Terry Pratchett's Discworld | Where To Start?
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- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- Terry Pratchett's Discworld is a fictional universe in which he has set more than 40 comic fantasy books. It includes some of my all time favourite works of fiction.
Further Note: The Discworld audiobooks are voiced by the EPIC Tony Robinson who does a wonderful job of bringing these wacky comedic characters to life. If you're in the mood for an audiobook I cannot recommend these more highly!
The Books Mentioned in this Video:
The Colour of Magic:
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The Light Fantastic:
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Mort:
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Guards! Guards!:
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Wyrd Sisters:
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Going Postal:
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The Wee Free Men:
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Stand-alone stories:
Equal Rites:
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Pyramids:
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The Truth:
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Patreon: / bookishthoughts
Years ago, when my _book-aholic_ sister shoved a paperback of _The Color of Magic_ under my nose and said, *"You've got to read this!"* little did I suspect she was introducing me to one of the most addictive substances known to the English-speaking world. She's gone now, as is Sir Terry, but hardly a day goes by that I fail to think fondly of them both, and of the _Disc World._
Your introduction to the series is pleasant and agreeable. Well done.
"A man is not dead while his name is still spoken."
GNU Terry Pratchett
Rereading "Going Postal" now. I think I've read them all except the graphic novels. Adora Belle Dearheart may be my favorite character. Or the werewolf watchperson. Or Nanny Oog. Oh, heck! I love them all.
So gladd I Meet him in person and in MUD all those years ago when whilst was under cover till the NZ mudders in Wellington meet in person.
Gnu?
@@mrtimo3822 It's a reference to the clacks (long lines of semaphore towers used to send messages quickly over long distances set up between cities, an ironic little nod to the internet) in Going Postal.
They're code letters added to clacks message, the G means the message should be passed on to the next tower, the N means “Not Logged” (the message should not be recorded in the towers own log books), and the U means that it should be turned around and sent back down the line when it reaches the last tower.
In the books the names of dead linesmen who'd fallen from clacks towers where sent back and forth across the clacks this way so that they'd never be forgotten (a spin on the "a man is not dead while his name is still spoken" thing).
It's become something people post online as a little tribute to Terry.
..
But it's two years since you asked so I'm guessing you looked it up by now ;)
Mort was my first Discworld. My favourites are Reaper Man, Soul Music, Small Gods, and Moving pictures. I miss Mr. Pratchett very much.
Hogfather and Night's Watch but I think I have the most feels for Thud and Sam's relationship with his son in that book.
I cried over Sam's need to read his little boy his favorite story. That precious link saved far more than his life.
He is a god now...I have not decided exactly which one but I am sure he has not settled into one domain yet as he was always disappointed to realize..yep he was actually writing another disc world book.......wait he will be the God of people who march to the beat of there own drum.....and puns. Puns need a God
@@cuteycindyhoney the death series and witches series were my faves for a long long time. But then Vimes/Watch series suddenly grabbed me and each new book of vimes got better and better. Loved raising stream with Vimes and Moist teaming up. My 2 fave characters
Yeah super surprised Small Gods wasn't mentioned here. But I guess it could be the wrong foot to get off on for a religious person tryna get into the series?
My favorite Discworld novel is probably Hogfather. I'm especially fond of the exchange between Death and Susan toward the end where Death explains the importance of belief and why people need fantasy in their lives, especially that line about humans being the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.
And this one - \
“WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADN'T SAVED HIM?
"Yes! The sun would have risen just the same, yes?"
NO
"Oh, come on. You can't expect me to believe that. It's an astronomical fact."
THE SUN WOULD NOT HAVE RISEN.
...
"Really? Then what would have happened, pray?"
A MERE BALL OF FLAMING GAS WOULD HAVE ILLUMINATED THE WORLD.”
This is the very quote that got me interested in the work of Mr. Pratchett to begin with!
I started with Mort... then proceeded to buy 7 more discworld books (1-3 and 5-8) literally within 1 minute of finishing it (thank god for the internet). I have never been hooked on a drug, but I am pretty sure this is what it's like.
Welcome to the discworld, enjoy your stay with the rest of us addicts, the only shame is that the road now has an end...
mrklin99 An update on this, I have them all now.
Dr. Moostoffelees, Cow M.D Lovely, what are your favorites so far (single books, series and character(s))?
mrklin99 Everything with Death is brilliant, Equal Rights, Small Gods, The Wyrd Sisters, Lords and Ladies, Guards! Guards!, Going Postal.
