Discworld reading order

Nevyn

Dades

Is is a requisite to read the books in a rough order?

I picked up my first Pratchett - Small Gods - last week on a recommendation and am halfway through.
When I'm done - should I go all the way back, or perhaps just read "Pyramids" as per that chart...

Render unto me your advice ye Discworld nerds.

r3nu4l

Just saw this post now as I don't come to this forum often.

Nice post Thaedydal

I would say it is not exactly a pre-requisite to read them in order but you can miss out on some good in-jokes or the importance of characters from previous books if you just jump straight into the middle of the series.

I found one or two of the earlier books to be a bit over the top in places, just moving from surreal to bizarre towards the end. That said, stick with it and you grow to love the characters. Books centred around The Watch are definitely my favourite.

Shanannigan

i just read them in the order they appear in the first few pages in most terry pratchett books.. and the novel i started on was Sourcery am i going wrong? did i throw myself in the deep end???

Doctor DooM

If you can read them in chronological order, can't go wrong there, starting with the colour of magic

Not strictly necessary, but its great watching the humour and the characters evolve- it's hard not to feel for Sam Vimes, Death, and the witches by this point!

ozt9vdujny3srf

Nice, stickied.

monkeyfudge

The Atheist wrote:

Is is a requisite to read the books in a rough order?

I picked up my first Pratchett - Small Gods - last week on a recommendation and am halfway through.
When I'm done - should I go all the way back, or perhaps just read "Pyramids" as per that chart...

Render unto me your advice ye Discworld nerds.

Well a lot of the books that are clumped together there will feature the same set of characters.

Pyramids is the first one I ever read actualy.

I haven't read a Discworld novel in a great many years... there certainly are a lot more of them these days.

Doctor DooM

The newer ones just get better and better. They're less laugh out loud funny but more gripping and interesting with more subtle humour. I think Terry is getting angry in his old age!

Dades

Thanks for the tips, folks.

Kalina

I just finished Small Gods and I'm reading in chronological order. I love the series and it's nice to switch from Witched to Guards to Wizards to Death and so on. It keeps it fresh and fun. Highly recommended!

Dredging up the thread here but what are the ones in green? I've never heard of them..

Nevyn

The green ones are short stories that were part of collections.

Frankiestylee

Are there some of those out of chronological order or am I going mad? I would have assumed the best way would be in order... or is this some genius new method of sorting them into relelvant characters. Must look over the old books... I know I've read them all, but it gets to the stage when they all blend into one over the years. Hmmm.

BossArky

Is "Wintersmith" a real discworld book or something similar to "Maurice and the Amazing Rodents"? i.e. set in the discworld but aimed at younger kids?

Nevyn

It is a real discworld book it comes after wee free men and hatfull of sky.

orestes

Cheers for clearing that up! I read Wintersmith when it cam out but couldn't figure out the back-story references in it! I'd never even heard of those two books till I saw this thread! Cheers!

Quondam

It really doesn't matter where you start as long as you do. I read Nightwatch first but that could nearly stand on it's own as a crime drama. One or two out of sequence will not ruin it as there are so many stroy arcs in the verse.

CyanRain

I read Colour of Magic first. I was immediatley confused, confuzzled, puzzled, whatever, and had no plans of ever reading a Terry Pratchett book again.

Until Thud! came out, and it was highly recommended to me by a friend. I read the book, fell in love, and now have an almost complete collection of Discworld.

But to be honest, it doesn't really matter which order you read them in. Most plot holes that you may miss out on are pretty self-explanatory. The characters may have developed over time, but not so signifigantly that it makes it impossible to read Thud! without reading Nightwatch or the likes first.

(Also, some books center around a character never before featured, such as Making Money, which is Terry's best book yet in my opinion.)

Scratch that, I haven't read Going Postal.
It was almost like he predicted the Recession and threw it int oa medieval/fantasy setting. Bloody brilliant.

Now I'm blabbing, that's why I don't join forums as much nowadays. All I'm trying to say is, read them in whatever order you want. It doesn't really matter. It would be nice to read them in perfect roder, but not necessary. Nice chart by the way

Gagalady

That's funny - I've only read Colour of Magic and I feel like an addict already! As soon as I put it down I wanted to read more in the series but I STILL haven't found the second book (the Rites one) in shops! Very frustrating!

Good to know some people think his later stuff is better. Also, my friend mentioned the Banks/Finance one is basically a reflection of the banking that caused the recession today - is that true?

Thanks to OP for the thread - very helpful! Now if I could only find the books in bookstores (I don't like ordering online... I like bookstores!!)

Gagalady

Oh - I thought the second book written was Equal Rites... am I wrong about that? Also - which one is the finance/banking book?

CyanRain

Gagalady wrote: »

Oh - I thought the second book written was Equal Rites... am I wrong about that? Also - which one is the finance/banking book?

Making Money

Gagalady

Hmmm.... so am I just being dumb - I don't see that on the OP's chart...??

Is it not a Discworld novel? What sort of a book is it then?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

that chart is several years old, Making Money is not.

PinkTulips

Funnily enough i read Truckers as a kid and hated it so avoided Pratchett for years. I was struck for something in the library one day though so picked up Small Gods and i was hooked!

