Your Favourite discworld book - and why

OfflerCrocGod · 26-08-2004 11:24pm

angeldelight wrote:

Hi, I recently read Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett and loved it so I was wondering if somebody could tell me the name of hte firs 3 discworld books in order so i can start reading them? thanx!

His first two are the weakest of the series and I suggest you not read them first

It took him a while to "flesh out" the Discworld so it might be better for you to read the stand alone Discworld novels first "Pyramids" and "Moving Pictures" would be good starting places; then you can move onto one of mainstays of the series. I tend to think the Watch books are some of the best to start of with so "Guards! Guards!" followed by "Men At Arms" at this stage you would have a good feeling of the discworld series and you can decide which ones you want to read yourself. Any other Q's don't hesitate. Enjoy

DrColossus · 31-08-2004 8:05pm

Reading Sourcery now, and tis all good. Have to say That Colour of Magic and Light fantastic are excellent. Havent read much of his stuff yet. But i loved pyramids. Think ill read small gods next then. (seems to have gotten a lot of praise)

Q_Elexra · 31-08-2004 8:37pm

DrColossus wrote:

Reading Sourcery now, and tis all good. Have to say That Colour of Magic and Light fantastic are excellent. Havent read much of his stuff yet. But i loved pyramids. Think ill read small gods next then. (seems to have gotten a lot of praise)

A man after my own heart

Haven't read a Pratchett book that I haven't loved.

Blitzkrieger · 02-09-2004 11:08am

Funky wrote:

guess i just like Vimes ass whooping

I just finished re-reading The Truth. That reminded me of the headline and the line underneath it :

PATRICIAN STABS CLERK WITH KNIFE
(He had the knife, not the clerk)

The watch books are my favorite too, with Feet of Clay taking the number two spot, but I prefer The Last Hero. There's quite a good story there that's easy to miss with all the fantastic illustrations. Well, maybe not a good story, but a well told and meaninfull one.

Fysh wrote:

On a totally separate note, am I the only person who'd quite like to see another Johnny book?

I agree completly. I thoroughly enjoyed Condoms Through The Ages (Vol 1 3000BC - 1900AD) and was very disappointed they never did a follow up. While I loved Good Omens and the other books set in the 'real' world, I think he'd be dangerously limiting his comedy options.

Fysh · 02-09-2004 2:28pm

Blitzkrieger wrote:

I agree completly. I thoroughly enjoyed Condoms Through The Ages (Vol 1 3000BC - 1900AD) and was very disappointed they never did a follow up. While I loved Good Omens and the other books set in the 'real' world, I think he'd be dangerously limiting his comedy options.

Errr....I was referring to the Johnny Maxwell books; Only You Can Save Mankind, Johnny And The Dead, and Johnny And The Bomb. Although "Condoms through the ages" might well make for interesting reading...worrying, but interesting...

sceptre · 04-09-2004 12:19am

Blitzkrieger wrote:

I just finished re-reading The Truth. That reminded me of the headline and the line underneath it :

PATRICIAN STABS CLERK WITH KNIFE
(He had the knife, not the clerk)

Heh, piano wanted by man with wooden legs

Kain · 06-09-2004 7:24pm

I haven't finished reading all the books but i think that Mort is my favorite so far due to the fact that Death is one of the central characters. I'm currently reading Reaper Man so i'm looking forward to seeing how this one works out.

WhiteWashMan · 10-09-2004 3:21pm

ah to be honest, if someone has not read any of the books before i think its a must to make them read the first two books. not great, and certainly not as funny as the rest, but they do set you up nicely.

you learn about the mended drum and you start to get a hold of all the little themes that run through the books, which is part of the reason that people love discworld so much.

its those little cross references which make you smile as you recall the first instance, and then add it to the second.
reading random books is fine, but you miss half the in-jokes. like reading robert rankin, except without the clown nose on

DrColossus · 10-09-2004 5:46pm

yeah tis a tough decision picking what book to read next

angeldelight · 16-09-2004 10:52pm

Is Jingo any good? I found it in a bookshelf upstairs...

savemejebus · 17-09-2004 7:52am

Jingo is excellent, well worth a read

Jaeger · 17-09-2004 8:05am

Best series of course has to be the watch books, though I was a little disappointed with some of the later ones (the ones I read most recently =x), like Jingo and the last continent.

