Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett | A book review (and ranking of Discworld so far)
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- Опубликовано: 26 янв 2021
- Ok, so ya'll were right about Guards Guards by Terry Pratchett. I have to eat my words, but hey, what's new? Let me know your opinions on Discworld, particularly my ranking of the 7 I've read so far!
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The witch line starting w/ Wyrd Sisters also has great characters. Granny Weatherwax has deep characterization and is so true throughout all the novels she is in. Herself, Death, Lord Vetinari, and Sam Vimes are the tentpoles Pratchett hangs the rest of the satire on to great success.
In regards to The Truth, I think that is a novel that needs to be read in the context of its position in the series. Once you get further in the series, I think you’ll find that the character that develops the most is the world itself. The Truth isn’t my favorite book in the series, but it adds a layer of depth to the Disc that adds much to the books that follow.
Pretty much 100% of people have told me this. Apparently it's one of the few discworld novels that REALLY benefits from the entire series. I think I may revisit it when I actually "get" to it in the order.
I think one of the things I love about this book is that Carrot was apparently intended to be the lead, but Vimes slowly took over more and more of the story as Pratchett was writing it.
I love details like that - it's fun when author's book characters come to life in a way that demands a story be written just so
ha I can totally see that 😆
You'll also be blown away by the Death arc. Mort is probably the best, but Reaper Man, Soul Music and Hogfather are just incredibile. The whole "Death cutting wheat in the fields" piece is testament of Pratchett's genious
“What can the harvest hope for if not the care of the reaper man.”
“But why one blade of grass at a time?”
Bill Door regarded the neat row of stalks for some while.
THERE IS ANOTHER WAY?
“You can do lots in one go, you know.”
NO. NO. ONE BLADE AT A TIME. ONE TIME, ONE BLADE.
“You won’t cut many that way,” said Miss Flitworth.
EVERY LAST ONE, MISS FLITWORTH.
“Yes?”
TRUST ME ON THIS.
I genuinely think the best way to experience Discworld is just going in a straight line. The books all reference each other and make plenty of callback jokes and if you're jumping around you'll miss out on a lot of stuff.
Ok so that's how I feel! I'm so glad I've read them in order so far (just skipped Pyramids because I was too excited to get to Guards lol). I've decided to for sure read them in pub order from now on.
The Watch series of the Discworld books are all great. But I think Night Watch in particular rises to the level of an actual literary masterpiece. Maybe leave Night Watch till you have read quite a few of the older Ankh-Morporkh books though and you are more familiar with the history of the city. IMO NIght Watch is the actual peak of the entire Discworld series
Is Night Watch next? Do you recommend reading in publishing order, then, rather than pursing the City Watch subseries?
@@Bookborn Night Watch is near the end of the Watch subseries - Guards! Guards, Men At Arms, Feet Of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant and then Night Watch in order of publication. Though of course Watch characters have cameos and pop up in lots of other Discworld books too. Night Watch was published towards the end of the entire Discworld series. I think it is probably much more satisfying when you are already steeped in the lore and the characters - especially Sam Vimes - but you could probably? read it at any time.
@@ciaranirvine Well I'm going to, at the very least, read the city watch in order so I'm a while away from it. But with this suggestion, I'll probably switch to another subseries before doing City Watch so I have more under my belt.
I couldn't agree with this more. I always want to force Night Watch right into people's eyeballs because I love it so much but it definitely benefits from having read the previous Watch novels first. I've read it so many times and every time I read it I could do it all over again.
@@Bookborn chronological is best, otherwise you miss Sam Vimes evolution
Guards! Guards! will be my next Discworld book that I read and I'm happy to hear that everybody likes it so much. Great video :)
I'll be interested to see your review on it in comparison to Mort since I Know you liked that one!
I got the new hardback version :)
@@Bookborn The Sam Vimes books (yes, ALL of them) are by far my favourite reads, closely followed by the Witches (especially "Masquerade" and "Witches Abroad") and Tiffany Aching books. Rincewind is entertaining but also kind of a one-trick-pony (sorry, bookborn...) Any book starring Death is always a great read. My kids have expressed the hope that when I (or they) die, Death will be like Pratchetts Death. In the Shepherd's Crown he brought me to tears. And I also greatly enjoyed Small Gods.
Before Pratchett I was into reading Tanith Lee' Flat Earth books ("Night's Master," "Death's Master," "Delussion's Master," "Delirium's Mistress," and "Night's Sorceries" ) and I truly have to recommend these to you, as well as her "Birthgrave" Trilogy which grabs you from the first page and doesn't let go...
"Guards, Guards" was my introduction, too ... Wonderful story, so many laughs ... In later reading I would discover the late Sir Terry Pratchett's abilities to not only polk fun at the genre of hero novels, but to also bring a tear, and even rage, given the topic he was covering. Thanks for the share ... 😊
About 2 years ago I was becoming sad that Discworld seemed to be slipping from the public consciousness. It makes me so happy that BookTubers are picking these up bringing new readers along for the ride. i am also a little jealous of all that lays ahead for you 😉
I will do all I can as one person to make sure it never leaves the public consciousness! It's too brilliant not to be forever
Good Omens show is what introduced me to Prattchet. I enjoyed it so much I looked into it the authors and discovered Discworld. I'm 16 books in since november of last year and I still can't put them down.
@@robertwhite6384 that is awesome! 😊
YESSSSSSSSS. This makes me so happy. My first book was Hogfather, then I read CoM and TLF which I didn't love but it was fine because I already knew I loved DW. The reason I tell people not to start with CoM is that I have seen SO MANY people read CoM and then never continue with the series. I just don't think it's a great intro to what Pratchett does best, which is nearly perfected in GG.
GG imo is definitely one of the strongest Watch books, but the next three particularly are fantastic. His social commentary is the best I feel with Vimes and the Watch.
The Truth is one of my favs but I read it right when it came out so I had read most of the other books by then. Maybe that's why I liked it better? Or maybe I just am partial to the Ankh Morpork books regardless of the fantasy element.
I'm so happy to meet another Discworld pusher!!!
Love the term "Discworld pusher" because THATS ME and I'm not even close to through all of them.