I like them all a lot but those ones are the first to pop in to my head so I will say those, although the Death ones are hands down my favourite (Mort, Hogfather, Reaper Man, Thief of Time, Soul Music) specifically the book Mort, now whether that is because Mort was the first I read or not I don't know, It could also be because in some weird way I relate with Death, specially in Mort, he is just a man who is sick of his job and wants to get out, but too many things stop him from doing so.
I hear you, Death is neck-in-neck with Sam Vimes for me, I love the Death-series for the philosophy and world view it offers up, but the City Watch series has a richness of character development and worldbuilding in it unparralleled anywhere else. Add to that the mirroring of madness we find in the real world and it wins out as a whole for me.
Just one thing is important, read books again after a couple of years, the discworld is a mirror, don't miss the opportunity two see yourself again after a few years in that mirror.
yes!!everytime i reread these books,they teach or bring me something new to think about,esp in regards to our current situation we all in :(
I try to read the whole series once a year.
I have never known where to start with this series and have never found such a good explanation about it before so thank you thank you thank you!!!
TazmynMay101 Glad to be of help :)
By the way I love your accent :)
***** Should have said 'Sorcery' among them; for an insight to the potential of the magic on the Disc and an awesome read.
Thanks though for doing these and promoting this extraordinary series.
P.S Thanks also for having an uncanny resemblance to Karen Gillan...
I mean you look and sound exactly like Karen Gillan; which is not at all a bad thing in any way.
Pratchett’s Discworld books were among my very favorites growing up and I loved them very much. It was something I shared with my brother and uncle, and which helped me make my first online friends.
But you have to grow up eventually, and your worldview changes. Some things are better left in the past so that nothing can taint the good memories.
Because of this, I think it is cruel to get people into Discworld now that Terry Pratchett has passed away and every Discworld book you read for the first time brings you that much closer to the horrible empty feeling when there aren’t any more and there never will be.
The later books are heartbreakingly unfinished. There was still so much left unsaid and unexplored, and every appearance of Death is just too much to bear for me after having outlived certain relatives I loved dearly.
So, as a Discworld fan, I’d have to recommend “not reading the books at all” as a starting point.
Night Watch is my favorite, possibly my favorite book of all time.
After reading Good Omens, I've decided to read more of Terry Pratchett's books and a friend recommended Reaper Man. I love that book so much, and the Death series is now close to my heart.
Great video, by the way
Thud!
I was at an airport, traveling alone, and figured a book would be nice. Picked it up on a whim and fell in love with Discworld and Sir Pratchett.
The first Prachett I read was Going postal, borrowed from a friend. It was definitely a good choice and I have now almost every book of the discworld
I like how you say book.
Michael Freeman and series
Scottish girls have sexy accents 😁
Well, most of them... There are unfortunately a few I've met that are reminiscent of female trainspotting characters lmao
Watch Limmy's Show.
Büük 🙂
Take a drink every time she says buuks
BRILLIANT intro to Discworld Jean. Reference it every time I introduce people to the series. It helped me during my initial days with the series two years back and I still use it as a point of reference as I continue my journey through these AWESOME books.
Thank you for creating it.
My number one son the Elder gave me Color of Magic and The light Fantastic for my birthday one year and I have never looked back. Read all the DW books, several times over, and a few of his earlier works. Jean, your recommendations on where to start are spot on.
I always start with Guards Guards! and just follow that series because it always gave me comfort when I was ill.
The first book I read is still one of my favorites, and that was The Thief in Time. But really my introduction to the Disc World was with the TV miniseries Hogfather, which I love to this day. RIP Terry Pratchett.
the first one I read was The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, simply loved it. It's more of a children's book, but I loved it back when I was a teen
I started with Colour of Magic, but I can see why a lot of Discworld fans recommend another place to to start.
To that end, Guards! Guards! and Mort and both fantastic places. They each had me in stitches.
If you are here watching videos online as to where to start reading discworld, than odds are you are going to love it. "It's a million to one chance, but it just might work."
If you ever start reading audio books I'd get it in a heart beat. So easy to listen to and helped me understand something I was totally lost on
I first started with The Truth and I fell in love with it. I'm about to start with Going Postal and I'm super excited!!!! Thanks for the explanation it helped a lot!!!!!
