City watch series (starting at Guards! Guards!), which is great and in my opinion gets better every book.

And if you want to go straight to a great (or, in Pratchett's case, greater than usual) book, I recommend Going Postal, the first book of a short "series" (which at the time of writing consists of two books - that and Making Money).

And of course, let's not forget non-discworld books. Nation shares the title for my favourite book ever with Thud! (A city watch novel).

 

[Catchy Slogan]

I've only just started reading the Discworld series myself, and am near the end of Equal Rights, but I would wholeheartedly recommend reading the first two books. They are the ones that convinced me to start reading the rest of them, and you would probably get a better understanding of the Discworld, as the first explains quite alot of how it works. Not neccesary to know all of that, but it would add to the whole experience in later books.

 

[The Madman]

You can pretty much read them in any order though obviously things will make much more sense if you start from the beginning. That's especially true in the case of the Samuel Vimes books, my personal favourites, since there's a good deal of character and plot development over the course of the books unlike some other books which tend to more or less stand alone (Mort, Moving Pictures, Small Gods) or ones where the characters remain pretty much the same throughout (Rincewind & the Wizards, the Witches).

Though in all honesty I can't think of a single Terry Pratchett book I've disliked regardless! Easily one of my all-time favourite authors.

Just my thoughts though. Glad to see someone delving into the series for the first time, you're in for one helluva ride!

 

[Hiraeth]

I read them pretty much entirely out of order because that was the order in which I got hold of them, but I've since re-read most if not all of them and my understanding of the series of a whole hasn't suffered because of the fragmented manner in which I was introduced to it. I actually found that it was a lot of fun, because occasionally I'd stumble across a book I'd missed and it'd fill in some of the blanks.

If you're really stuck where to start, I'd echo the recommendations for Guards! Guards! - I found it easy to get into, a good introduction to the world, and the humor is strong. Although The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic are amazing books, I don't find them as laugh-out-loud hilarious as the slightly later books. That said, my absolute favourite is, without a doubt, The Last Continent, it's bloody fantastic.

 

[Vault101]

I havnt read much of his work but one of my favorite books of al time in Nation Ive also read monsterous regiment and going postal

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Oh and i forgot to mention that Mr Pratchett likes his somewhat obscure references and footnotes so this site might be helpful http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/index.html (though it's not been updated for a while now so it doesn't cover the last few books)

 

[Ashcrexl]

honestly, the only book of his i didnt like was Sourcery. why? cuz it was basically a rehash of the first two books (which werent that great anyway, though not bad) but with 50% less imagination. and speaking of these 3 books, my favorite is actually Interesting Times. same character, but just too damn funny. so my recommendation is read them all, in order, skipping Sourcery.

 

[Outright Villainy]

Well i've only read of 3 of his books, but Mort was fantastic.

Also, suppose this is an ample oppurtunity to say that he's lecturing in my college now, and I've tickets to see him do a talk next month.

Nee ner nee ner nee ner.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

There's only two bad books he's written IMHO.

Strata and Monstrous Regiment.

Strata is the pre-cursor to Discworld and it's where he tried to do Science Fiction, and it sucks.
Monstrous Regiment starts off with an interesting premise (which is patently obvious to those who know the original) and then beats you to death with it. And then beats you again. And then widdles on the remains. Seriously, by the end of the second denoument, you'll be screaming "YES, I GET IT NOW! CAN WE GET ON WITH THE POINT?"

That being said, the others are sublime to the point of resembling marshmallows with drinking chocolate already attached.

 

[Boba Frag]

I wandered into a bookshop and spotted a funny looking graphic novel.
It was four blokes in dodgy armour on it, and the scruffiest of them looked like he was perma- hungover. And he was using a small dragon thing as a shotgun....

That was when I first laid eyes on Captain Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Night Watch.....

Bought it, loved the graphic novel, and then got the book of Guards! Guards!

Basically, if you enjoy that, read a few more Night Watch novels, then some Rincewind.

Also- his book The Wee Free Men and the following books are hysterical.

Enjoy your search!