Yeah, I think it being the fourth DW novel I read was just a weird order for The Truth. It was so different, I didn't have time to adjust or get used to it with the other novels. But I'm so excited to read more of Vimes. I love him so much.
Enthusiastic Discworld pusher here, but also a voracious reader that read CoM first and promptly ignored everything else by Pratchett for at least a decade. Thank goodness I went back. Excellent point about The Truth by the way; I like that book a lot, but your criticism of it is accurate.
I could discuss Pratchett for hours. The commentary, the humor, the characters, the absolute LOVE of playing with language; it's all so effective and wonder filled.
The stage play was great! I saw it in Edinburgh with the actor who played Avon in Blake's Seven. Was really raucous.
The game was an amalgamation of a few stories, you play as Rincewind but has lots of plot elements from Guards Guards. It was so hard! But very funny, and great voice work from some British comedy legends like Eric Idle and Tony Robinson.
A play sounds such a weird thing for me, for some reason, but everyone who saw it says it was amazing! I'm now extremely jealous I missed out
Guards! Guards! is the beginning of the Watch subseries of Pratchett's. Of all Pratchett's books, the Watch series was my favorite and most reread books. My second is the Witches (including the Tiffany Aching Series). Vimes is one of my favorites (the others being Granny Weatherwax and Death).
Pratchett said it best in Hogfather... NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN.
Keep reading....And reread and share.
So many people say the Watch is their favorite subseries!
Nice to see someone sticking up for the first two Disc books , and not telling everyone to avoid them like the plague. I read Colour of Magic first too as I didn't know it was ''the wrong place to start'. Yes I did wonder what all the fuss was about, but it made me laugh enough to read the second, and things start improving even during Light Fantastic. But TCOM is nohwere near as bad as some people claim anyway. I ended up reading all 35 books available at the time pretty much back to back and couldn't wait to start each new book when I got near the end of one. I don't get it when people say read all the Guards books in order, then the Death books etc. To me this is like eating all the roast beef first, then the roast potatoes, then the gravy, and so on. There's nothing wrong with reading Discworld in order as long as you know that books 1, 2 and 3 aren't going to tell you how much you're going to enjoy books 20, 21, and 22 or whatever.
PREACH! I love reading them in pub order (at least so far, I've read like three more since this video). It's nice to jump around and get a vision of the entire world. And like you said - The Colour of Magic was very good, everyone else is wrong haha
(This comment contains Guards! Guards! spoilers)
I love the way Guards! Guards! is about our common expectations of fiction. On the small scale, it's full of little references to film tropes, everything from the title and the dedication you read, to the "Are you feeling lucky?" scene and the "last desperate million to one chance" subplot. And, to me at least, a lot of the descriptions in the book feel like they're describing cinematic shots. On the large scale, Carrot is set up as a Returning King figure, but instead of redeeming the city, the city and its realities (the realities Aragorn never had to deal with) win out, and he ends up as a side character in the latter half of the story. And like Carrot, the dragon is summoned from a world of stories into a more realistic world where she doesn't fit, and only realities about the life cycle of reptiles that would never come up in fantasy stories are able to save the city from her. Vimes' journey is in the opposite direction, from a cynical detective out of 1940's Film Noir into something a bit more heroic. Every time I read this book I am more amazed at how carefully woven this tapestry is. It is my favorite book of all books, and I'm glad you got to experience it! The subsequent city watch novels are wonderful too; I hope you enjoy them!
YES YES YES to everything you said! The way he turns common tropes on their head is just masterful. And I LOVED the hilarious plotline of Carrot having all the "lost king" marks and everyone just ignoring it. Just levels upon levels of satire and humor.
@@Bookborn This actually DOES get acknowledged. There's actually a PROPHECY regarding the return of the King:
"The true King shall return to Ankh-Morpork, and he shall bear the Law with him. He shall Protect and Serve the people, and upon all shall bring Justice."
...nowhere does the prophecy say he actually takes his throne. Actually, if you read it, funnily enough, Carrot arrives with the book of laws, and he joins the watch to protect and serve as a watchman, bringing justice to all in his simple, earnest way.
@@Bookborn I think Carrot and Vetinari both realise Carrot is the "rightful heir" but both purposefully ignore it and Carrot chooses his own destiny.
I started Guards Guards last night and I laughed out loud. The secret society is amazing!!! Love Carrot!
Isn't it just so good! It's the Discworld novel I've laughed out loud the most in, for sure. Carrot and his family is just so funny.
@@Bookborn it is actually my first Pratchett book recommended of course by Allen
When I read discworld, I started not fully knowing it was a series, I read a couple random books from the library paperback racks, and really enjoyed them. Then once I had some investment, I did them in order. I think that in order is the best way to read them IF the reader is definitely not going to be dissuaded by the first couple books. I think that the main reason people recommend to start in other places is that many people will not want to commit to reading the entire series, so for most readers, plugging them into a particular storyline is important. But for avid readers who are used to reading long series and who aren't dissuaded by that, in order is a great choice. The separation from your favorite characters just makes the reunion so much sweeter.
Good point. I think ya'll have convinced me to just keep going in order now lol. I loved the first couple of books so I think I'm safe from that at this point haha
I literally was looking at picking this up today. Thanks for the final push.
YES! Come back and report if you liked it!
Guards Guards is where I started but they actually get better and better as they go on. There is less fantasy and more satire but the writing significantly improves. With what you have read so far I suggest reading them in the order they were published (anyone wanting to jump in I wouldn't recommend the very early ones as they are somewhat clumsy. Come back to them. Guards Guards worked for me). The fantasy does reduce but the quality of writing and the ability to touch the individual increases. Oh, and the novels aimed at young adults, particularly the Tiffany Aching series are every bit as good as the full blown adult entries.
This is good advice! It's so hard to decide whether to read in publication order or follow thread, but people do seem to say that the later books are better if you really have a sense of Discworld.
The Truth is in my top 5 Discworld books but I feel like it's one of the books that benefits from being read later when you've spent more time in Ankh-morpork
This is good perspective. Maybe I can revisit it once I've read more Discworld. It's not like I hated it, it just didn't do as much for me as the others.
