Silvanus said:
Mutant1988 said:
More specifically, my most favourite author would be Terry Pratchett. I have yet to find someone that can rival his grasp of drama, wit, humour and satire in writing the Discworld series. It is not a lie to say that his writing has changed how I look at the world for the better and has made me both more compassionate, critical and inclined to see the humour in things. To care, think and laugh.
It's criminal that I haven't yet read any of his work, when from what I've seen and heard, he seems perfectly suited to me. It may have something to do with the sheer breadth of work, and knowing where to start. Suggestions?
I started with the Ankh Morpork Guard books and find that a good entry point to the series. Really, I could list the beginning of each separate cast and any of those books would be a good starting point and perhaps be of particular interest due to their somewhat distinct themes.
Rincewind is a cowardly Wizard which isn't that good of a wizard. His very first plot arc has him travelling around the Discworld with an eccentric tourist from their counterpart culture to China. Eccentric in the sense that he has zero awareness of danger, yet never seem to come to any real harm from it - Rincewind, however, does have to save the both of them, usually by some variation of running very fast in the opposite direction.
Now, the starting point for his books is a bit different, as the first two books in the series (The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic) are much more parodies of Fantasy, with very little satire and some stylistic and characterization oddities compared to the more refined books made afterwards. It does introduce you to quite a lot of things and concepts unique to the Discworld however. But as a starting point for his books, I'd go with Sourcery. It is a stand alone book (In a way) that introduces us to the character and the particular style of Discworld (That isn't as evident in the first two books).
Death is a character in his own right in the Discworld and quite an interesting one at that. For him, there's really nowhere else to start than with Mort, because he as a character starts to develop from that point onward. Although, he does get featured in some way in every single Discworld book. The later Death Books also alternate between Death as the central protagonist and his granddaughter. The latter is a very interesting character to me.
The Guards books are a mix of crime fiction and a dash of noir put into a fantasy setting, with the night guard of Ankh Morpork (Essentially the hub city of the Discworld and a melting pot of all it's inhabitants). It does tackle a lot of societal themes in unique and compelling ways and are probably some of the darkest in tone. But the thing with Terry Pratchett is that the story is always serious, yet it can still make you laugh. He doesn't write farces. Highly recommended, and the first book would be Guard Guards. The first book I read in the series was Men At Arms and it is a great one that directly follows the former book.
The Witches are about supernatural, or rather, the natural. How to see the world for what it really is, in spite of all the silly magicks. And how to understand people, rather than do magic. They also tend to subvert a lot of classical themes, such as classical stories and fairy tales. The first book is Wyrd Sisters and that's a pretty good starting point. My personal favorite however would be Lords and Ladies, because it's a perfect blend of serious plot with humorous, yet genuine and believable, characters.
The Wizards of the Unseen University (The academy of higher magic learning, presumably) are featured in a fair few books, but only really are stars of a handful. But there's a great interplay between the dogged Ponder Stibbons (The only sane man around) and Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully (Who also considers himselves the only sane man around). The thing with magic on Discworld is that it's rarely a good idea to use and the point of the Unseen University is in many ways to provide Wizards with the means to not have to perform magic at all. Mostly by keeping them fat (5 square meals a day - About as large as your average table) and content just the way they are. The reasons for this is because Magic is essentially radioactive (Magical fallout is a common occurrence), follows the laws of physics (Reaction = Counter Reaction. If you want to lift a boulder with magic, you need to exert a comparable amount of force with your mind, to what you would if you physically lifted it. But instead of breaking your back from doing it wrong, you run the risk of your brains bursting out through your ears) and has a will of it's own.
Going Postal is the beginning of the newest cast and stars Moist von Lipwig who is a reformed (But not necessarily by will) conman being put in charge of furthering the interests of the city of Ankh Morpork. Starting with it's Postal System. It's a fun book and each book gets progressively funnier. It's rather interesting in how it deconstructs a lot of government functions and services in new and funny ways.
The Wee Free Men are the introduction to Tiffany Aching which is a young but rather prodigal witch, who has to deal with, essentially, eldritch horror interfering with hers and the lives of those are around her. To assist her she has the Wee Free Men, who are tiny blue men who loves fighting and drinking.
Really though, you can pick up any book and start reading and have fun with it. You might not get some references here and there, but there's really no continuity lockout of any kind. All the vague details makes you want is to read the other books and it doesn't really matter in which order. So just pick one up and start reading.
