I've never read a novel by Sir Terry Pratchett, but I would like to. Trouble is there's so many to choose from I just don't know where to start.

Would anyone recommend any in particular?

Start with The Colour of Magic and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld#Bibliography from there :goodjob:

For one that isn't related to the Discworld series I'd recommend Nation. It was my first Pratchett novel and I loved it.

Definitely!

Though it's not essential, it probably helps to start at the beginning, so broadly speaking I agree with Exorince. Then again I tend to be quite disorganised when it comes to not doing things in order, so I may as well recommend my favourite of the series, which is Witches Abroad.

.removed.

If we're talking Discworld you MUST read the first two novels, well, first. I mean at the very least. The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic are the best introductions to the world bar none I think.

Only one I can't recommend is Moving Pictures. It's really only for film buffs, and is not quite anybody else's cup of tea.

I agree. While I don't think they are his best works and many of his characters evolved since then (Death springs to mind), they are basically a tour of the Diskworld


Some books weren't that good. Carpe Jugulum springs to mind. I also didn't like Unseen Acedemicals but that was because it was about a subject I have no interest in.

Vimes books like the 5th Elephant and Night Watch are well worth the read, although you may want to read the earlier Vimes books to get the introduction. Maybe not the best to start with.

Yeah, I was going to mention that too, and now that you've brought it up, I'll second that "unrecommendation"! The series is a little inconsistent in terms of quality (and some books are more serious than others, though this is no bad thing IMHO) but that title did stand out as being particularly weak. I know some people are fans... but I'm not one of them.

Anyone consider it strange that his "for younger readers" Tiffany Aching books are some of the darkest he's written? Wee Free Men was quite lighthearted but it went pretty dark after A Hat Full Of Sky.

But yeah, the Rincewind books are a good introduction to the series and after that it makes sense following the other sub-series such as witches, city-watch, death/Susan Sto-Helit. There are also a couple of stand-alone books such as the aforementioned Moving Pictures that usually are about some warped discworld interpretation of some real-world event, fad or phenomena.

I agree with the general consensus so far; the Color of Magic and the Light Fantastic are good places to start, and from there you'll be fine so long as you read each individual series (The Watch, Death, Tiffany Aching, ect) in order. Nation was a good non-Discworld, although I'd also recommend Truckers.

I started with The Last Continent which is about the fifteenth book in the Discworld series. You can really read them in any order, but I'd recommend not starting off the way I did. The Last Continent has some of the more confusing aspects of Discworld lore and it took me a few times to fully understand it, it really just tossed me into the Discworld.

Good Omens is a pretty good starting point. He co-wrote it with Neil Gaiman and it was one of Gaiman's first books. It should help you get into his style of writing more easily then jumping into the Discworld, though the first book in the series The Colour of Magic is obviously a good place to start. He is my favourite author and I hope you enjoy his writing.

As Neil Gaiman said about him,"Terry is that rarity, the kind of author who likes Writing, not Having Written, or Being a Writer, but the actual sitting there and making things up in front of a screen."

Guards! Guards! is a good one to start with, after The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, if you don't intend to read them all in order. It's the first book that features the City Watch guys, and I found all those City Watch books very enjoyable.

I completely agree, Thud and Night Watch are two of my favourite books ever.

I'm reading the whole series in order and I'm currently at The Fifth Elephant. Looking forward to getting to those two, I've heard a lot of positive things about Thud! specifically.

I would actually not recommend the two first books, as I don't think they are as good as many of the later ones. That doesn't mean they are bad, only that many other books in the series are better.

I would start with the third one, Equal Rites. Hilarious.

True. Very true.

Oy. That's not going to be a helpful thread, cause everybody is going to pick their one fave. You can start by the beginning - just know that they're well, standard fantasy spoofed. Don't judge the series by them - it gets ever so funnier and smarter book by book - grimer, too, but in a good way. There's a nice continuity of sort, too. I mean, good grief, Vimes. What a character development. Regarding that, the last one, Snuff, is pretty hectic and awesomelicious.

My all-time fave got to be Night Watch. Revolutions and history and all that, strikes home. That's the stuff, really : how about you tell us a theme you'd like ? You got pretty much anything :

- Football : Unseen Academical
- Rock : Soul Music
- Opera : Maskerade
- Theatre : Wyrd Sisters
- Economy : Going Postal, Making Money

And so, and so.

Nation's good advice, tho : not Discworld, but a little gem of a book that'll get you in his style of writing nice enough.

It doesn't really matter what book you start with, to get introducted into Discworld. Pick one book, and see if you enjoy it. After that, start on books one and two. I have some friends who are major fantasy buffs, yet dislike Discworld entirely. It's not for everybody. I do heartily recommend it though.

I started with A Hat full of Sky. Only reason for that though was that that was the only one they had in our library While I didn't get everything at first (Sure, I could get the obvious jokes and settings, but the interconnecting jokes were lost on me.) they are very good at being stand-alone. You just get even more enjoyment out of reading more then one of them.

I think I'll start with the colour of magic, as many of you have suggested, then perhaps some non-Discworld books. I assume it doesn't really matter about reading the Discworld books strictly in order?

Are these long stories or short ones?

Well yes and no. The novels are not all sequential, but then some of them are. The Light Fantastic for example is a direct sequel to The Color of Magic, which ends on a cliffhanger. The third book after that has nothing at all to do with any of the characters from the first two and introduces it's own new characters. So books that are all about the Night Watch for example can be started whenever, but it'd probably best to read those books in order at least.



They're medium length I'd say. Good 200ish page novels, and there are 39 of them with at least 5 main "storylines" that use the same characters across different books. All are set in the same world and universe however. Of course a few one shot deals too that have new characters that are never really seen again, which are the most hit and miss of the lot. Pyramids I loved, Moving Pictures not so much.

Nope. There might be a few in-jokes you won't get, but nothing that'll hamper comprehension - just some long running gags you'll get later. Some books are in order : the Vimes books, the Witches books, the Death books... But it doesn't matter if you pick one in the middle. He's fairly good at placing the set for newcomers.

Long. There are a handful discworld short stories, here and there, that's all.

Oh, http://www.lspace.org/books/index.html, as well as a who's who (not that it's needed), and, of all things, are "what order to read" guide.

*Edit* http://www.lspace.org/books/reading-order-guides/the-discworld-reading-order-guide-20.jpg. Somewhat up to date, too - there's only I shall wear midnight (last witch book) and Snuff (last Watch book) not here yet.

Small Gods all the way. I've always loved it. Another one to go for in my opinion would be Thief of Time.