@@Bookborn having a better understanding of Vetinari's relationship with the city as well being more familiar with a lot of the characters in it that are reoccurring characters in other books and such like that
I originally read The Truth when I was in my twenties and it might have been my fourth or fifth Diskworld novel. I thought it was good but not great. Since then I read the whole series and when I got back to rereading The Truth it hit on a whole other level. I don't know if it was from a better familiarity with Ankh-Morpork or because things just hit different once I hit my forties, but now it's in my top ten books of all time.
Just took my first step into Pratchett with *Guards! Guards!* after your glowing opinion of his work as a recent convert.
I really can't agree more. It was the best comedic novel I've ever read. I found myself laughing out loud within the first few dozen pages and it never stopped. You're so right that his books, while funny, have great characters, a world you care about/want to visit, and interesting social/political commentary. Interesting tidbit about how it was a concern for publishers, I LOVED how substantive his books were on top of the humor
I was thrilled to learn how large the discworld library is. Excited to keep reading, more than I have been in some time
I'm happy you had so much fun with this book. After I finish The Locked Tomb I might pick up guards guards
DO IT!
I mean The Colour of Magic is a perfect way to start the series. The whole point of an introduction is to make the reader want more
I personally agree, but I guess Colour of Magic turned a lot of people off of the series supposedly.
You have some really great books coming up, Guards Guards isn't the weakest of the Watch series but it is mid tier. Nightwatch is the masterpiece
I think you will like The Truth more when you have read more of the Watch series. What it does really well is shift perspective on Vimes. I wouldn't call it a favourite but it is interesting
But the glory of Pratchett is he appeals on so many levels. So people can easily disagree on his best work
SO many people have said that the Truth is so much better after you've read more of the series so I'm thinking I'll have to revisit it once that happens.
Feet Of Clay is decent too
Speaking of Watch books with social commentary, "Jingo!" is my favorite example of that. Vimes is a shining star in that story, if a good bit dented, but it also gives you a peek into Vetinari and how quietly integral and ethical he is to making Ankh-Morpork work.
So excited to get to more of the City Watch books...
Late comment, just found your video. But Night Watch and Thud are my favorite of the Watch series. But they do require having read at least the rest of the watch series to really hit hard. They have a lot of world building, in that they really start changing the status quo of Discworld so far. But they are best because they are both deep dives into what makes Vimes such a good character, and how he got there.
"Who watches the watchmen Vimes?"
Vimes: "I do.".
"AH, but who watches you?"
Vimes: "I do."
@@MandoWookie Thud is the moment for me where Vimes became arguably the greatest hero in all of fantasy. There has never been an author who can depict a human as a force of nature quite like Terry Pratchett.
Saw the play in Stoke on Trent back inn the 90s starting Paul Darrow (Avon from Blake's 7) as Vimes.
No way! Was it any good?
@@Bookborn of course.
I also saw Paul Darrow as Vimes... I think it was in 1998. Superb in the role.
The City Watch is my favourite of the Discworld (although my favourite book, Night Watch, is way down the line), so nice to see the love it deserves
The camera with the Imps in I actually mentioned in one of the first two books I can’t remember which one I tend to think of both books together.
I’m lucky I started reading Terry Pratchett even before the Discworld books came out I read strata and dark side of the Sun his sci-fi books and just carried on reading his fancy books when they came out.
There are some similarities between his sci-fi and fantasy stories in one of the Discworld and there is a pub called the mended drum
After I finish Discworld I for sure want to go and read everything Pratchett ever published.
First time seeing this channel. Love your perspective on Discworld. Liked and subscribed! Cant wait to see more of your videos.
Thanks for the support!
Guards! Guards! is also a good intro to the Discworld because it is a familiar genre--the police procedural--that eases one into all the wacky fantasy and social satire.
Pterry once did complain that he intended to give the Watch its place in the sun...but they ended up taking a permanent holiday in Spain instead.
Pterry is just the best 😂 Yeah, I def see why people suggest Guards. Not only is it familiar, but it's also just extremely witty and some of the best satire. I'm still glad I had some other books in the series, though, for context to truly appreciate this masterpiece.
Well welcome to the watch - it’s a bit of a ride with quite a few books, about half focusing on Sam Vimes, but other watch characters making an appearance. As much as I like Guards! Guards!, I think Men at Arms and Night Watch are even a bit better. If you haven’t read it yet, The Wee Free Men is a MUST read. Going Postal and then Making Money are also uniquely fun, dealing with technology kind of like Moving Pictures.
Everyone seems to mention Night Watch. I'm super excited to get to it
Ah, you have discovered Vimes, and the mayhem that is the Guards. Congratulations, don't let me detain you...
I shall never be the same again
@@Bookborn wait until you read Man at Arms... So good...
I got my wife to start with Guards! Guards! We now have a plush dragon puppet we named Errol.
My first Pratchett novel was Silver Screen. I look forward to seeing your reviews after you have read that one.
Is Silver Screen at all related to Moving Pictures? sounds like they may have the same theme
@@Bookborn I may have the titles mixed up, but yes. (It has been over 30 years. I'm old!!) 🤣
Discworld novels are golden. World and mirror of worlds. Pratchett can do no wrong. (Except when he uses the none-word 'bicep' - but then loads of writers do this!) He was, is, and always will be, one of my favourite authors.
As to the relevancy issue: great literature rarely ages. If you find something ages badly, then it isn't great literature. I've found that to be true.
Good point about literature. I have a feeling Pratchett will be as relevant as Jane Austen is now in the years to come.
Small gods was my 1st discworld read, Highly recommend still my favourite in discworld to date. Although the only others I've read so far is Mort and guards guards
Small Gods is the other Discworld novel I hear most about! I'm excited to read that one. I guess that one starts a new subseries so I could start it any time!
@@Bookborn I went with small gods as as it was a stand alone, did the same thing with the cosmere started with Elantris. So I didn't have to jump in head 1st haha
@@hoggelpops3632 It's a good strategy. It's hard to want to start a giant series first off...which is sort of why I've been putting off getting back into Malazan after only reading book one haha
The video game was called Discworld and it was on the PS2. I dont know when it was released, but I found it used at a game store in 1998-99ish. It was a point and click adventure type game that starred Rincewind as the protagonist in a Guards! Guards! plotline. I absolutely loved it, and found out afterwards it was based on novels I had never heard of! I've been reading Terry Pratchett ever since!