Making money
So sad that we can no longer eagerly await the next gem from Sir Terry. I really enjoyed Going Postal as well. I have read most of the series and was never disappointed with any of them. The Carpet People was a great read as well although not part of the Discworld as I recall. R.I.P. Terry Pratchett
+Keith Manning I know the feeling. Last book I picked up was Unseen Academicals. I can't seem to start reading it now, knowing there's only 4 books left after that before I've read them all (excluding the young audience ones).
i wonder if there will be fanfic books or TP's family will allow someone to use TP's notes/bible of the diskworld characters to create more. similar to what is being done with Tolkien's books.
@@lightdragon2 He gave his daughter permission to continue the series if she wanted but she turned it down. Although there are plans of a City Watch tv series with original plots. But from what I've read/heard I think there won't be any official books (at least not until the characters a moved into creative commons and the copyright on them is removed)
@@ChakChakGuy that would be about 72 years from now. i wonder if that blonde chick from Going Postal will be in it. As i think she was the only live/cartoon version of the werewolf. Nobbs there were two or three versions of him. Vimes at least one and it looked like nothing i imagined him to look like.
While not Discworld, have you tried the Long Earth books. They were a collaboration with Stephen Baxter and some of his last work.
I'd say that you could probably include 'Equal Rites' in the 'Witches' series, as it introduces Granny Weatherwax. It sort of segues between the Wizards and the Witches. The first two books of the Discworld Series are mostly aimed at lampooning fantasy fiction and are a bit less structured than the later books so they might not appeal to less hard-core fantasy fans (half of the joy of those two books is identifying which fantasy series Sir Terry is taking the mick of).
I started with The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic and then onto The Last Continent. I then randomly picked up the books and read them all out of order including the Night Watch series. I recently started on a reread and am working on them in published order. After that I plan on reading the sub-series in their correct order. Love these books they always make me smile and am very thankful to the people who introduced me to them!
Wonderful video! I began reading Terry Pratchett hith his 22th Discworld novel (The Last Continent) and I LOVED IT!
I just couldn't stop reading his books. The main problem is that in Mexico they are not popular so that makes them VERY difficult to acquire.
I have to order them from Spain, and the shipping taxes are quite expensive, but they totally worth it!
I definitely agree with "Going Postal" being one of the best books ever
Small Gods was the first Pratchett book that I read, and still my favorite. Standalone.
Great intro to "The Disc" my dear. My fave character is The Death of Rats! (SQUEEK) As for the luggage, don't get me started!!
This was one of the videos that really got me back into Discworld thankyou!
I really appreciate channels like this that promote reading ...I think you're doing great. :) keep going
I started with Guards Guards! The first books are sort of half formed in terms of setting.
nice video. I love the discworld books and ive read about 25-30 of them. Not all in order and it doesn't really affect the enjoyment. My favourite is probable Guards! Guards!, Nobby Nobbs is hilarious and Sam Vimes is probably my favourite character.
There are 41 books in the Discworld books and I have them all! I love the City Watch series and Tiffany Achings series. Heck, I like them all. I've either read or listened too all of the books. I've even read "Where's My Cow!"
THE WEE FREE MEN!!! These were my first books to introduce me and I was HOOKED!
He was a clever old bugger.
Totally agree John. Clever and creatively brilliant I think.
me to I could not get into the adult literary back then and I found the wee free men that was one of these moments where tge sun breaks through and little baby angels start singing
Dear Miss Bookishthoughts, I am a fan of Fantasy and SciFi book series, and I greatly appreciate your explanation of the various subsets that a reader can start with. I read and have read and listened to many on audiobook, a lot of different series and am familiar with that general format. I was experiencing considerable consternation that "The Color of Magic" which is listed as Discworld #1 is not available as an audiobook here in The States. Now equiped with the knowledge you've given me I think I will venture into Mr. Pratchett's world with out worrying about not having access to "Book !" Thank you from the bottom of this bookworms heart!
Great introduction! I have read a few Discworld novels in the past, including Mort; Guards, Guards; Color of Magic/Light Fantastic; Pyramids or Lords and Ladies, but I want to get deeper into the series as well and decided to read all of them. I have the first four down now and it was great to see in your video, where the different archs really start. :)
Came across this video by watching an interview by the great Patrick Steward! When I was a teenager Terry Pratchett's Discworld was a constant. Thanks for making these :-)
Glad you enjoyed it ^_^
I started with the carpet people in an effort to read things in the right order but then I threw caution to the wind and just picked what I fancied.
I adore the Tiffany aching series, winter smith, the wee free men, hat full of sky etc, all brilliant and great fun..he really knows how to make you chuckle out loud so that people think you're odd.
