Best Place to start the Discworld series

[label]

So having lived under the rock for the last 30 years, I've managed to read about all the classics known to man but somehow have never read a discworld book. I know there considered to be quite good, magic is involved and the stories are pretty original but little else, so, where's the best place to start?

I understand Colour of Magic is the first book to be published and begins one of the series but one of my friends at work is thinking of starting me off with the phantom of the opera satire book so what's everyone think?

Good place? Bad place?

 

[Silent_Bob]

There are a number of sub-series to the Discworld books, each focusing on a particular set of characters and each with their own starting book -
Rincewind - 'The Colour of Magic',
Death - 'Mort',
the Witches - I cant remember sorry :S
the City Guard - 'Guards! Guards!'
and the most recent, the Moist Von Lipwig books - 'Going Postal'
And then there are a scattering of more standalone (for now) books as well.

Personally my favourite Discworld books tend to revolve around the City Watch, which usually provide a rather unique blend of crime and fantasy. But one of the advantages to the high quality of Sir Terry's work is that you can literally pick up any Discworld book and enjoy and understand the whole plot no matter when it was published. So i'd just read a few blurbs and grab the one that sounds the most interesting to you rather than get hung up about reading them in a particular order.

 

[ITL]

For me, the series really hits it's stride with Guards! Guards! - the 8th book, IIRC. But it is worthwhile starting at the beginning to get acquainted with some of the characters who crop up many times in the series (Rincewind, DEATH, the witches, for a start).

The Colour Of Magic is a strange one - it's more serious and "fantasy" based than what followed - it really stands alone in many ways, as the rest of the books take a very different tone.

The first few books take their time to find their feet - once you get to Guards! Guards! the various characters and institutions have settled down into familiar roles and the Discworld seems rich and vibrant.

Also, the first few books are quite short - shouldn't take long to get through them.

So I say start from the beginning, with the knowledge that after a while, a good series turns into a great one.

 

[Pemmer Harge]

the Witches - I cant remember sorry :S

Equal Rites is sort of the first, since it introduces Granny Weatherwax, but Wyrd Sisters is probably the first proper witches book since it introduces the other witches and the usual setting.

You could also check out some of the standalone books - I remember enjoying Small Gods a lot.

 

[Thor Damar]

The first Discworld novel that read was Interesting times which certainly did the job of getting me hooked.
Then again, Guards, Guards would be an excellent introduction or, perhaps Small Gods as a standalone novel?

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I would say start with the fourth book, Mort. Then jump to the sixth, Wyrd Sisters, and then straight on from there.

The first book really isn't representative of what comes after, the second is but it follows on very closely from the first. The central characters will become important again in later books, but you can manage well enough with just ignoring these first two. If you want to try the second without reading the first, it might work okay. I did that when I started, it didn't hurt.

The third book I never really liked (it does introduce a great character, but she'll be reintroduced in book six and you don't need to read three to enjoy it). Mort, number four, is where the series really hits its stride. The fifth book is okay but doesn't really go anywhere and can easily be overlooked. Then Mort's quality continues into Wyrd Sisters and then on from there.

So, my advice is, start with Mort, jump then to Wyrd Sisters and then go through the rest normally. If you want to read book two, The Light Fantastic, before Mort, that might be useful but won't give you such a solid start. I hope that's helpful...

PS: If you want a good stand-alone Discworld story, read Small Gods. It's the best of the lot and can be read without familiarity with the others.

 

[Reverend]

The beauty of Discworld is that you can start pretty much anywhere and you won't miss much. Most of the books can be categorised as being a part of a thread or sequence of related stories and characters, of which there are several.

Off the top of my head there's: -

• The Rincewind books: (Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Sourcery, Eric, Interesting Times, The Last Continent)
• The Witches books: (Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade, Carpe Jugulum)
• The Death books: (Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hogfather, Thief of Time)
• The City Watch books: (Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud!)
• Moist von Lipwig has also been the center of two of the more recent books (Going Postal & Making Money)
• There's also some young adult books, all but one (The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents) centring on a character called Tiffany Aching and is sort of a spin-off from the witches books: (The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, I Shall Wear Midnight)

On top of all that there's about half a dozen books that centre on characters and/or locations on the Disc not directly connected with any other "story thread" in particular: (Pyramids, Moving Pictures, Small Gods, The Truth, Monstrous Regiment)

Finally there's a few stragglers (The Last Hero & Unseen Academicals) that centre around, or prominently feature a combination characters from various other books, but aren't really part of any thread in particular. Both of these actually feature quite a lot of the wizards of Unseen University, who do crop up quite a lot anyway (most of the Rincewind & Death books for one) and while they're usually at the centre of (or indeed the cause of) many of the plots, they've never really had a story specifically 'about' them.

Most of the books take place in the same city (Ankh-Morpork) so most books (aside for the first 3 or 4) have cameos with major characters from other books (Death, for obvious reasons, crops up in all but one of them and I've already mentioned the ubiquitous wizards of UU) though it's never vital to know who they are in advance. Pratchett is very good about letting new readers into the world by introducing characters, places, institutions etc. that have appeared elsewhere but without making it feel laborious for long time readers.