Oh no way! So you found the videogame first. That's so funny!
@@Bookborn If I had started reading the books first, I would have hated the game, because I am a book purist at heart! But I love the game, because playing it literally changed my life! I probably would never have picked up the books if I hadn't played the game first! And Terry Pratchett leapfrogged Stephen King as my favorite author!
Reaper Man is my favorite Discworld book. All the hilarious wit and fantastical adventure laid on top of a really beautiful story.
Can't wait to get to it!
Just found your channel. Adding Pratchett to my summer reading per recommendation of a friend. Loved this video. Makes me feel more confident tackling this series when I hear such intelligent commentary and strong recommendation from such a gorgeous ultra-babe. Subscribing!
I hope you enjoy it! It's a great series!
I adore Guards! Guards!! I am so happy you enjoyed it too!!
It's so good!
I first read that one as a nine year old and enjoyed it even back then. I know everyone says it but it bears repeating.
This book is the weakest of the Night watch series.
"You ain't seen nothing yet"
The City Watch books are all amazing, and Night Watch is the cream of the crop. Sir Terry's finest writing and amazing social commentary with this one. You're really in for a treat. I'd just say read all the preceding Watch books before you do, and also the Thief of Time as a major plot event occurs in both books (the stories in the books are unrelated but happening at the same time and feature the same character). Night Watch is probably my favourite book period, not just DW
I'm actually probably going to not pursue night watch anymore soley and read some more in publication order...everyone in my comment section convinced me that was the best way to go haha
@@Bookborn Yeah I'd agree that is the best way now that you've established that you like the series. It's good to get some variation in characters in there
City Watch is my favorite sub-series within the Discworld books. Im very happy to see more people getting involved with the series. :3
I've heard a ton of people say City-Watch is their favorite. I'm going to plug along in publication order probably, but I'm very excited for the others...
I have both Discworld video games for the PS1. They were my introduction to Discworld and the amazing Terry Pratchett. The games are an absolute riot. They are "kind of" based on the books in that the basic plot of the first game is based on Guards! Guards! but the character you play as is Rincewind. (Played to perfection by Eric Idle) To a 12 year old, the games were absolutely insane. The Luggage is your inventory (of course) but I found out you need to be careful as to what you put in it. As most point and click based games of the mid 90's you must pick up everything you can, because you have no idea when it might become useful. So while in the Broken Drum, I grabbed a pint of beer, and took it with me. Put it in The Luggage, and didn't think anything of it, until a couple of minutes later I noticed The Luggage stumbling around and bumping into things. I had no idea what was going on, until I checked my inventory to find the mug full of beer, I had put in there was now empty. I laughed so damn hard.
My first book that I read was the next in the Watch series, "Men at Arms" and it holds the place as not only my favorite Discworld book, but possibly my favorite book ever, as it is the book I have reread more than any other novel.
Guards! Guards! is where I started - a friend lent me the book. From there I've been going through the Night Watch as well as the Tiffany Aching books which I also love.
When I discoverede Discworld I was in my early teens. Only 2 books had been translated to my native language (danish) so I started with those and fell very much in love. Weirdly the 2 books were CoM and Equal Rites... No tLF for the danish people lol. But that was what drove me to a bookstore with English books to see if I might find the end to the story that started in CoM (which, as you know, ends on a bit of a cliffhanger).
I still remember the moment of complete awe and extreme happiness, when I saw a shelf with maybe 13 books in this amazing universe! (It was back in the mid nineties). And I never stopped reading ...lol it was a hard start to reading English, as Pratchett plays so much with words and spelling etc, so many words couldn't be found in dictionaries 😜 I missed a lot of jokes in my early discworld reading days, but I still looooved the books. And it made re-reading extra fun, as I got more jokes as I got better at reading English and expanded my vocabulary 😉
Sorry this is getting long.
- I started with CoM as well, and loved it very much, and I'm very happy to have read the books chronologically, as there are so many small cameos of characters from other "series" (like the wizards in guard books, and guards in wizard books...and vetinary and death in so many books, and the witches pop up etc) and if you read chronologically you really get all the small developments of characters and relationships, and also the history of Discworld as it unfolds before our eyes ;)
But yes. I also suggest Guards Guards as a starting point. :)
(And THEN, when you are hooked... go back and read chronologically! 😉)
First, I am SO impressed that you read Pratchett in English as a second language?? Like, even as a native English speaker, his jokes sometimes fly over my head, I can't imagine reading it in a second language.
I almost decided to do it differently, but I think I'm actually going to continue with chronological order. I agree, it's just too fun to be introduced to the background characters in the right order. I don't think I would've appreciated Mort as much if I hadn't met death already.
I bought Colour of Magic last week following your recommendation🙂 I’ll keep in mind to try this one second, I agree that the dedication was so funny and makes you want to read more!
Yay! I hope you liked it and I don't lead you astray 😅 How's Mistborn going?
It's great that the Discworld is getting more attention again. Only recently got back into it myself after reading some of the later ones (Going Postal, Snuff, Unseen Academicals, I Shall Wear Midnight etc) in my secondary school years but they're honestly some of the best books ever written imo.
I agree. Terry is a genius, imo.
You are gonna love "The Nightwatch" and "Small Gods". I too started with the Rincewind novels and wouldn´t change that. Loved the sillynes and the characters. My favourite og these has to be "Interesting Times" though, that book is something else. The Silver Horde had me in shambles every time it came up.
I'm dying to get to Nightwatch and Small Gods because everyone is hyping them up so much. I've got like...five books on my TBR before I can go back to discworld and I need to hurry up.
I still mostly agree with your Oct 2020 version, publishing order is always my usual recommendation. It's the best way to follow the development of the characters, and the world itself, and Ankh Morpork in particular. It's easy to miss out on little but hilarious easter eggs along the way. Which I believe is also why if you eventually go back to The Truth, you'll enjoy it a lot more.
