TrдVψLшR 0115 Posted October 14, 2018 Report Share Posted October 14, 2018 I’ve heard a lot of good things about Terry Pratchett’s books. I looked at his bibliography and I have no idea where to start. He has like 8 million things. Does anyone have any suggestions? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted October 14, 2018 Report Share Posted October 14, 2018 Imagine Prachett's books are like the cosmere. Most of them are connected. Some are connected by being in the same universe or planet (if you can call that a planet ), others have the same characters and setting (like one of Brandon's series do eg. SA or Mistborn). But like Brandon's works, it's best to start at the start. Begin with the stuff he wrote first, then work your way forward. The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic are the first Discworld books, so I'd recommend beginning with them. Rincewind and Death are standout characters you'll immediately fall in love with. After that you can follow through those character's adventures, or you can branch off into other arcs. Guards Guards! will introduce you to the Watch series, his tales of the Ankhmorporkic police force's activities. (Thud is one of those books, and I'd argue it's his best.) Then there's the adventures of Moist VonLipwig. Bad name, funny plot. He appeares first in Going Postal, then in Making Money. Both are good reads. There's plenty of other stuff too. The Wyrd Sisters is an excellent book, with strong female protagonists. That's a good arc to get into too. My recommendation would be to sample a variety of his works (likes the ones mentioned above) then if you really like any, read his other books with the same characters in them. Enjoy! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrдVψLшR 0115 Posted October 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2018 @Archer Obi-Wan, that is exactly what I needed. Thanks! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just a Lifetime Posted October 14, 2018 Report Share Posted October 14, 2018 This fellow suggested Guards! Guards! as a good starting point for folks new to Pratchett, though when I took that advice it didn't really work for me. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyndlerunner Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Good Omens is a book Pratchett co wrote with Neil Gaiman. It's contemporary fantasy, and is an excellent and utterly absurd read. Things to look forward to include: Satanic nuns, best of Queen albums, misprinted bibles and the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wax Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) Discworld is written in arcs. Main Arcs Rincewind City Guards (captain Vimes) Death Weatherwax Witches Tiffany Aching (witches feature prominently - think of it as Arc 2 of the witches) Moist Von Lipwig Side arcs Monks wizards of university others (monstrous regiment, etc) ——— The way the arcs work is the main protaganist has the entire book and the other main arc heroes might usually a 1 paragraph scene, eg stan lee in marvel movies. So, tried and trusted method is to go in discworld book publication order. However, if you are in to a particular arc, you can choose to skip a middle side novel to continue on the arc without much loss. For example, captain Vimes is the most consistent and possibly the best arc of the lot. But, if you want to finish the Vimes story, you can concentrate on the arc, and skip the side arc books until after you finish with Vimes. I know I wanted to finish the Vimes series but kept getting sporadic monk books in the middle. Edited October 19, 2018 by Wax 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruticus Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Good Omens is one of my top ten favorite books of all time and it's always where I tell people to start with either Pratchett of Gaiman. For me it's one of those books that's so good it almost makes me angry because I wish I wrote it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ammanas Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 If you decide to start with Discworld than this will help: http://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2010/06/where-to-start-terry-pratchett.html?m=1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wax Posted October 19, 2018 Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Bruticus said: Good Omens is one of my top ten favorite books of all time and it's always where I tell people to start with either Pratchett of Gaiman. For me it's one of those books that's so good it almost makes me angry because I wish I wrote it! That’s a good one. My most memorable ones in the discworld series are below. In brackets are the themes touched upon. Feet of Clay (nod to AI, slavery) Night Watch (time travel, back to the future) Thud! (Racial tension) The Wee Free Men (patronising of children) Edited October 19, 2018 by Wax 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebfritz Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 I really like the Guards books and the Death books. But I am not sure if that is the best place to start. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkum Posted November 23, 2018 Report Share Posted November 23, 2018 i honestly prefer to do the discworld books in publication order. in fact i genrally prefer that for most series. but if you aren't sure about discworld after colour of magic and the light fantastic, maybe skip to guards guards and/or small gods. Guards Guards, as has been mentioned, is the start of the Watch arc, consistently one of the best arcs in the series, and Small Gods is a very good standalone story, set a few hundred years before most of the main event in other books of the series, and it is amazing. if you still dont like it after those 2, then it is not for you, and there is no shame in droppign it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wax Posted November 24, 2018 Report Share Posted November 24, 2018 12 hours ago, Dunkum said: i honestly prefer to do the discworld books in publication order. in fact i genrally prefer that for most series. but if you aren't sure about discworld after colour of magic and the light fantastic, maybe skip to guards guards and/or small gods. Guards Guards, as has been mentioned, is the start of the Watch arc, consistently one of the best arcs in the series, and Small Gods is a very good standalone story, set a few hundred years before most of the main event in other books of the series, and it is amazing. if you still dont like it after those 2, then it is not for you, and there is no shame in droppign it. TBH, guards guards felt a little unpolished as it was start of the arc. It was superb in the next book in the arc - feet of clay, where AI and sentience was explored by using golems. So, it only gets better. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkum Posted November 24, 2018 Report Share Posted November 24, 2018 Just now, Wax said: TBH, guards guards felt a little unpolished as it was start of the arc. It was superb in the next book in the arc - feet of clay, where AI and sentience was explored by using golems. So, it only gets better. true, but the basic ingredients are mostly there from the start. I'd guess you could pretty much work out how you'll feel abotu the watch books just based on guards guards with liek 85-90% accuracy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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