Terry Pratchett, Diskworld - worth reading? - Page 4

desertgrandma · 12-05-2010, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

No. That chart is less then useful. The correct reading order for Discworld is the published order. Terry does not recap things. And he does reference things that happened before. So you will end up spoiling things if you follow that rather useless chart.

Read in published order for the best reading enjoyment of Discworld.

And you can find the published order here.......

jgaiser · 12-05-2010, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

No. That chart is less then useful. The correct reading order for Discworld is the published order. Terry does not recap things. And he does reference things that happened before. So you will end up spoiling things if you follow that rather useless chart.

Read in published order for the best reading enjoyment of Discworld.

Sorry Jon, but I disagree. There's no reason that you can't read the "Watch" series (for instance) and enjoy them on their own. There is *nothing* inherently serial about the Discworld books. They inhabit a common world and have common characters that live in that world. Nothing more.

ardeegee · 12-05-2010, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

No. That chart is less then useful. The correct reading order for Discworld is the published order.

Couldn't agree more.

JSWolf · 12-06-2010, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Sorry Jon, but I disagree. There's no reason that you can't read the "Watch" series (for instance) and enjoy them on their own. There is *nothing* inherently serial about the Discworld books. They inhabit a common world and have common characters that live in that world. Nothing more.

Terry sometimes makes references to previous books and not just in the same arc. So unless you've read the previous books, the references won't mean as much or might not mean anything. Also, you could up up with spoilers for parts of earlier books. Take Soul Music. There are huge references to previous books that if you have not read, then you won't understand the references.

Terry does not recap. So you have to have read the previous books. I like that he does not recap. That's just a waste since we should already have read in published order. Even Terry agrees that the order is the published order.

Do you want to ruin the reading experience for yourself and others by recommending a chart that is so wrong? You just enjoy reading out of order and reading spoilers and stuff you won't understand. I'll just enjoy the books as they were meant to be enjoyed and I hope others will do the same.

jgaiser · 12-06-2010, 08:47 PM

Well Jon, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

In my opinion and in my experience, the books *can* be enjoyed by dropping into the beginning of an arc. Your mileage may vary. Enjoy them in whatever way works for you.

Geekette70 · 12-07-2010, 10:34 AM

I have to disagree on 'having to' read the books in order. I'm a huge fan and I've probably read 10 or so of the Discworld (and a few Tiffany Aching books) over the past decade. I haven't read any of them in a specific order, but I don't feel it's that really necessary.

Sure, there are some references to previous works in just about every novel, but they're usually in passing and not integral to the stories. I have found that every novel is very much a stand alone work (which is a refreshing break from the 10+ book series trend in the fantasy world these days.)

For what it's worth, I like the books with Death/Susan and the Witches the most, followed by the Wizards and Guards. Rincewind I find to be the least interesting character. In retrospect, I'm extremely lucky that I didn't read The Colour of Magic first! I never would have gotten into them.

Rhynedahll · 12-07-2010, 01:01 PM

Having orignally read the books in order (more or less) and having read all of the non juviniles, I would like to point out that Prattchett builds his world a little bit more with each book.

It is probably correct that it is not essential to read them in order, but if one does not, there are nuances and references that you will miss if you only read certain ones.

The Librarian's name, for instance.

Many characters, Death for example, are introduced in the very first book and Pratchett only expands characters. He does not rehash them.

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12-06-2010, 08:47 PM	#50
jgaiser Omnivorous Posts: 3,283 Karma: 27978909 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rural NW Oregon Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle 3, KPW1	Well Jon, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. In my opinion and in my experience, the books can be enjoyed by dropping into the beginning of an arc. Your mileage may vary. Enjoy them in whatever way works for you.

12-07-2010, 10:34 AM	#51
Geekette70 Member Posts: 14 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Irving, TX Device: 2 Kindle 3 WiFi's and a Nook WiFi	I have to disagree on 'having to' read the books in order. I'm a huge fan and I've probably read 10 or so of the Discworld (and a few Tiffany Aching books) over the past decade. I haven't read any of them in a specific order, but I don't feel it's that really necessary. Sure, there are some references to previous works in just about every novel, but they're usually in passing and not integral to the stories. I have found that every novel is very much a stand alone work (which is a refreshing break from the 10+ book series trend in the fantasy world these days.) For what it's worth, I like the books with Death/Susan and the Witches the most, followed by the Wizards and Guards. Rincewind I find to be the least interesting character. In retrospect, I'm extremely lucky that I didn't read The Colour of Magic first! I never would have gotten into them.

12-07-2010, 01:01 PM	#52
Rhynedahll Connoisseur Posts: 86 Karma: 504062 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle	Having orignally read the books in order (more or less) and having read all of the non juviniles, I would like to point out that Prattchett builds his world a little bit more with each book. It is probably correct that it is not essential to read them in order, but if one does not, there are nuances and references that you will miss if you only read certain ones. The Librarian's name, for instance. Many characters, Death for example, are introduced in the very first book and Pratchett only expands characters. He does not rehash them.