The colour of magic was ok and the night watch series, my favourite characters of what I've read so far is death, the weird sisters and the Nac Mac feegles
All worth a read, Terry pratchett is one of my heroes
Happy Hogswatch! The first Discworld book I read was "Thud" and I was hooked. I then read "Color of Magic" and worked my way through the series. My favorite quote is "You get a wonderful view from the point of no return."
"AND NOW THERE REMAINS ONLY ONE FINAL QUESTION. HAVE YOU BEEN NAUGHTY... OR NICE?
HO, HO, HO."
I started reading Terry Pratchett while still in high school in the 1980's. I've been a fan ever since.
I really wish I had known about this video when I was trying to explain the Discworld to someone. This is a brilliant synopsis. So brilliant in fact that it's inspired to "reread" the series in audiobook format. Thank you so much. This is perfect.
I was told to read Pratchett and that Small Gods was the place to start. I have bought it but wasn't really sure if I was actually interested, so I'm glad you made this! Small Gods will definitely be the next one I pick up.
Small Gods is a bit of anomaly and the characters are poorly developed and you certainly won't laugh as much at their antics. Those that recommend this book tend to be, paradoxically, preachy..( IMHO).
Not a fave.
I suggest starting with "Colour of Magic" (#1) and work through the series in order. It makes the introduction of characters much more "fun" as the reader grows with the world's descriptions. The humour is more fulfilling knowing each reference.
I have just completed a re-read of the whole catalogue, in publication order, in print. (Hey, that's the way I read them the first time.) When I finally got to the end I realised I had no printed copy of The Shepherd's Crown. I must have read it on my Kindle.
I bought a hard copy. And cried my eyes out a second time.
This was incredibly helpful. I've been meaning to start the series ever since I was a teenager and I've always posponed it, because I normally lend books from the library. Seeing such a tremendous bunch and knowing some of them were not available was a bit intimidating, since I never knew where to begin. I never read volumes in a series in a random order. Thanks to your video it is all clear and I will share this information with my non-English speaking friends who have similar problems with not knowing where to begin with reading the Discworld series.
I have read all of the Discworld Books (all hardcover and I am keeping them to pass on to my grandchildren) The 1st one I read was Guards! Guards!. I do not have a favorite. But my two favorite characters are Rincewind and Luggage
Rest In Peace Sir Terry! I miss you and your writing!
Terry Pratchett wrote an earlier book called 'Strata'.
This was a science fiction novel which I thought to be a rework of Larry Niven's 'Ringworld'.
Substitute 'Disk' for 'Ring' and the plot is very much the same as is the mix of characters.
The discworld was then a bit crude but you could see what he was developing. The basics were in place, including an actual DEATH.
No disrespect to Sir Terry. What he did with Discworld not only created the greatest comic fantasy of all time but proved Wittgenstein's assertion that a book of philosophy could be composed entirely of jokes.
As the Scots might say: 'when shall we see the like again?'.
i tried to read a discworld novel when i was 14 and hated it but recently through audio books have come to love all of them thanks mr p
Really enjoyed that video thanks for sharing it.
I was a huge fan of the books a few years back (too many years back lol) but have never read them all.
I really will go back and read them again, and catch the one's I missed.
I never read the Tiffany books... and I wasn;t a huge fan of teh Witches series... but the Guards and teh Wizards were amaing! x
I set a D&D campaign on Discworld and it was great because of all the places and characters that I could use as NPCs. We had one player who had never played before but wanted to be a sorceress. I helped her come up with a backstory that would fit and we based her loosely on the main character from Equal Rights but made her mother be Nanny Ogg. The idea was that her father was a wizard who wanted to have a wizard son (who by Discworld magic rules becomes a sorcerer and is more powerful). He had wooed Nanny Ogg in the hopes of having an 8th son, but when he got a daughter (named Rayvenn) instead, he got angry and left, not knowing that she would turn out to be a sorceress.
But he was power hungry, so he went to several people trying to gain more and more power, and the party ended up following his tracks. He had gone to a magic shop in Ank Morpork, but the owner could only teach him so much.
Then he went to Uberwald and met the vampires (and where another player's backstory happened to take the party as well because his family was all wiped out by warewolves). The vampires refused to help/turn him because they're trying to fit into society and didn't want a power-hungry (and clearly evil) wizard on the loose giving them a bad name.