Night watch thankfully was excellent.

My favourite non-series book has to be the Truth, apart from books like Feet of Clay, MAA and GG, it's right up at the top.

OfflerCrocGod · 18-09-2004 12:31am

WhiteWashMan wrote:

ah to be honest, if someone has not read any of the books before i think its a must to make them read the first two books. not great, and certainly not as funny as the rest, but they do set you up nicely.

As you said they are not as funny as the rest but they are also not of the same quality the story is just not as polished or refined. When you finish the two you will not dislike the Discworld series but neither will you really want to read any of the rest of the series. This happened with my mother; she read the first one....and was unimpressed....so she didn't want to read any other ones. I got a second chance to show her how good the series is when she had to stay in hospital as I was the only one who could get her reading material. I gave her one of the later Rincewind ones Sourcery and convinced her to read it and out of boredom she did....now she has read the entire series and is a big fan

So you see the first are not strictly always the best to start off with. I myself started with Hogfather, book number 20.

Canis Lupus · 18-09-2004 5:46pm

My fave is Jingo which got me into Discworld. Made me laff non stop it did. Altho funniest ever was in one of the books with the bull (was it called dave or barry) and the bull thought he was two bulls and then he got nutted by the gnome. I was on the train reading it and laughed myself to tears infront of strangers.. had to get up and leave the carriage to compose myself.

offlercrocgod wrote:

As you said they are not as funny as the rest but they are also not of the same quality the story is just not as polished or refined. When you finish the two you will not dislike the Discworld series but neither will you really want to read any of the rest of the series.

I read color of magic first and thought it was rubbish and refused to read any more of the series (my mate kept begging to give em second chance) then one day i was bored in work(it was quiet) and mate left jingo on the desk.. read a page..then the next, then nicked the book off him and read it through and jingo completely changed my mind about discworld, but some of his books do feel like secondary schools essays expanded with waffle.

Blitzkrieger · 19-09-2004 11:24am

Canis Lupus wrote:

Altho funniest ever was in one of the books with the bull (was it called dave or barry) and the bull thought he was two bulls and then he got nutted by the gnome. I was on the train reading it and laughed myself to tears infront of strangers.. had to get up and leave the carriage to compose myself.

Yeah - Rogers the bull. Class. Everybody has that problem when reading Discworld books in public. That's why I always read them in bed, alone, where nobody can hear me laughing my ass off.

angeldelight · 19-09-2004 11:28am

Just wondering, has anyone on here read "Wee Free Men"? Its just that I read it but at times found it quite slow and I was wondering would it be good or weak when compared to his other books as I haven't got round to reading any others yet

Blitzkrieger · 20-09-2004 3:01pm

Weak enough. Wee Free Men is supposed to be a childrens book where most of them are more complex. Mind you, some people think they're all childrens books.

strangelove · 30-09-2004 2:53pm

Ooook!! over 30 books, 3 games (more online) and 2 movies!

I've read them all at least once. For me 'Guards Guards' is my favourite. I read it years ago and it has always been the one I remember the best. 'Night watch' is good too, but that might be because its the last one I read. My favourite character is Vimes so that explains my choice.

There are too many books to have a definative choice though.
Nanny Ogg's Cookbook is good for a laugh.

Discworld Noir was the best game but way too short.

Wryd Sisters was the better movie!

Ook! ek oooK!

OfflerCrocGod · 30-09-2004 4:58pm

strangelove wrote:

My favourite character is Vimes so that explains my choice.

