Discworld Reading Order

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That chart is for a reread, not a new read.

Where does it say that?

I tried to source this, but gave up. But I did come across a quote that I’m sure has been cited here before, namely:

...I find it now rather embarrassing that people beginning the Discworld Series start with The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, which I don't think are some of the best books to start with. This is the author saying this, folks. Do not start at the beginning with Discworld.

—Terry Pratchett in 'Straight from the Heart, Via the Groin', included in A Slip of the Keyboard.

That said, didn’t C.S. Lewis recommend not starting with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? Shows what authors know.

Some random issues:

• To talk about rereading a series with 41 books before you’ve even read them once just makes me tired. It certainly doesn’t make me want to dive in. In addition, with so very many books, I can’t see the point of wasting reading time on inferior books in the series.
• I’m not much of a fantasy fan and to the extent I like it, it’s got to be set in a recognizable world. No weird creatures, etc. With that as a bottom line, would I find something to like here? And if yes, would some of the subseries be more to my taste?
• I don’t like fantasy, but I do like to laugh. badgoodDeb’s mention of guffaws is enticing.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

With some series, starting where it picks up doesn't work. So that bit of information should be mentioned if such a thread was to be started.

Good point.

Actually, I do have one series that I (somewhat) persevered with. "Earth's Children". That's the stuff by Jean Auel. I fought my way through the first book, "The Clan of the Cave Bear". It wasn't bad, just very tedious in places. But there are many good places in that book mixed in with the tedious. The followup book "The Valley of Horses" is one of my favorites. The third book, "The Mammoth Hunters" was pretty good too. I am stuck in the middle of the fourth book, "The Plains of Passage". Not because it is bad, but because I took a different reading direction and never really went back to finish up the Jean Auel series. Can't really blame me - she took over 30 years to write it, I can take the same to read it.

Skipping the first book in this series because it is a bit tedious would have been a mistake.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by haertig

It would be handy to have a thread here, "Series that started off bad, but got good later". Maybe including a "recommended insertion point" for slow readers like myself to jump in at to avoid the earlier not-so-good books. I wouldn't be the best person to start a thread like that, because I would have zero to contribute (since I currently abandon series rather than persevere if they start out bad).

No reason not to start a thread if you’re seeking info. There are always ways to engage. And the last book club discussion thread I posted along these lines as I abandoned the book, the first in a very popular series, and was done for all time. But I noted how back in the paper day I started series at not the first, as I ran across the books, and I thought there were distinct advantages. I really can’t remember being ruined for a series with that approach.

The opposite situation, where a series starts off good then goes bad, is easy to recognize and each reader can apply their own ideas about what "goes bad" means.

My only issue here is that I would frequently read at least a couple of books past the sell-by date, thinking they’d get better again.

[Dazrin]

Thank you for splitting this out.

Reading the books in published order is fine. It is just helpful to let people know that the first few books aren't as generally well regarded as the later books and that many people find it more enjoyable to start somewhere else.

When the author says to start somewhere else I think it carries a lot more weight, so:

"...I find it now rather embarrassing that people beginning the Discworld Series start with The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, which I don't think are some of the best books to start with. This is the author saying this, folks. Do not start at the beginning with Discworld." (Terry Pratchett in 'Straight from the Heart, Via the Groin', included in A Slip of the Keyboard.)

Personally, I'd start with any of the other sub-series than the Wizards then go back if you find those ones enjoyable.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Thank you for splitting this out.

Reading the books in published order is fine. It is just helpful to let people know that the first few books aren't as generally well regarded as the later books and that many people find it more enjoyable to start somewhere else.

How do they know they find it more enjoyable to stay other then the beginning if they didn't read those books? You can only know if you did read those books.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

How do they know they find it more enjoyable to stay other then the beginning if they didn't read those books? You can only know if you did read those books.

You only get to read the books for the first time once. There’s no control where you can go back and reexperience it in different way for the first time again, so you can discover which is better. So you take your best shot based on informed input.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

You only get to read the books for the first time once. There’s no control where you can go back and reexperience it in different way for the first time again, so you can discover which is better. So you take your best shot based on informed input.

But as we've seen, not everyone thinks the first books are not worth starting with. The thing is, the first few books give a good insight into Discworld.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But as we've seen, not everyone thinks the first books are not worth starting with. The thing is, the first few books give a good insight into Discworld.

No. People disagree. But that doesn’t make publication order the preferred and only default. A case which I personally find more persuasive says to start with one of the better books.

[hildea]

Originally Posted by issybird

• I’m not much of a fantasy fan and to the extent I like it, it’s got to be set in a recognizable world. No weird creatures, etc. With that as a bottom line, would I find something to like here? And if yes, would some of the subseries be more to my taste?
• I don’t like fantasy, but I do like to laugh. badgoodDeb’s mention of guffaws is enticing.