Next he climbed the mountain at the hub and tried to get the gods to give him more power. This just annoyed them so they told him to go to hell. And when Blind Io tells you to go to hell, well...
They eventually tracked him down in hell only to find out he was being used by a more powerful demon who the party had to defeat as the final boss of the campaign.
They managed to 1) go back 10 minutes in time using an item I had forgotten I gave them to prevent the BBG from shifting his wizard tower from hell to the material plane, and 2) defeat him by having the rogue go invisible and sneak up behind him (super high stealth roll) and pop a bag of devouring over his head. And then the BBG then getting a really low roll on a strength check to remove said bag.
It was a fun campaign to run.
i have been a fan of the Discworld since..........EVER!!! ur absolutely rite, u don't have to start from the beginning and work thru them, however, there are things that happen in earlier books that are refferanced in much later books, so reading the earlier books first will help with some things, but, not all of them are really important. i love most of the novels and would have to say that my fave is still to this day, Reaperman. the watch gets better and better by the book and the more u come across Vetinari, the more u will like him. awesome vid. Terry Pratchett, gone, but NEVER forgotten!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "HUMAN BEINGS MAKE LIFE SO INTERESTING. DID YOU KNOW THAT IN A UNIVERSE SO FULL OF WONDERS, THEY HAVE MANAGED TO INVENT BORDEM" -Death, The Hogfather-
Whoa... Amy Pond!!!! Way too cool.
Right? :D
The City Watch series is my favourite, followed by the Death series, then the Moist books, my interest drops a little....then the Wizards, then the Witches. All great though. I also enjoyed the Amazing Maurice book. I was read Terry Pratchett and listened to the audiobooks throughout childhood so I heard quite a few stories from varied series. I enjoyed them and then stopped reading for a while. I have to say though I've started listening to and reading books again and I would highly suggest doing this at some point because when you hear or read these stories in context it starts to form a wider story. Characters developed, society progressed etc. It is my belief that eventually Pratchett would bring the Discworld into it's own variation of the industrial revolution.
For the standalones, Small Gods is not only the best, but one of the best books I've ever read in general.
Thank you, I really really love terry pratchett. Some great escapism 😋
I love your accent! If you recorded an audiobook reading any of the discworld books I bet you'd get a lot of folks listening.
Soul Music is the only Discworld book I haven't read. I fell in love with the animated series as a child and can't imagine it any other way. Equal Rites is a great introduction. It's fairly short and features both the witches and the wizards.
Best summary of the different DWN that I have seen in a while.
Thanks for spreading the Good (humourous) Word of Sir Terry Pratchett. I hope we get to see at least one of his books faithfully adapted for the big screen in future.
+Tafami "The Watch" is currently filming as a television series with stories written by Rhianna Pratchett. Although Sam Vimes is my favourite character, I love all of the books Pratchett's written and have the lot in my collection. My next favourite character is Tiffany Aching with Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax right up there too. Anyway, the main thing is that we'll be seeing The Watch on the small screen in 2016 and, who knows, more adaptations which is brilliant so long as they retain as much as possible of the books; I've yet to see a screen adaptation that even comes close. Enjoy!
+David Phillips I was just thinking a couple of nights ago that we need an adaptation of a Watch story. You had better not be toying with us ;)
David Phillips You have good taste, sir..:)
A Watch tv series would be amazing - for some reason I keep thinking the tone will be 'Life on Mars'. I had heard of these tv rumours in 2014 but there is no news from production.Yet.
I have adored DEATH since he was voiced by the late Sir Christopher Lee in the animated adaptation of Soul Music. Then it was followed by the Witches and the members of the Watch.
Everybody who enjoys Terry Pratchett has good, nay wonderful, taste. Rumours of "The Watch" telly series are continuing and I feel sure that production will begin late this year; I've got my fingers firmly crossed. Yes, I agree that the tone will tend towards Life on Mars with some Spike Milligan-ish and Monty Pythonesque thrown in; after all, Sir Terry was a great fan and friend of Milligan.
Oh how right you are about Christopher Lee as DEATH! He was perfect for the role but sadly has gone to meet that very character in real...Life? I'm a great fan of Death and, of course all the Watch members as well as the Witches and Tiffany Aching, who has matured tremendously. Actually, I love 'em all, even Vetinari.
Let me know if you learn anything about the TV series of "The Watch" and I'll keep you informed if I hear anything.
Have a fantastic day! Cheers, Dave.
typacsk
I'm not, honestly. However, rumours are constantly changing but from what I gather production will begin later this year, possibly for screening before Hogswatch.