Unfortunately, funny as they are, COM and LF are purely parodies of the fantasy books of that time, and there is little to no plot. As a result, the drop out rate among new readers is also likely to be a lot higher.
Great to see you rate Guards! Guards! so highly, you're in for a treat with the next books in the series. And the Witches series is also fabulous, some of my favourite books (Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, etc) and characters (Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg).
Looking forward to more Discworld reviews!
Maybe that's why I liked COM/LF so much, because I've read a lot of that fantasy and so the humor stuck with me. I already read Wyrd Sisters and it rivaled Guards Guards...just so freaking good! Can't wait to continue. I heard someone say that Pyramids wasn't very good and I should skip it and go on to the next one 😂
Guards! Guards! is easily the best place to start and I love the story line of the City Watch in general. I'm so pumped to find this video simply because I love the books and seeing someone's fresh take. Oh please, please, please - keep going through the City Watch story line (at least through Fifth Elephant) before you jump to another!
Incidentally, I think you'll enjoy the thread on the Witches of Lancre (Granny Weatherwax and Sam Vimes are my two favorite characters from the books). Unlike Guards! Guards!, I think you'll have to get a book into the thread before you'll really appreciate that story line.
Looking forward to your next fresh take!
Is Equal Rites the first book in the Witches of Lancre?
But I'm super excited to keep going through city watch! My goal is to eventually finish all of Discworld, so I'll get to everything eventually :)
@@Bookborn "Wyrd Sisters" is the start of that story line. It introduces all the major characters and sets up most of the major themes. It's more-or-less required to get going but not nearly the best book in that story line.
Equal RItes is a "bridge" book. It unites a couple of story lines (the WItches of Lancre and Unseen University) but you'll find out and appreciate more about Granny from the Witches series.
@@robertbass4590 That's actually good to hear, because I loved the characters in the book but the plot just wasn't super interesting. I'm going to read them all so I will definitly get there eventually!
I started with 'Mort' and went through the Death novels, then moved straight to 'Guards! Guards!' and kept going by theme after that. While I've loved most of them so far, the City Watch books are probably my favourite set of the bunch. 'The Truth' isn't in my top Discworld novels, but after reading the Watch I did appreciate it a bit more too.
I also admit I've stalled my Discworld read and still have to reach the Tiffany Aching books, though. I put in a pre-order for the Collector's Library Editions of those which start coming out next June, so hopefully I can soon go through the whole series!
I've taken a break too mostly because there is SO much to read. One thing I do love about Discworld, though, is it's a series you don't have to read straight through. I love that you can pick it up anytime and it still makes sense and is still funny. Death is probably the second subseries I'm most excited for. I love Death as a character.
@@Bookborn Yeah I can definitely understand, with 41 novels in all, you can definitely take your time if you want to be a completionist! You're absolutely right about not needing to read straight through too. Most of the books really are accessible and so fun to read on their own. Honestly couldn't help giggling while reading them sometimes.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Death subseries if you plan to share them! Death is right up there with Vimes and Granny Weatherwax when it comes to Discworld compatriots, but l also just love him as a character in general.
@@thomasmuscat6527 My plan currently is to do a video when I'm halfway through the series (so that'll probably be a while lol) and then maybe once I've finished them all. Or maybe I'll do a video for each subseries...options.
@@Bookborn Options indeed. If I had to play the selfish subscriber, I'd say the more videos the better ... but it obviously depends on you and how the creative juices get flowing. Either way, in the meantime I'm sure you're in for a treat :D
It's the nature of reading Discworld in order that, generally, the latest one read is the best one.
I'd recommend sticking with publication order as you see the Discworld develop, and characters from the different sub-series show up in other books.
Enough people have told me that, that I think I"m revising my initial thought and going back to reading in order.
I just started to buy the Discworld series, but haven't read them yet. Basically I ended up buy 7 really good copies of this series at my local used book store, but I still have to buy the first four books before I can start. I am glad that you liked Color of Magic because I have heard that a lot of people didn't like it.
The nice thing about Discworld is you can basically start anywhere, so depending the seven you got, you could probably start reading there! I really did like COM but maybe you shouldn't listen to me...lol
I’d say “Moving Pictures” would be a good point to start jumping around. I started reading discworld from the beginning and totally agree with being able to know more about another series character that pops up or a quick comment about something that happens in another book. I say read up to moving pictures because the UU undergoes a bit of a change in that book even if they aren’t main characters. So if you read up till “Sourcery” then skipped to “Reaper Man” or Hogfather” you’d be looking a a totally different UU.
Ohhh that's super good to know. Thanks!
Pratchett did Equality abd Diversity before it was really a thing, but unlike today, it was subtle, entertaining and not rammed down your throat. It taught a generation much about acceptance of difference in and taking individuals as you find them. He was utterly brilliant. Thief of Time is a masterpiece. I live the witches too.
This is good news! I just got Guards Guards, and it will be my first Discworld book. 😀
Started this one recently. I love it as my first discworld
My thoughts exactly! I also read color of magic first , and then I heard a lot of THIS IS NOT WHERE YOU START..I didn't see why, bcs I liked the book..and yet I decided to give it try and took guards guards next..it is an amazing book! But I know I'd have missed a couple of jokes if it was actually my first book of the series.
Either way, probably, there is no truly bad place to start :)
Thanks for the video, you're a very charming person
I'm always so happy when I have someone not hating on CoM. I love the Luggage and Rincewind so much that they'll always be special in my heart...even if the City Watch is pretty epic.
My favourite has to be Maurice and his educated rodents. I just love Sardines so much!
I see where you're coming from regarding The Truth, even though it's one of my favorite Discworld novels. Mr. Tulip alone is such an intriguing character and I love the development of William!
Vimes' monologue in the beginning of Guards! Guards! totally captured me on my first read and I love the book, but I do agree there are far stronger ones in the Watch novels. When you read them, I would also include Thief of Time before you continue with Night Watch as it gives you more background AND is a masterpiece on exploring what it really means to be human. I would also add Monstrous Regiment after Night Watch. The focus may not be on the Watch, but several of them are included and it's really fascinating to see them from others' perspecitves.
