Reading Terry Pratchett books - Late to the Party

[Unseenmal]

With the sad, sad loss of Terry Pratchett, I find myself in a situation where I would like to read his books.

Let me say, I have never read any of his stuff (Don't kill me!) . I tend to read more horror and non-fiction history stuff. What can I say, I'm weird. Recently, a friend has gotten me interested in Sci-fi/Fantasy style books. I recently finished another Terry...Terry Brooks in fact... series of Shannara and also the Kingdom of Landover series. I enjoyed both. I've read the Song of Fire and Ice as well....maybe book 6 will be out in the summer of 2053. We can only hope.

So with that in mind and with Mr. Pratchett's passing, I ask you, oh faithful Playgrounders, which of his books should I read and in what order? As I understand it, the Discworld series has many books...some of them are prequels to others, some run concurrently to other books, etc.

Logically, I should read them in the order they were released/published but there are also people that I've spoken to that say I should read them chronologically. Still others tell me that there are books in the series that I just don't even need to read. I don't agree with the last one so much but what do I know?

What do you think?

[Grim Portent]

Well the Colour of Magic and the Light Fantastic are pretty good starting points for the Discworld seeing as they were the first. The writing quality is probably the lowest in all of Pratchett's works, but they're still a fun parody of the narrative and fantasy themes of the time and are a fun adventure.

I personally started on Jingo, one of the stories about Sam Vimes and it remains a favorite to this day.

The nice thing about Discworld is that each story is self contained enough that they don't need to be read in order for the most part. Though a lot of references are made to previous books in some form or another.

As for Terry's non-Discworld stuff, well I can't really say I recall much of it. The Bromeliad trilogy was nice but meant for younger audiences, he co-authored Good Omens which is great.

I'd say that you should just look through the synopsis of several books and pick the one that catches your eye and start there, then just read any of his books that sound good to you.

[Palanan]

I first read them in the order they were published, simply because that's when they became available, so that feels like the most natural sequence to me. I relished them when following that approach, and just went with the flow when he switched between story arcs.

One benefit of reading them in publication order is you have the chance to watch Pratchett's writing grow and evolve, especially the character of Death, who changes a fair amount in the earlier books. There's a gradual deepening of theme and commentary as the series progresses, although the last half-dozen books were decidedly less so. I haven't read the most recent ones, having heard some very mixed reports.

So my recommendation would be to follow the publication sequence, but it really depends on what you're more interested in--the development of the writer and Discworld overall, or the continuity of individual story arcs.

[Zyzzyva]

Publication order is probably fine - Color of Magic is definitely not as good as, say, Interesting Times (and that's without even leaving the books that have Twoflower in them!) but it's not bad by any stretch - and has the advantage of being absolutely the simplest approach.

If you want to get a decent idea of the books and only read, say half a dozen, the City Watch sequence (start with Guards, Guards, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay) is pretty great.

[The Glyphstone]

Here's a very handy-dandy chart of the different Discworld storylines, the closest thing to a 'chronology' you'll get. It's missing a lot of the later books (Making Money, Raising Steam, and Snuff come to mind).

Spoiler

Show

The Rincewind/Wizards books follow Rincewind the cowardly Wizzzzzard, his Luggage (capital L), and the assorted faculty of Unseen University. Lots of lampooning of fantasy novel tropes, with a heavy dose of school/university-related humor and some social commentary at times.

The Witches books follow Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and a few others, solving problems with as little magic as possible. Also parodies of fantasy stories, but with a different angle than the Wizards books since witches are generally much more level-headed and competent.

The Death books follow the anthropomorphic embodiment of (obviously) Death, its assistant Alfred, and its daughter Susan (it's complicated). Generally a mix of social commentary and exploring aspects of what it means to be human, for good or bad.

The City Watch books follow the Watch of Ankh-Morpok - Sam Vimes, Carrot Ironfoundersson, Nobby Nobs, and the rest. They live out pretty much every police procedural, detective novel, or crime story you can imagine with the typical Discworld zaniness to mix things up.

The Moist books are about a "reformed" swindler and con-man, who gets caught up in becoming responsible for various modernizing technologies and social trends in Ankh-Morpok. Starts with Going Postal, though there are a number of standalone books predating Moist along the same theme.

[Zyzzyva]

The Moist books are about a "reformed" swindler and con-man, who gets caught up in becoming responsible for various modernizing technologies and social trends in Ankh-Morpok. Starts with Going Postal, though there are a number of standalone books predating Moist along the same theme.

...Although the dotted lines there are a little misleading, and most of them should really be full solid lines; if you read Monstrous Regiment first, you are absolutely missing out on Vimes the Butcher's cameo.

Starting with any of the four on the far left probably won't do you wrong, though.

[The Glyphstone]

Yeah, that is the way to go. Pick one of the dark orange on the left and work your way along the plot - the standalones are more or less independent, though enriched by reading the 'main lines' and recognizing characters. You can technically jump into the middle of a main-line story arc, but it'll leave you confused at times if you haven't read prior books. I.e., you can enjoy the Death books without reading the Wizard books (despite the fact that Death makes frequent cameos in the Wizard line, and everywhere else to boot), but you don't want to read Reaper Man if you haven't read Mort.

[Zyzzyva]

Yeah, that is the way to go. Pick one of the dark orange on the left and work your way along the plot - the standalones are more or less independent, though enriched by reading the 'main lines' and recognizing characters. You can technically jump into the middle of a main-line story arc, but it'll leave you confused at times if you haven't read prior books. I.e., you can enjoy the Death books without reading the Wizard books (despite the fact that Death makes frequent cameos in the Wizard line, and everywhere else to boot), but you don't want to read Reaper Man if you haven't read Mort.