Don't you know any Witches who could put some fluence on Rhianna Pratchett to get things moving more quickly? I've written several times and only get the reply that the series will be going ahead but no airing dates, sadly.
I'm quite confident, though. We Will see a telly adaptation sooner rather than later and, I strongly suspect, will be absolutely brilliant. I'm already wondering who will play Sam Vimes and Captain Carrot, and Nobby: who can possibly play Nobby?
Keep your eye on the website; I think we'll all here good news before the end of June.
Cheers, mate, Dave.
Thought I'd let you know that I've decided to delve into the discworld again because of this video - I've always loved Terry Pratchetts books and thought they were hilarious but I always wanted to read them in order but after this extremely informative video I feel as though I don't need to do that. I watched the Going Postal film ages ago and frickin' loved it so was wanting to get to that number book but now I know it's the first in a mini series I think I'm going to read it next! One that always comes to mind for me (not sure if it's discworld) is The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents - I thought that book was incredible. Books with footnotes are my all time favourite - another series that does this is Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy which you should definitely check out if you haven't already :)
Loved this video! The Discworld Series is really daunting when I think about it as 40 books you breaking it down like this really makes it seem like something I should get into :)
Thanks :D! I'm so glad it worked, I really hoped it would clear things up for people new to the world. I think you need someone to explain it to you. My dad introduced me to the series. It is fantastic, you should definitely pick one of them up :).
Jean Bookishthoughts I love you
I just watched his two part series when he was diagnosed. Thanks so much for this as I want to start to tackle TP's Discworld soon.
Thanks so much for this - i've wanted to read the Discworld series for years but tackling it seemed so daunting!
Great video! Just started re-reading the entire collection. I've fallen in love all over again...:-)
I've never read any Terry Pratchett but this is definitely making me want to get into reading it! I feel like these kinds of videos would be really helpful for a lot of authors!
So glad I've given you the bug!
Definitely! I think I wanna start with the Witches!
I recently started this series with Mort. I have since read Thud and am currently reading both The Color of Magic and Men at Arms. I absolutely love the series
So glad you've discovered the joy of the discworld :D
I recently started my journey through Discworld. And for everyone who's considering picking up his or her first book, I highly recommend starting with the first book ' The Colour of Magic'. Not only is it beautifully written and can hold up to all the others that followed after, it introduces so many wonderful things in Terry's world, that I personally couldn't imagine starting anywhere else.
My favorite disc-world book is Small Gods, Going Postal is my second favorite. I finally got my sister to read them by explaining his humor by telling her of one of his books that had is picture on the back. In the picture of him he was alone on a beach and under it was 'Terry Pratchett is the one in the hat'. I'll miss his humor and I don't think I'll be reading the new books that will be coming out in series. He passed the discworld to his daughter but no one could write for his world but him.
Very good summary, thank you. I started with "Guards! Guards!" some 20 years ago, read them all and am currently reading it again. My honey and I both cried when we heard that Sir Terry had passed away.
I also started with The Wee Free Men and loved it. I've only read 4 discworld books so far though, want to read more of them. Thanks for this rundown.
I have for a while now been thinking of reading a Terry Pratchett book and I didn't quite know where to start, so thank you, this will be very helpful!
Awesome, glad it was of some help ^_^ hope you enjoy the series!
Thank you so much Jean! This was wonderful! I've been meaning to start with this series for a while now but I always felt overwhelmed by the amount of books and never knew where I was supposed to start. I checked online more than once to try to figure it out but ended up feeling more confused than before. Now everything makes so much sense! :)
Thank you so much! This was super helpful. I went and downloaded a bunch of the audiobooks, but (for the first time ever) I felt like I couldn't keep up with what was going on, and I felt kind of thrown in the deep end without a clue as to what was going on. I think the trick will be to actually read it at my own pace and start from one of your suggestions! :]
It was so great to hear your BookTube panel at SitC this year! Just watched your recap with Sanne and I'm so so so so pleased you liked my stand! I couldn't stop smiling when I saw Sanna included the deathly hallows bag. hehe. :]
Thanks again!
Going Postal is also possibly my favourite book of all time, and possibly my favourite Pratchett
Found this interesting universe a year ago when I played the Discworld game (1995). It took a while to install it on a PC so after I successfully did it, I played it through all at once, but I think I would do it anyways because this universe is amazing. I hope that game was like these books. It took me a year because I didn't really think much about it until today because I watched a two hour long Discworld animation.