Many people have said that perhaps I simply read The Truth way too early in my Discworld journey. I think I'm going to read it again when I get to it in publication order - and see if I feel differently about it!
@@Bookborn That could very well be. One very interesting point about the book was seeing Vimes (who's very well established in the books by that time) from a different perspective. He's still the same person but you don't see the world through his eyes this time which slightly changes his vibe without changing his personality.
I can’t believe it took me so long to find your channel! OMG hi!
HI!! Welcome!
LOVE Mort. I know its probably not the popular favourite but death cracks me up.
Death is one of the best characters, FOR SURE, and Mort was hilarious.
I'm just finishing up my first read through ever of Tolkien's works, I think next I will read some of these books! Disk world just sounds amazing
They are just so fun and clever!
Guards! Guards! is amazing and probably takes the #1 or #2 spot in terms of the Discworld books I've read so far. But dude, you have to start the Witches series. Those three hooligans are just as hilarious as the City Watch crew, and their stories have moments that are just as deep. Witches Abroad rivals Guards! Guards! for me, but I'd recommend reading that after Wyrd Sisters to fully appreciate the character moments.
I've read Equal Rites so far and it was good just not my fav! But everyone has said that Witches gets way better second book on. I won't be ignoring any of them though - it's my goal to do all of Discworld at some point!
So hard to pick favorites and rank, but mt favorites are Men at Arms, Feet of Clay and Nightwatch. I always post about the Glorious 25th of May on May 25. People either know or they don't.
All three I haven't read yet...which means only the best is yet to come
The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic were the first ones that I read… because those were the only Discworld books at the time. I’m a longtime fan, in other words. I didn’t need to pick where to start, I just read them as they came out.
(My prize geek possession is my first edition hardcover of Good Omens individually signed by Terry and Neil ten years apart.)
I'm pretty jealous you read them as they came out. Was it really bittersweet when it ended?
And I absolutely would COVET that possession. How incredible.
I saw the stage play in Blackpool in the 90s. Paul Darrow from Blake's Seven was Vimes. It was brilliant. I enjoyed your review. Nice one.
Ohhh another person who has seen the play! So it was good then? I'll have to see if I can find clips on youtube
@@Bookborn It was really good! Clever stage effects. Great costumes. And some fub audience participation! :)
*fab :)
I usually recommend Guards Guards as a starting point too, but the first Diskworld book I read was Going Postal. That was within the last 10 books in the series and there was nothing wrong with starting there. It, like most if not all books in the series, functions perfectly as a standalone novel. Sure I didn't recognize the City Watch characters who made cameos, but that was meant I didn't catch a couple winks and anyway I got to enjoy the winks retroactively when I read the City Watch books. In fact, starting at Going Postal might have even had a couple up sides. Lord Vetinari, for example was actually kinda scary because I didn't already know him to be essentially the platonic ideal of a benevolent, yet Machiavellian dictator.
All this to say I recommend Guards Guards as a starting point, but really starting anywhere is fine, although I weakly discourage starting with The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic because they, while being a lot of fun, kinda feel like hitchhikers guide but fantasy and they aren't really indicative of how he creates stories later in the series
One thing I'll recommend - see what you think of The Truth on a reread.
When I first read The Last Continent it was easily my least favourite book in the series so far, a lot of the humorous scenes fell flat.
On the reread I swear I was laughing every other page - nothing had changed, but I appreciated the humour a lot more :-)
Apart from that: I've heard one of the first two Discworld video games is a bit of a mashup of The Colour of Magic and Guards! Guards!, but I'm not sure which. Both are old point-and-click adventure games. Not sure how they stand up today; probably not bad but nothing outstanding?
Board game, I'm not aware of one specifically related to G!G!. I'm aware of one that involves Vimes, The Patrician and a whole host of characters, the entire city, secret objectives... it's meant to be pretty good.
Edit: it's Discworld: Ankh Morpork.
Mini-series, I'm *guessing* you're referring to the recent The Watch series by BBC America, which most Discworld fans find insulting to the series as a whole, a lot of characters aren't acting at all in character (eg: Lady Sybil, Throat).
I don't know much about a stage play, though I suspect it's worth checking out :s
I can't tell you how many people told me to reread the Truth later in the series. Clearly it's one of the ones that really doesn't stand until you know more about Discworld!
I'm impressed by your knowledge of all the adaptations haha. I had no idea The Watch was such a recent adaptation. I'll probably be skipping it as even the promo materials don't look very accurate.
Oh. My. Gosh. These are my favorite books in the world. Nobody measures up. My personal favorite is Monstrous Regiment (yes, I'm a bit of a lesbian), but aside from LGBT+ rep, it completely rearranged the way I viewed war and the military. I know it's not that accurate, but the three-dimensional representations that Pratchett always brings up hit me hard every time. It also includes cameos from some of my favorite characters! It's one of the later books in the series and requires a lot of context, though!
idk why "yes I'm a bit of a lesbian" cracked me up so much - I haven't read Monstrous Regiment so I'm excited to see why that sentence applies 😂 All of you guys are making me so excited to get back into Discworld!
I started with the Bromeliade series as a little kid - it was probably my favorite books when I were around 8. As a teenager I LOVED the Johnny Maxwell series, but couldn’t get into the Discworld (it was just to strange - and I don’t think the translation helped it along). When I was in the later parts of my teens, I got into it and after the first three books - yeah. Pratchett has been with me through most of my life and I just love his writing.
I'm not surprised Discworld didn't resonate until your later teen years- I feel like you need to know so much about the world to understand the sarcasm and satire.
The Truth - it's a good standalone novel as it's one of the few entries later in the series that doesn't require prior reading. That being said I would suggest you try it again after reading through the Watch series, particularly The Fifth Elephant.
In my experience Discworld (and Pratchett in general) has a rare quality in modern literature: you don't take everything in the first time round. With every return I find new insights and hidden gems and I never really get a sense of retreading the same path as I do when I reread other titles.
Oh, it's so obvious that you probably have to reread discworld several times to get all of the references and jokes! And you are one of many who have said that The Truth is much better when you've read more of the series, so I'll have to revisit it.