The question really comes down to; what do *you* want to read first? Everyone has their favourites but there's really no "best" way to start, it all depends on what interests you.
Personally I started with Mort then went on to read all the "Death" books, but that's just what caught my attention; the City Watch books are undoubtedly my favourites. The great thing about this though is that while some aren't as good as others, there's no real duds, so just pick a flavour and go!

*Note: I've listed the various "sequences" in order of publication so if you want to read a particular sequence in order then just start with the first and work your way along.
​

 

[Australis]

Reverend has it pretty much right. You can start with any of the first of the subseries, except for Equal Rites, start with Wyrd Sisters instead. Wyrd Sisters-Witches Abroad-Lords and Ladies makes a pretty good trilogy for example.

I came to the DIscworld because of SFX Magazine. I'd seen the books at the library and been put off by the covers, but SFX gave away a book with the first chapter of a number of different books, among which was the opening for Mort. I nearly injured myself laughing, and rushed out and got as many of them as I could, and asked the library to get more.

Once you've got a few under your belt, then you could read the Rincewind books, Colour, Light, Sourcery, Eric are all OK, but for me he really comes into his own with Interesting Times, which also includes the mighty Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde (one of my favourites).

The interesting thing about the whole series is the longer it goes, the deeper they get. They aren't quite as gut bustingly funny, but wow, the characters do things that have you going, "Hmm, didn't see that coming".

And don't underestimate the Tiffany Aching novels. I'll nail my colours to the mast and say they are hands-down better than Harry Potter! Yeah, I said it!

I go also with the opinion that the City Watch stories are the best, and among most fans Night Watch is rated as the best DW novel of all. But as a character Granny Weatherwax is in a league of her own, and in the Witches books, Lords and Ladies is another favourite.

As for the standalones, they aren't a bad place to start, especially Moving Pictures (if you know anything about movies) or Pyramids (if you know anything of Egyptology).

And in conclusion, when I ask fans what's their personal favourite, not necessarily the one they think is the best, that one is also usually the first one they read. For me, not knowing the sequences at the time, that was Men At Arms. I still rate it as my personal favourite, because it introduced me to that wonderful, weird world.

Oh! BTW, there are various DW TV things out there. They aren't bad, but not a patch on the novels, except perhaps for Going Postal. I would recommend the soundtrack for the cartoon version of Soul Music, there are some pretty good songs on it, like 'Pathway to Paradise', listen to it when reading the book.

 

[label]

Thanks for everyone's input. My friend brought in "Moving Pictures" as his vote of where to start. Since I have that book in hand, I suppose I'll go ahead and read through it.

Provided I like that, based on what I've read here I think I'll either start with the Death or The City Watch books. Likely "Mort" and the death books will get my vote. Thanks again for your input.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

First book I read was Hogfather, wasn't really lost just starting there but decided to go back to the start and read on from there. Colour of Magic was a bit on the meh side, I thought, though The Light Fantastic I enjoyed. I've just finished Sourcery, which wasn't the greatest but the best one so far was Mort. Seems like you can pretty much pick up and read any of them without too much trouble though.

 

[diankra]

I'd say start with The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, as they given you basics of the Discworld that'll help you enjoy the later, deeper, books more.
But treat them as if they were pilot episodes, if you see what I mean.

 

[Darth_Daver]

I've read Colour and Light Fantastic first, didn't get them at all. Many years later I read Guards,Guards, Men At Arms, Feet of Clay (the "First Watch Trilogy"), which was superb, so I went back and read on almost completely in chronological order.
So a few notes:
- Equal rites I didn't like at all.
- Sourcery and Eric aren't that great too, and you will love Rincewind anyway when he later returns (Interesting Times and Last Hero) so the only thing you need to know about those two that he tries to get some rest after it in Last Continent (of course, unsuccessfully)
- My favourite of the early ones is Small Gods.
- As series, I liked the witches the least, the "Industrial revolution" the most.
- The best one is probably Night Watch or Going Postal for me.
- It hit it's stride after Fifth Elephant, and it never slowed down. Truth, Thief of Time, Last Hero, Night Watch, Monstrous Regiment, Going Postal, Thud, Making Money and Unseen Academicals were all 10/10 in my book


So long story short: read them all, early ones earlier, later ones later, but it wont matter if you mix up a few of them in between.

I envy you, I want to read them all again for the first time

edit for note: Let's hope all together that Sir Terry will be in good health to write Snuff, Raising Taxes AND MANY MORE !

 

[Australis]

^ Hear, hear!

BTW, Professor Sir Terry Pratchett is now a Fellow of Trinity College (or somesuch), from where came the likes of Swift and Wilde. His inaugural lecture is now on YT:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2FZ_0d3yEI[/yt]

I'd recommend watching it on YT in large mode.

 

[Pemmer Harge]

As an addition, I'll agree with those who consider Mort a good place to start. That's a really good, inventive story and it kicks off the Death books which are some of my favourites (especially Soul Music and Hogfather).

I think really, the first couple of Discworld books are a bit different because they're more straight-up fantasy parody, whereas the books get more sophisticated and harder to classify later on.

Reading them in order isn't that important, but it can help. I recall Terry Pratchett included a note at the beginning of Lords and Ladies recommending people ready Wyrd Sisters and Witches Abroad first.

 

[captcalhoun]

i started with Mort. i then read the then-current ones in a mixed bag way until i got caught up and then read them in publication order from about Soul Music on.