Thanks for this video! I started with Reaper Man, primarily because a friend found that he had two copies and gave one to me--he'd been nagging me to start reading them for ages. That's the one I tend to recommend to people (in part because I have it available to lend out). Even though it's not a standalone and doesn't begin a series, it's one of my favourite books of all time. I think it's a great way to get used to the narrative style and devices like footnotes, and it introduces a lot of the different sets of characters.
I don't particularly read them in any order, because I buy them as and when I find them in charity shops, but I agree that you can probably start anywhere and enjoy them because they're great!
Hannah Lou This is what I meant when I said you can start almost anywhere :) I read all of the death books out of order I believe and still thoroughly enjoyed them :). I love Pratchett's use of footnotes. You so rarely see that in fiction and they are hilarious.
If you're too lazy to read you could always get the audio books. I was introduced to the series when a friend lent me his tape cassette of The Colour of Magic & The Light Fantastic (showing my age) in the dorms at school. I listened to the abridged (shortened) version, wonderfully read by Tony Robinson. There's unabridged versions as well read by other people but I never listened those just read the books instead.
I don't think there's a right or wrong place to start tackling the series If you don't mind mixing up the chronology a bit... They're pretty much self contained stories. Only exception probably being The Colour of Magic & The Light Fantastic since these were effectively parts 1 and 2.
I love the discworld novels, my first book was witches abroad, which I read when I was 9 so wasn’t really old enough to fully understand the humour fully but fell head over heels in love with the discworld nonetheless, but I believe equal rights is the starter book of the witches series I didn’t think this was a stand alone book
I've only read the book 'Small Gods' by Pratchett which was hilarious and seemed like a stand alone. Thanks for the video, it gave me a good idea about where to go next.
Small Gods is one of the darkest books he's written. I would hate to have read that first. Even for a series where Death is a recurring character, it's pretty grim.
I think it's one of his best, though. (I say that as a semi-hardcore Christian, so take that for what it's worth ;) )
Ah! Thank you! Discworld seems kind of overwhelming when you're trying to start reading it, but this video was really helpful :)
This was totally what I needed to get me to pick up the series again. I bought color of magic and tried to get into it and while it was funny and intriguing I was kind of baffled by the lack of plot and put it down after 60 pages or so. Your video really reinvigorated my interest in trying again, and was a much needed history lesson this amazingly prolific author. Great job!
I started with "Hatfull of Sky" in 2008, and liked it well enough to have another go, this time with "The Truth." I have never laughed so much since I first watched Monty Python as a teenager. I can recommend "The Truth" as a primer, even if one is otherwise unfamiliar with the Discworld mythos.
I never really knew what the books were about! My brother always read them growing up and said I would enjoy them, but I never gave them a thought. They sound really good though!
Nice video! For me it doesn't get much better than Guards Guards. The watch series is my absolute favourite, with Night Watch a particular highlight. My first ever Pratchett was Soul Music, a great way to start and for standalone books The Truth and Monstrous Regiment are excellent. Keep up the good work fellow Scot!! RIP Sir T.
Same. Going postal is fantastic. Great video from a gorgeous lady.
Going Postal has definitely been my favorite Terry Pratchett so far, but I have a soft spot for The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic since the movie adaptation of these two was what originally got me in to Discworld. It was extremely faithful to the books, and gave me some fantastical and spot-on visuals to carry through my reading experience. I also love the Hogfather movie, though I haven't read the original book yet (I really hope to get around to it someday!). I also love Mort because, for me, it filled in some of the backstory for Death's daughter.
Great video!
That is one of the things about the tv movies of the disc world books, they don't try to rewrite the story, they just try to recreate the original awesomeness :). Also, excellent taste - Going Postal! Have you seen the Going Postal film? Thanks.
I haven't seen the Going Postal movie because I heard some pretty negative reviews from the book club with which I originally read the book. Have you seen it? I'd love to get a second opinion. I loved the other movies so much!
It's hard to pick a favourite. Small Gods, Nation, Good Omens, Interesting Times, The Last Hero, Nightwatch, and the Wee Free Men come to mind. I can't really choose. The man was an amazing writer.
an important thing to keep in mind is that his early books can be quite difficult to follow. the later a book was written, the easier it'll be to read, the earlier, the harder. I tried reading colour of magic first but I had to stop as it gave me a headache lmao. my favourite book is hogfather!
Reaper Man, my favourite book of all time.