Are you saying Rincewald? I had to go double check my books to make sure I wasn’t crazy.. but I believe it’s Rincewind
I am working in reading order. I really had a great time with The Colour of Magic. Mort was great too.
Yeah I did for the first 5 but then I was bad and jumped around haha. Reading in order is kind of fun because you get a lot of different stories.
Hi! Great review. How have you got on with the rest of the City Watch books? I love the serious content of the Watch books. They get pretty dark later on!
I love how Terry Prattchet did dark topics in his books. Even the ones intended to be children's books got in to pretty dark stuff. On the flip side even the most grim of the watch books never took tongue all the way out of cheek.
My only complaint about the later watch books was how Carrot got a tiny bit sidelined. I understand why, but I could have read stories about his apparently simple straightforwardness being somehow more cunning than actual cunning and how he politely foils and captures the scariest individuals around the city until the end of time. Ah well. At least he got to really shine a few times
Hey everyone! I’m curious about improving my reading skills and was wondering if anyone here had any good tips or suggestions that helped you improve your reading skills? Thanks :D
If it's just wanting to read more, my friend over at readbyandy has a great video on that! (ruclips.net/video/vlKhCiXdpks/видео.html)
If it's improving comprehension or something like that, the biggest thing is just to practice! You can also read with a dictionary, so you can look up words, which can help with comprehension.
Awesome, I’ll check it out. Thank you!
i have read/listened to the complete series, my favorite group to follow in the disk word is indeed the watch. (followed by the witches) I do think his later books in the series are better if you have read the once before, even stand alone as "the truth", and "going postal" are better if you are familiar with the word and its inhabitants. The nightswatchs is my favorite and even got a tear out of me but it was only because of the books before, without the familiarity with the characters it's an ok book. the watch is a great group to follow. i would however suggest reading one or two books in a series and then catching up with the other stories as he does like to cross over characters/world developments.
Yeah I think I want to be careful and not read later books before earlier books anymore. They aren't reliant on each other but I do think there is contextual information that becomes important.
Carrot isn't a human who thinks he's a dwarf - he's a human who *is* a dwarf. He can do the rite of k'zakra, he knows the secrets of h'ragna, he can ha'lk his g'rakha correctly.
Lady Sibyl is the paradigmatic Wagnerian soprano. Although I do not really care about the city watch all that much, I do love Lady Sibyl.
She's just honestly a fantastic character in every way
Guards Guards was my first Pratchett book and I loved it. Would you choose Wyrd Sisters or Mort to read next?
Oohhh that's a hard choice. Probably Mort since people love Death so much. But you can't go wrong with either, tbh. I slightly preferred Wyrd Sisters to Mort, in fairness, but I think I might be in the minority.
Have you started the Witches arc yet? Witches Abroad (third book in the arc) is a great, great book about "stories"
There are very few Discworld novels I don't re-read, the first two are among them :/
Picking or ranking my favourites is impossible, they all depend on how I feel on the day.
Nooooo how could you?? JUSTICE for Color of Magic!
I just discovered your channel with this video. My vote would be for more discworld reviews and discussion videos. My favs are the Witches series ... i see you've kept on reading ... so i would love a series of reviews on them ... have you got to the Tiffany Aching series yet? What did you think?
My thoughts about Guards Guards is that TP was still feeling his way through the city watch, and by extension the industrialising city itself (leading to The Truth and the Lipvig trilogy). It was certainly superior to the earliest of Discworld novels and I think essential for understanding the Watch series, but it fleshes out more with Men at Arms onwards. An example is that I got the impression that TP originally saw Carrot as the primary character of the watch, but after Guards Guards he seemed to realise that Vimes is an even more interesting character to develop.
Played the Discworld pc games in the 90s. I found it hilarious. I started reading Discworld with Sourcery and liked it okay. But Guards! Guards! is amazing.
Sourcery is an interesting start because it's in the middle of the Rincewald stories. I can see how that might've not been the best place to start.
I started with Color of Magic and read all the Rincwind books. I also read some death books which I liked a lot. My favorites so far are Pyramids, Mort and Color of Magic. But Guards Guards will be my next.
Ohhh tell me how you like Guards Guards! I have like four more books on my tbr I need to get through before I can go back to Discworld but I'm excited to
I really need to get around to ordering Soul Music and Reaper Man as Death is one of my favourite characters. Reading Hogfather at the moment.
I loved the brothers but they were misled and had a tragic ending and made me every sad my favorite characters were cut off :,/
Keep reading them in order. Imo.
Ohhh board games are my jam. The board game; Discworld: Ankh-Moropork is now out of print but has been re-themed and is called Nanny Narking, designed by Martin Wallace.
I believe there was another board game made as well but Ive not played it.
Did you like the board game?
@@Bookborn I did, though I played it as Nanny Narking.
So, since I’ve got your ear here: I’ve read a handful of the Discworld books physically but Ive listened to the entire series 4 times over in audio form.
The reader for a large portion of the series is Nigel Planer and he is truly a genius. Honestly his reading of these books is nearly as brilliant as Terrys writing. I feel it’s actually important to listen to at least some of Sir Pratchetts works as read by Mr. Planer. Try Guards Guards. I really can’t emphasize enough how well done they are. ;)
@@dangerousbeans2907 Ughhh okay maybe I'll try listening to one. I just really can't get into audio books. I struggle listening to things so much! But maybe I'll do my best and listen to the next Discworld novel...
I also like to read them in themes. So my favorite are the guards (most favorite book is night watch) then death (favorite is hog father) and then rincewind (favorite is the last continent) and my least favorite are the witches I don't even have all the books about them. And I think my favorite from the off themes books is pyramids.
Now I have to read them again :D
I feel like I'm going to like the Witches because I loved Wyrd Sisters so much! But I'm the most excited about City Watch. I'm so excited to jump back in to Discworld
Would you recommend reading an entire subseries or switching between subseries books? I'm very curious to know how you managed not to miss the introduction of a character.
I'm personally reading in publication order. A lot of people do subseries and say they love that as well, but I don't want to miss anything and pub order is the way if that's important to you!