Have never read them in order and there's one or two of the older ones i can never seem to get my hands on so have missed completely. Missing out on plot links just gives you a good excuse to go back and read an old favourite again

Gingerbreaddan

Started with Mort and from there have pretty much read them all in the order they've been published. (although i've skipped a few of the rincewind ones as they just never appealed)

I loved the witches sequence, I thought it ended with Carpe Jugulum...but can anyone tell me is it continued in the young adult books?

spender.j

I read Pyramids first I think, then Reaper Man and those two will always hold a special place in my heart... Started buying them in earnest (again going by the list inside the cover) and gotta say I love the Rincewind books! The colour of Magic and the Light Fantastic are an excellent start to the series in my opinion though you can definitely see how much the writing has changed to the present books... On the list inside the cover, I have noticed that in different editions the order is changed, Anyone know why that is?

kittykrazy

I read Guards Guards first and was hooked. I think my favorites so far have been all the watch series (especially Nightwatch), Pyramids and Monstrous Regiment. I'm not a big fan of the witch ones.

Kalina

Agh!! I haven't read a discworld in about 2 years, disgraceful! I must start back! They are classics!

mk1600

I read them in order until pyramids and stopped for a few years. Read fairly haphazardly for a while after that (thief of time, small gods, moving pictures) then read Guards and was back on the trail.

It doesn't matter what order you read the books in my opinion but there is no better feeling than realizing you missed one in a series (I missed feet of clay in the guards books).

eskimocat

I recommend reading them any old way you can! Then at your leisure go back and start somewhere in the pile again, repeat... ad infinitum!! There is a book for every mood.

Enjoy

Miles81

I just started reading the first one I could find, then the second, etc in no particular order.

It worked fine for me

gufnork

Yeah, I don't think it matters too much really. The only one that really continues directly on from a previous book is The Light Fantastic which continues the story from The Colour of Magic. Other than that, I think the Characters and stories are very accessible to anyone pretty much at any point. I certainly never worried about reading them in any particular order.

johnnyskeleton

gufnork wrote: »

Yeah, I don't think it matters too much really. The only one that really continues directly on from a previous book is The Light Fantastic which continues the story from The Colour of Magic. Other than that, I think the Characters and stories are very accessible to anyone pretty much at any point. I certainly never worried about reading them in any particular order.

I read sorcery, then the light fantasic and then the colour of magic. Of course I had to reread tlf and sorcery afterwards, but it didn't bother me any

Reader1937

Read them all. Then do it again. Hope for more. A magic recipe.
Nation did worry me, but the man is not well and knows it, so he wants to get all his ideas out, I imagine. Grateful for all he did, but hope for more.

Generic Dreadhead

Arise Thread! Arise!

Thinking of starting reading some of this guys books. I've only read one or two in years gone by.

Where is the "natural" place to start, doesn't necessarily have to be the 1st published or the 1st chronological.

I don't really understand the graph of the 1st page to be a total dumb*** here :P

TrueDub

Cormac... wrote: »

Arise Thread! Arise!

Thinking of starting reading some of this guys books. I've only read one or two in years gone by.

Where is the "natural" place to start, doesn't necessarily have to be the 1st published or the 1st chronological.

I don't really understand the graph of the 1st page to be a total dumb*** here :P

Start with Guards, Guards. If you like it, there's more in that thread, and you can branch out.

The first book is The Colour of Magic, and it's excellent, but less accessible.

Day Lewin

"The Colour of Magic" IS an OK place to start; the Wizards, the Discworld and Unseen University.

but the first one I read was "Wyrd Sisters" and I was instantly hooked (I like both witchcraft and Shakespeare, so...)
"Guards, Guards!" would be another natural starting point if you like "police" fiction, there are a lot of very funny allusions in it; and the Police theme is continued in Men at Arms, etc.

Personal fave - and you don't need to have read any others to enjoy this - is "Monstrous Regiment" - any hints I give would count as spoilers, so - *gags self*

Whispered

I got into pratchett through wings which I picked up at a second hand shop, then saw the colour of magic on tv when I recognised the name. After that I've been buying the books according to the order in which they were written. Every now and again I get one out of sequence as a gift or something

my3cents

I read the whole lot in the order they were originally published, finished the latest Steam and now going back and listening to them all as audio books. The running order for the listen to has recently started with the Watch series Guards Guards, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud and ending in Snuff (more Vimes really than Watch) which I'm still listening to atm.

Bit late now but if I had kids of the right age I'd be reading Where's My Cow

Can't really decide where to go next? Probably listen to the Ancient Civilisations: Pyramids and Small Gods then the Witches then Death. Will leave the Rincewind ones till last as I've probably had enough of him having read all the Rincewind books at least twice. That still leaves what some call the "Industrial Revolution Series" which are some of my favorites Moving Pictures, The Truth, Monstrous Regiment, Going Postal and Making Money to fit in.

DerekDGoldfish

After watching Sky Version of The Colour of Magic at Christmas having previously watched Going Postal and The Hogfather I decided to start reading the books.

Ive read 4 in the last month, occasionally getting sucked it and realizing it was ridiculous O'Clock it's going to be a busy year getting through them all.