Hm, difficult question. About your "No weird creatures, etc.": The fantasy elements are mostly well known -- dwarves, elves, vampires, trolls, magicians, witches, dragons, the personification of Death, and so on -- but with a very Pratchettsk take on them. For instance, you'll find dwarves, vampires, and trolls as minorities in human society, treated the same way humans tend to treat minority populations. Some vampires have sworn off drinking blood, and struggle with that as addicts trying not to succumb to their addiction. One of the characters runs a sanctuary for sick dragons; the most common species of dragon is popular as a pet, but tend to get abandoned when the owner realize that a dragon isn't just a pretty fashion accessory, but quite demanding to keep happy and healthy.

The books are both hilarious and serious. For instance, I went to look for a reading sample for "Guards! Guards!", and started reading it (it's a long time since last time I reread it). In one of the first scenes, we meet a secret society: the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night. They are ridiculous, with silly theatrics and overly complicated passwords. And then the book switches to the point of view of the Supreme Grand Master:

Originally Posted by Guards! Guards!

Let the other societies take the skilled, the hopefuls, the ambitious, the self-confident. He'd take the whining resentful ones, the ones with a bellyful of spite and bile, the ones who knew they could make it big if only they'd been given a chance. Give him the ones in which the floods of venom and vindictiveness were dammed up behind thin walls of ineptitude and lowgrade paranoia.
...
"Brethren," he said. "Tonight we have matters of profound importance to discuss. The good governance, nay, the very future of Ankh-Morpork lies in our hands."
They leaned closer. The Supreme Grand Master felt the beginnings of the old thrill of power. They were hanging on his words. This was a feeling worth dressing up in bloody silly robes for.

It's still hilarious, but, well, a cynical, charismatic cult leader, manipulating a group of resentful people into doing what he wants in order to gain power, and believing that he can control them... It's not only hilarious.

I suggest you check out the reading sample of "Guards! Guards!", that should give you a pretty good idea of whether Pratchett is to your taste.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

There are NUMEROUS heated arguments about how to read Pratchett,

Told ya so.

Originally Posted by issybird

[*]I don’t like fantasy, but I do like to laugh. badgoodDeb’s mention of guffaws is enticing.

I like word play. Pratchett is very good at word play. He'll build a whole paragraph (or more) up for a very good word play at the end. So it's not mostly the fantasy part, it's the author's embedded humor.

Originally Posted by hildea

The books are both hilarious and serious. .....


It's still hilarious, but, well, a cynical, charismatic cult leader, manipulating a group of resentful people into doing what he wants in order to gain power, and believing that he can control them... It's not only hilarious.

Yes, this. Hilarity with a base of seriousness, giving you a new insight into your own world. (There is less of this in the first few books.)

[issybird]

Thanks to both hildea and badgoodDeb. I won’t try to snip your helpful posts. I’ll just add, as an example to hildea, that I was a huge BTVS fan. So it’s not the weird creatures per se, but that they live in a world I recognize. And for Deb, I love language; it’s why I’m such a fan of P.G. Wodehouse.

So I’m thinking that Guards! Guards! might be my entry point.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When going into a series, I do go in at the first book. I don't want to spoil the series by reading a book out of order.

And that's where I would normally start a new series as well. But, when there are a lot of suggestions that that it is not the best place to start a specific series, I would consider doing something else. And in this case, the evidence is to strong to ignore. Just look at this thread. There is only one person saying you must start with the first Discworld book and only one other even vaguely suggesting it. Everyone else is giving good reasons for a different order.

[Uncle Robin]

Just to really throw a simian spanner in the setup, although I don't regret reading them in publication order, my Discworld mantra is "if you only read one, make it Small Gods" - I must be triskaidekaphilic.

[dwig]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Just to really throw a simian spanner in the setup,...

Is that a tool that librarians use?

My introduction was the BBC radio play "Mort". It was intrigued and have read several of the series since, starting with Color of Magic. All of the others that I've read since were more enjoyable, but CoM did provide a good overview of that universe.

I think the only reading order we can agree on is to read each book from the first page to the last page. Which books to read in what order it a different matter.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Terry Pratchett did say that all the books were written in chronological order.

He also said that people shouldn't read them in publication order.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...29#post3037029

And for those who don't want to follow the link to a five year old thread where JSWolf was saying the same erroneous thing, the relevant quote is this:

"...I find it now rather embarrassing that people beginning the Discworld series start with The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, which I don't think are some of the best books to start with. This is the author saying this, folks. Do not start at the beginning with Discworld."
-- Terry Pratchett.