I started with Guards! Guards! I'm glad I did. I think the social commentary works because it's not preachy and not unsympathetic. There are realistic contradictions. For example, Vimes is essentially a socialist who comes into wealth via Lady Sybil. He doesn't write books that only one side of the political spectrum can enjoy without feeling attacked. Reminds me a bit of Dickens, e.g. this gentle teasing of conservatism:
'Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for.'
It's a mature approach where a lot of modern writers shoehorn their own views into their stories in a very jarring way that is clearly intended to demean/oversimplify.
YES, you articulated that so well. It's like the poking fun is universal; it doesn't necessarily pinpoint certain ideologies so directly. And even if it does poke fun at your ideology, it does it in a fun way, not one that's so devastating it puts you off.
Also yay for Dickens; I absolutely love A Christmas Carol.
My favourite Discworld novel tends to be the one I am (re-)reading at the time. 🙂
When you were doing your ranking, I was literally saying to myself: "She must have skipped Wyrd Sisters, like wow."
I was glad to be right. I'm eight novels in at the moment (reading them sequentially), and I liked Wyrd Sisters even more than Guards! Guards! I'd say.
Ugh I'm so conflicted now. Some people said "go on with the watch series!" and about the other half have said "no, continue in order!".
@@Bookborn Best thing about life: when faced with an unimportant (in the grand scheme of things) choice, you can always do both!
Also with regards to your comment about the video game based on Guards! Guards!, the PS1 & PC game "Discworld" is an old-school point & click game loosely following the plot of this book but the main character is Rincewind. You can play it online for free but if you do you'll almost certainly need a guide to help you, it is ridiculously hard and requires some pretty abstract thinking to solve the puzzles
Oh man you can play it online for free? I need to go find it and check it out. Everyone says it's really fun, albeit hard.
@@Bookborn I just looked but I couldn't find a version with sound. Probably the best way to do it would be to download ePSXe emulator and a ROM of Discworld. It's worth playing it with the sound to hear the dialogue. Yeah it's really hard, I couldn't complete it without a guide
started off my rereading binge with guards! guards!, Vimes is the best character in the series
I'm so excited to read more of Vimes, and of course, Lady Sybil.
I love The Fifth Elephant! It had my laughing out load more times then I can remember. I highly recommend Witches Abroad, it is one of Terry Prachett's best books. And the witches are great characters and their books are very funny.
I'm going to be reading them all in order so I can catch all of the little things. I can't wait to get to some of these famous ones!
Witches Abroad is one few people seem to rate, but when I first read the books, even though I enjoyed the 11 previous books, it was when I got to the end of Witches that I thought damn this series really is genius.
I love the watch series and I really hope you enjoy the rest!
I'm excited to start!
@@Bookborn Excited to hear your thoughts on Feet of Clay, he really leans more and more into the social issue commentary as the series goes on
My entry to discworld was. Mort then Guards Guards! What did you read after guards? I'm in a similar situation, was thinking maybe thief of time or maybe the watch series in order, after guards
Currently I'm just doing publication order! So I did Wyrd Sisters after, which I also loved.
@@Bookborn awesome. It really seems you can't go wrong eith pratchett.
Guards! Guards! is one of the best stories in the Discworld series, but TCoM and TLF are better world building books. I think reading the latter first is better for someone who reads already, and is committed to reading more of the series, as it adds context to the world and enhances the future stories. For someone who isn't hugely into reading already I would recommend Guards! Guards!, it's better as a standalone and is more likely to get someone hooked.
That's a really good point. I like worldbuilding, so maybe that's why TCOM and TLF worked for me.
I can't read my discworld books anymore. I read something so perfectly worded, or beautifully pointed, or that embodies a character so well... and then I remember I will never get more and suddenly I can't see the pages anymore cos they go all blurry for some mysterious reason.
I do love The Truth, but I can understand the criticism of lack of fantasy elements. Thing is, when it came out he had already written in so many fantasy and the world was so alive and brimming with it, he didn't need to. The fantasy elements become very normalized if that makes sense. The mere mention of dwarves, vampires and zombie lawyers fill the imagination with earlier stories.
The Truth is one of the novels that really thrust the Discworld towards modernity, and allows for the social commentary to become that more broad and specific at the same time.
Guards is fantastic, but yes. Some of later Watch books are better imo.
It's hard to even call one of the 'storylines' my favorite, I love them all so much. But definite contenders for my favorite books are Small Gods and Thief of Time.
Have fun continuing the journey, I have no doubt you will ☺
It seems most people are saying The Truth is one of those DW novels that really is much better if you read it in it's publication order, near the end. I think I'm going to revisit it after I've read a lot more.
I started reading these a few weeks ago, after decades of ignoring them because "I don't like fantasy parodies". Don't kill me, I didn't know any better. I started reading them in order for more or less the same reason; I prefer to know as much background as I can when I'm reading. If I'd read Mort before reading any of the preceding novels I wouldn't have gotten nearly so much out of the scenes at the University seeing Rincewind and the Librarian again, just as one example.
I'm at Moving Pictures now, about a quarter of the way through. I'm averaging about a quarter-length read per day, long work hours and parenting meaning I can't read as often or for as long as I'd like to (otherwise I'm sure these books would take less than a day to finish). If I had to rank them, I'd say it goes:
Guards! Guards!
Mort
The Light Fantastic
Wyrd Sisters
The Color of Magic
Equal Rites
Sourcery
Eric
Pyramids
And I haven't finished Moving Pictures so I don't know where to rank it. So far Pyramids is the absolute worst Discworld book I've read, Eric being marginally ranked higher due to being shorter and moving at a much quicker pace. I wouldn't call either of them bad books, just nowhere near good examples of what Pratchett was capable of. Neither of them had much of a plot, and seemed like an excuse to mesh a few solid ideas and good prose together, but without having them gel.
You're a little further than me on your journey with Discworld! My least favorite so far has been ranked a 3/5 stars, so like it was my least fav by far but not BAD, which is kind of nice with Pratchett. And I don't think it's crazy you avoided them, I think maybe if I had known what they were when I read them I wouldn't have either! I just went in literally knowing 0 lol