It's tough to pick a favorite character; it would be a tie between Vimes, Veterinari, DEATH and Ridicully. I have to stop myself at four or this could be a long post

Bim · 30-09-2004 8:47pm

It has to be Vimes for me. Theres just so much I can sympathise with.
You can also see him developing so much over the Guards books. (of course, Guards Guards is my favourite book)

Bim

avatar · 16-10-2004 10:59am

I've always had a soft spot for any book with Susan in it, especially the later ones (Thief of Time, The Hogfather). I loved Night Watch as well, but my all time favourite is either The Light Fantastic, Pyramids, or The Truth.

Ba_barbaraAnne · 16-10-2004 11:11am

It's so hard to chose 'best bits' of Pratchett. Anything with Death and Susan in it is always brilliant. I love it when 'Reaper Man' is buying chocolates for Renata. My favourite books are The Truth, Reaper Man, Witches Abroad, Moving Pictures and The Last Continent. Going postal i've only read the once, but it goes into my top ten already.

"There can only be one thousand!" is the line that me and the kids all enjoy.

Sarky · 16-10-2004 11:25am

Nac Mac Feegle Wahey!

BillyBoy · 22-10-2004 11:54am

What do you guys think of the new artwork on the covers of some of the books. I grew up with the Josh Kirby(i think thats his name) illustrations on the front but when i went in to Hodgess Figgis the other day the new books had illustrations by some new guy which weren't half as good.

BillyBoy · 22-10-2004 12:00pm

Sorry just found out that Josh Kirby died earlier this year. Was reading another forum and apparently if u look closely enough u can make out lots of characters from the Discworld on the cover of Night Watch by the new artist.Will have to look closer! Apologies again

OfflerCrocGod · 22-10-2004 2:46pm

Yes, Josh Kirby is a terrible loss

I loved his illustrations....it doesn't seem like a proper Pratchett book without his contribution on the front.

Kalina · 05-11-2004 9:08pm

That's a pity about Josh Kirby, his illustrations have me in stictches! I've only read about quarter of the discworld books, mopst recently Guards! Guards! which I found terrific (God bless Carrots innocence!!) and my favourite is Mort. Excellent read and extremely funny. Best bit is DEATH flipping burgers!!

Inner I · 07-11-2004 11:28pm

OfflerCrocGod wrote:

It's tough to pick a favorite character; it would be a tie between Vimes, Veterinari, DEATH and Ridicully.

I find it really interesting that the majority seem to favour the watch books, I do like them but my all time favourites have to include anything with Rincewind, plus my favourite charcter in the whole series without saying a word has to the Luggage { what I wouldn't do to have one of those }

Equal rites has also gotten a bit of a bashing, although the ending is a bit weak the premise is great and you have got to remember it is only the third book of the series... which by the way brings me to my next point how can you bash the first two books?

They are where it all stems from, with out them the series doesn't exist, they were classics when they came out all the reviews say so, they hit the market
like a jack hammer that just kept getting louder and it is directly because of the reception they recieved that Terry decided to countine the series {or was asked nicely by his Puplisher} ---- the same thing that happened with the hobbit and the Lotr

My point is that the series may have developed in to something Magical but that doesn't take away from the origanal concept which is first presented in the colour of magic and the light fantastic. They are where the genius stems from and therefore in my opinion must be a spot of genius all of their own.
yes they were intended for school kids, but guess what I was a school kid when I read them and have been a faithful DW reader ever since, I think the fact that there is 30 plus books, basically spoils us for choice, I read the first two when they first can out and all I remember thinking was I NEED to read more but had the agony of waiting till he wrote them. I believe this was a testement to the power of the COM, LF and Equal rites

savemejebus · 07-11-2004 11:34pm

i think that the colour of magic and the light fantastic were great but i have to say i found equal rites a bit weak. A similar problem occurs with monstrous regiment I think that it stems from terry trying to incorporate feminism and the equal rights into his movement.

My own theory is that he sees these issues as being really important and as such is unable to endow the stories with the same level of humour and fantasy as the others as he fears that to do so would weaken the moral and ethical points being mad. But hey i've been drunking and thats just my 2cent

Your Favourite discworld book - and why

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