I’d start with Guards! Guards! There are several sub series within the disc world and the watch is I think both the funniest and most accessible. This is the first Watch novel.
FloridaFlamingoGirl on
It really depends on what you’re into. The night watch books are good if you like police procedural stuff. If you like pop culture satire then there’s stuff like Soul Music and Moving Pictures. If you like cozy fantasy like Howl’s Moving Castle, then check out the Tiffany Aching books.
If you read just one I’d say Going Postal, it’s an incredible satire of politics and it’s where the iconic “GNU” came from also.
TillZealousideal8282 on
I started with Hogfather personally
B3tar3ad3r on
1)I suggest looking up the 3.0 reading chart and starting whatever sub series you like the name of most
2) Small Gods…. no hogfather…. no nightwatch….
Gliese_667_Cc on
There are multiple reading order recommendations that you can google. Not being snarky but if you google it you will find some easy to use charts.
Specific_Rest_3140 on
I’ve heard people on here say not to start with the first book in Discworld: ‘the Colour of Magic’
But I strongly disagree.
I read the Colour of Magic, then the Light Fantastic and thought they were both incredible. Silly, funny and good fun.
Slartibartfast39 on
Really don’t feel you need to read all of them or need to read them in any particular order. Each is pretty much stand alone (apart from colour of magic and the light fantastic).
I think I started with The Fifth Elephant. It’s a good one.
mustachiomegazord on
Granny weather wax! Equal rites and wyrd sisters ect
LuckySSCB on
There’s the discworld emporium [quiz](https://share.google/2cKu0eQ0Ohh7HGbai) it’s not going to be perfect but it can select something more to your tastes
Terry Pratchett had a long evolution as a writer. He started off writing amusing satire of the fantasy genre but somewhere along the way he realised how he could communicate many important values and historical lessons through his work. But it means you have early books which create the foundations of the Discworld and later books which tell deeply meaningful stories but continue long running jokes from the earlier books. There is a wrong answer to where to start and it The Colour of Magic, in fact I would avoid the entire Rincewind series until you get properly hooked.
So I think starting with the standalones is a good way to figure out if you are a Discworld person.
Equal Rites – This is an early book that reads a bit YA or even Middle grade, it explores both Lancre and Ank-Morepork, two major locations in the books. I feel it gives you all the foundation building of the Rincewind series without having to read it. You can read Equal Rites and then go straight into the Witches or the Vimes series which are probably his best series.
Small Gods – If you read one of his early books and think, I’m not sure. I might try this book because it is comparable to his best stuff. If you don’t like this book then you probably won’t like Jingo, Nightwatch, Going Postal, Lords and Ladies which are generally considered his top tier stuff.
ikonoqlast on
You can pick any that seem interesting, they aren’t a serial connected story. There are just recurring sets of characters.
Popular starting points-
Guards! Guards! First Watch novel. Most popular subseries.
Wyrd Sisters. First real Witches novel if you don’t count Equal Rites.
Small Gods, standalone.
The Truth, standalone.
Hogfather, not the first Susan novel (Soul Music) but good and you don’t really need an introduction.
YakSlothLemon on
You can start anywhere you want. Really. I started with Going Postal, which was a great book because it was the beginning of a new set of characters, so it was an intro in.
But, quick guide:
If you like police procedural mysteries with fun quirky D&D-type characters – Guards Guards. (I cordially find that genre boring and found that book quite boring.)
If you like YA with strong female characters at all, the Tiffany Aching books. The Wee Free Men.
If you like religious satire, read Small Gods.
If you like subversive books with strong female characters that play around with ideas about performance and tradition, try the witch books – Lords and Ladies is a favorite of mine.
If you like opera, you have to read Maskerade. I mean HAVE TO. I have given it to opera friends who don’t like fantasy and they love it.
If you like stories about wizards, or hapless adventures in general, then the Rincewind books.
If you like a complex story with a lot of moving parts and a mystery to solve, Going Postal.
OneWall9143 on
Start with Guards! Guards! It is the first book in the sub-series following Sam Vimes and the city guard. There are about 8 books in the series, but Vimes and the other characters also pop up as minor characters in other books. In mine (and many people’s opinion) his very best book is Nightwatch, which is the sixth book in the Guards series. You kind of could read it as a standalone, but you would miss a lot, much better to read the other 5 books before it (all of which are great!)
My other favorite series is the Witches sub-series – start with Weird Sisters (which is a play on Hamlet). The Witches also appear in other books, including the Tiffany Atkin books, aimed at younger readers.
If you only wanted to read one book, some of the best standalone are Monstrous Regiment; Small Gods; Hogfather (Christmas book); Going Postal (this is actually another sub-series but you could read just this one); Weird Sisters (ditto); and Mort (ditto).
15 Comments
I’d start with Guards! Guards! There are several sub series within the disc world and the watch is I think both the funniest and most accessible. This is the first Watch novel.
