terry pratchett

[kittycat7]

Has anyone else on here read any of his books? I'm working on reading the Discworld series right now.

 

[MacFall]

I think I've read all of them except the two newest ones. Obviously, I'm a fan.

 

[regencygirl]

I've read about 30 of the Discworld novels. They're wonderful!

 

[keith99]

Do the novels stand well alone or should one start from the beginning? If so which ones should be read first?

 

[MacFall]

There are several series within Pratchett's corpus. They sometimes cross each other and contain jokes and references which will not be clear to those who have not read from the beginning, but one can easily pick up at the beginning of any particular series and enjoy them.

The series are named below after their chief character(s), and the books listed in order of publication within the series.

Rincewind the "Wizzard"
Book 1: The Color of Magic
Book 2: The Light Fantastic
Book 5: Sourcery
Book 9: Eric
Book 17: Interesting Times
Book 22: The Last Continent
Book 27: The Last Hero

Death, Susan Sto-Helit (who is Death's Granddaughter)
Book 4: Mort
Book 11: Reaper Man
Book 16: Soul Music
Book 20: Hogfather
Book 26: Thief of Time

The Witches (principally Granny Weatherwax)
Book 3: Equal Rites
Book 6: Wyrd Sisters
Book 12: Witches Abroad
Book 14: Lords and Ladies
Book 18: Maskarade
Book 23: Carpe Jugulum
Book 35: Wintersmith (also featuring Tiffany Aching as mentioned below)

Samuel Vimes and the Ankh-Morpork City Watch
Book 8: Guards! Guards!
Book 15: Men at Arms
Book 19: Feet of Clay
Book 21: Jingo
Book 24: The Fifth Elephant
Book 29: Night Watch
Book 34: Thud!

The Wizards of Unseen University
Book 10: Moving Pictures
Book 37: Unseen Academicals

Tiffany Aching
Book 30: The Wee Free Men
Book 32: A Hat Full of Sky
Book 35: Wintersmith
Book 38: I Shall Wear Midnight (to be published in September 2010)

Moist von Lipwig
Book 33: Going Postal
Book 36: Making Money
Book 39: Raising Taxes (date of publication to be announced)

The rest of the novels feature one-off characters, or stand-alone stories in which main characters make cameos.

The Sam Vimes stories are my favorite, I think. Maybe because they often get into the idea of personal liberty and the idea that power does not equal right.

 

[Beechwell]

I would even say that one can pick up any book from any part of a series and enjoy it. They all pretty much stand for themselves (although it is true that one gets more in-jokes if you start from the earlier books).

I used to read them a lot, they are great books, both entertaining and often thoughtful. But his style does get a bit repetitive once you've read like a dozen of his books.

 

[IzzyPop]

I have read them all. Huge fan. I second the Vimes books as the best, although Moist is a close second. Small Gods is the best one-off.

 

[MacFall]

My favorite one-off was The Amazing Maurice, although I did enjoy Small Gods.

The idea of a turtle-shaped god falling from the sky and yelling "oh buggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbugger!" cracks me up every time.

 

[Speculative]

No, but I've heard good things, and I've been meaning to read him for awhile. Cheers for the list, MacFall. I've just ordered "The Color of Magic" from the library.

 

[Wirraway]

and now he's dying from a rare form of a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

 

[AlexBP]

I've read the majority of the Discworld books as well as the Bromeliad trilogy and a few of his other, earlier works. I like almost all of what he's written. He's funny above all else, but also clever, suspenseful, creative, and extremely intelligent, especially when compared to most of the other bilge that appears on the bestseller lists.

My favorite footnote is the one about the Monks of Cool, who built their monastery in "an extremely laid-back valley".