I started out randomly because of my mother but my first and favorite full novel was Guards! Guards! I've seen every movie and played the game, but the idea of a dragon controlling the kingdom and Rincewind owning a small dragon that eats all the metal in his house is just astounding to me. I will always be a Pratchett fan. I mourned the loss of such a creative man
Jean...
...or should I say Doctor Bookishthoughts? I see by a quick look at your channel you were uploading videos about life as a PhD candidate quite some time back...
Thank you for a concise/succinct introduction to Pratchett's matchless Discworld epic (taken as a whole I think it's ok to call it that). I wish I'd had your recommendations to guide me when I started the series but you were a child at the time. I was fiftysomething and hadn't known Pratchett existed when I stumbled on Making Money - read it, loved it, learned at once that I'd need to go backward in the series to get Lipwig fully. I find Discworld as mythic/folkloric as anything in Angela Carter or Salman Rushdie, and even funnier than Douglas Adams or Monty Python.
The fun thing about the discworld books is that they evolve with the author, you can see it in the evolution of Ankh-Morpork and how the world goes in too several new eras of science and social politics. god i love these books... my personal favourite becasue i really enjoy the evolution of Ankh-Morpork must be "Nightwatch" it colours the past and the future in really good contrast of each other :)
Excellent and helpful video, thank you, Jean! I've only read the first one, so I love hearing that it sounds like things get even better from there.
They really do :D! So glad it was helpful :).
Glad this is still up, I ended up buying Mort and Equal Rites. Excited to get them!
That was wonderfully presented & spoken, you should do your own audio books on this series, you'd make a fortune & have a very rewarding career. You are correct in saying you can start this series in a few spots as there are many sub series & even some stand alone books. I was introduced with Mort, as my brother ironically thought he & I shared a lot of similarities & DEATH gave such a unique version of the usual one that I was hooked as I was in a bit of a dark place at the time & just needed a cat loving, curry eating Anthropomorphic Personification to share some time with, I'm still here.
I can't even tell you how helpful this video is. I watched Wiebke's video last year (I believe) and she made me excited about this series. And now you refreshed my mind.
I nearly bought the Colour of Magic yesterday, but despite the fact that I know it's a great (and often considered "the best") place to start, I still wasn't sure and needed more info. Still plan to start there, though, but such a great video from a person who've read over the half of this series means a lot.
THANK YOU!
Loved Going Postal. More important than where you start is where you stop. Everything after Unseen Academicals was increasingly affected by his brain disease. It eventually made it all read like preachy fan fiction.
I love the Watch series surrounding Vimes, Nobby etc in Ankh Morpork...so I always recommend people start with Guards Guards (obviously completely biased haha!)....Night Watch was the best for those characters in my opinion :) Pyramids is my favourite standalone book though, and I also miss the Kirby covers! Might do a Discworld video of my own at some point....but could just end up with me getting incredibly excitable about the whole thing on camera...
One of the few authors that you feel makes you a better person. Incredibly imaginative. There is one flaw in his books though. You never feel fully invested in the characters.Their grief or pain or passion or motivations are never explored in enough depth.. I also think you always sense there is never really that much at stake for the characters. It|s hard to pinpoint what I mean.. While his books have so much heart in so many places, there is no heart in some important places..
In general the best way to read them is chronologically because there are some inside jokes and references and cameos that you won't get if you don't.
Said that the first few books don't fully have the Discworld Spirit in them as that only developed later. So my recommendation is to Start with 2-3 Of the later novels to see if you like the style and the humor and once you are hooked go chronologically.
My starting recomendations are:
Small Gods, Guards! Guards!, Wyrd Sisters, Wee Free Men, The Truth and Monstrous Regiment (Always depending on the persons taste)
Or to get a feel of Terry Pratchett in general I would also very much recommend some of his non-Discworld novels as an introduction especially Nation and Good Omens (also introduces them to Neil Gaiman which is always a plus)
@Ad Lockhorst I agree Monstrous Regiment might not be his most original book but it is still a pretty good book and quite independend of all the others.
I also don't think not knowing who de Worde or Vimes are is a problem. For all intends and purposes of the story de Worde is just a random journalist. Knowing his backstory won't add much to the narrative or the understanding of the characters involvement in it.
For Sam Vimes it's pretty much the same situation. Not knowing Vimes that well might even take some of the predictability out of the story.
Also (and this is a very subjective thing) it might actually be quite interesting to get to know a guy like Vimes from an outside perspective before getting into his head.