It really depends on what you’re into. The night watch books are good if you like police procedural stuff. If you like pop culture satire then there’s stuff like Soul Music and Moving Pictures. If you like cozy fantasy like Howl’s Moving Castle, then check out the Tiffany Aching books.
If you read just one I’d say Going Postal, it’s an incredible satire of politics and it’s where the iconic “GNU” came from also.
I started with Hogfather personally
1)I suggest looking up the 3.0 reading chart and starting whatever sub series you like the name of most
2) Small Gods…. no hogfather…. no nightwatch….
There are multiple reading order recommendations that you can google. Not being snarky but if you google it you will find some easy to use charts.
I’ve heard people on here say not to start with the first book in Discworld: ‘the Colour of Magic’
But I strongly disagree.
I read the Colour of Magic, then the Light Fantastic and thought they were both incredible. Silly, funny and good fun.
Really don’t feel you need to read all of them or need to read them in any particular order. Each is pretty much stand alone (apart from colour of magic and the light fantastic).
I think I started with The Fifth Elephant. It’s a good one.
Granny weather wax! Equal rites and wyrd sisters ect
There’s the discworld emporium [quiz](https://share.google/2cKu0eQ0Ohh7HGbai) it’s not going to be perfect but it can select something more to your tastes
It doesn’t matter really.
Pick a theme:
[https://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/DW-Reading-List-V5-Theme_Characters.pdf](https://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/DW-Reading-List-V5-Theme_Characters.pdf)
I like the Witches. And Death. Not fond of the Wizards, Guards except for the time travel one.
Tiffany Aching is the YA witch.
If only one, then *Small Gods.* Not only is it a standalone, but by some measures it‘s the greatest.
But you mustn’t read only one. [Here](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Discworld_Reading_Order_Guide_3.0.jpg) and [here](https://www.sffchronicles.com/threads/579518/) are some useful reading order charts.
Terry Pratchett had a long evolution as a writer. He started off writing amusing satire of the fantasy genre but somewhere along the way he realised how he could communicate many important values and historical lessons through his work. But it means you have early books which create the foundations of the Discworld and later books which tell deeply meaningful stories but continue long running jokes from the earlier books. There is a wrong answer to where to start and it The Colour of Magic, in fact I would avoid the entire Rincewind series until you get properly hooked.
So I think starting with the standalones is a good way to figure out if you are a Discworld person.
Equal Rites – This is an early book that reads a bit YA or even Middle grade, it explores both Lancre and Ank-Morepork, two major locations in the books. I feel it gives you all the foundation building of the Rincewind series without having to read it. You can read Equal Rites and then go straight into the Witches or the Vimes series which are probably his best series.
Small Gods – If you read one of his early books and think, I’m not sure. I might try this book because it is comparable to his best stuff. If you don’t like this book then you probably won’t like Jingo, Nightwatch, Going Postal, Lords and Ladies which are generally considered his top tier stuff.
You can pick any that seem interesting, they aren’t a serial connected story. There are just recurring sets of characters.
Popular starting points-
Guards! Guards! First Watch novel. Most popular subseries.
Wyrd Sisters. First real Witches novel if you don’t count Equal Rites.
Small Gods, standalone.
The Truth, standalone.
Hogfather, not the first Susan novel (Soul Music) but good and you don’t really need an introduction.
You can start anywhere you want. Really. I started with Going Postal, which was a great book because it was the beginning of a new set of characters, so it was an intro in.
But, quick guide:
If you like police procedural mysteries with fun quirky D&D-type characters – Guards Guards. (I cordially find that genre boring and found that book quite boring.)
If you like YA with strong female characters at all, the Tiffany Aching books. The Wee Free Men.
If you like religious satire, read Small Gods.
If you like subversive books with strong female characters that play around with ideas about performance and tradition, try the witch books – Lords and Ladies is a favorite of mine.
If you like opera, you have to read Maskerade. I mean HAVE TO. I have given it to opera friends who don’t like fantasy and they love it.
If you like stories about wizards, or hapless adventures in general, then the Rincewind books.
If you like a complex story with a lot of moving parts and a mystery to solve, Going Postal.
Start with Guards! Guards! It is the first book in the sub-series following Sam Vimes and the city guard. There are about 8 books in the series, but Vimes and the other characters also pop up as minor characters in other books. In mine (and many people’s opinion) his very best book is Nightwatch, which is the sixth book in the Guards series. You kind of could read it as a standalone, but you would miss a lot, much better to read the other 5 books before it (all of which are great!)
My other favorite series is the Witches sub-series – start with Weird Sisters (which is a play on Hamlet). The Witches also appear in other books, including the Tiffany Atkin books, aimed at younger readers.
If you only wanted to read one book, some of the best standalone are Monstrous Regiment; Small Gods; Hogfather (Christmas book); Going Postal (this is actually another sub-series but you could read just this one); Weird Sisters (ditto); and Mort (ditto).