...Which just emphasizes my point about the dotted lines. Susan Sto Helit being like the third most important character doesn't count for tying Thief of Time to the Death line? Really?

[Selrahc]

Starting with any of the four on the far left probably won't do you wrong, though.

Small Gods is a much better starter book than Pyramids and is probably amongst the best starting books for Discworld in general. Reaper Man is a better starting Death book than Mort. Wyrd Sisters is a *much* better starting Witches book than Equal Rites. Advising somebody starts with Colour of Magic just seems like a move to drive them away, since it's a much weaker and tonally much different book, that will really only appeal if you've got a good grounding in the fantasy works that it is parodying.

Guards Guards is a good starting book, for what is probably the strongest series overall.

[Unseenmal]

Thanks to everyone for replying and quickly too!

My original plan was to do what Palanan did....read them in order of publication because that's how they were printed originally. But according to Wikipedia, there are 41 books...(The Shepherd's Crown should be printed later this year). But I knew the story-lines were varied.

cool picture and info

That's just awesome. I can choose a story-line and follow it to it's conclusion or at least keep the story-lines in order if I get confused by what I'm into. Honestly, this is going to be a huge undertaking in itself so that handy guide may make things easier. I'm still not 100% sure how I'll tackle this but I have more info than I did before I posted.

In the end, I think that I'll read them based on the story-lines. I'd really like to see how he developed as a writer over the years. Also, how the characters and stories developed as he grew as a writer. But based on Selrahc 's suggestions and input, the original book, Colour of Magic, might be too far out of what I'm used to reading. Should be fun either way.

I should be able to finish up the entire set in a week or so

My buddy has really gotten me hooked on the fantasy genre.

Any other fantasy novels I should look into? Books, series, writers?

-Unseenmal


P.S. I also left out that I have already read The Hobbit and LOTR years ago. I am an RPGer and a nerd, after all.

P.P.S I found this updated book listing Discworld Storylines 2.2

[hamishspence]

Mercedes Lackey's Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms is pretty Pratchett-esque - with "The Tradition" standing in for "narrative causality".

[BWR]

Any other fantasy novels I should look into? Books, series, writers?
]

Hoo boy, where to start?
Gene Wolfe - anything, but you might start with "The Book of the New Sun"
John Crowley - "Little, big"
M. John Harrison - his Viriconium stories
Tanith Lee- most anything, but her Tales from the Flat Earth stories (Night's Master, Death's Master, Delusion's Master, Delirium's Mistress, and more) or her Secret Books of Paradys are her best. Also, The Birthgrave trilogy, "Kill the Dead",
Edgar Rice Burroughs - Tarzan and his Barsoom/John Carter of Mars stories
Robert E. Howard - Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, Solomon Kane and tons of other good fantasy stories
H.P. Lovecraft - anything
Lord Dunsany - most anything, but "Time and the gods" is perhaps his most imaginative and amazing work.
C. L. Moore - her Jirel of Joiry and Northwest Smith stories
Ursula LeGuin - her Earthsea stories (start with "A wizard of Earthsea")
Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague DeCamp's Harold Shae/Enchanter series. Anything by DeCamp, who was in many ways a proto-Pratchett in his style and less preachy in themes.
Neil Gaiman - most of his work will do, but you might start with either Sandman or American Gods
Jack Vance - anything but I'd start with "The Dying Earth"
Robert Holdstock - "Mythago wood"

Other authors you might look into are Michael Moorcock, Roger Zelazny, Sergei Lukyanenko, Susannah Clarke, Stephen Brust

[Unseenmal]

Hoo boy, where to start?

Yeah I knew that would be kind of a loaded question...but I thank you for your input. I read...like...A LOT. This plan stemmed from the fact that I have read all of the classics (Melville, Twain, Shakespeare, Verne, etc). I've read military tactics books and things of that sort (REALLY helps with Warhammer 40K strategies ). History books about WWI/WWII. I figured it was time to start reading new things.

Also, I recently went to my local library and donated half of my personal library to clear out my bookshelves of stuff I have read 2-3 times. I kept all of my gaming books of course....I'm not crazy.

You guys have given me YEARS worth of books to read.

-Unseenmal

[brionl]

We've probably already covered the Discworld adequately. But if you're still looking for other stuff to read I've got a couple suggestions. If you like hard-boiled detective/noir try the Garrett P.I. series by Glen Cook starting with Sweet Silver Blues. Cook's The Black Company et seq is really hard core fantasy. Also the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust, starting with Jhereg.

[Man on Fire]

Generally I follow my former friend's advice - read the Discworld in publication order and see how Prachett's style has evolved across the years.

[Kato]

Short background:
My first eyposure to Pratchett (which I didn't realize at the time) was when our German teacher picked the German version of "Only you can save Mankind" for us to read. It's very different from the average Discworld book but it was a great read and later realizing it was actually written by what would become possibly my favorite author makes it even better in retrospect.
It was about... five(?) years later that I bought another German translation of Pyramids and... I think it was Wyrd Sisters (because Pratchett was advertised as "the Douglas Adams of Fantasy" and I had just read the Hitchhiker stories not long ago) and after this bought a few German books kind of random-ish until starting to read the originals mostly in publication order.

That said... publication order is a nice thing, as long as you know the first few Pratchett is still developing. With books like "Guards! Guards!" you're pretty well served or Pyramids/Small Gods as standalones. Just don't start in the middle of a series, that would probably be a problem albeit not too much of one.

Also, while I love Discworld, why do people keep ignoring his other stories? Okay, Bromeliad, Strata, "Only you can..." can't really keep up with the Discworld but they are still good books and people mostly talk about them. Kind of a shame.

[veti]

That's just awesome. I can choose a story-line and follow it to it's conclusion or at least keep the story-lines in order if I get confused by what I'm into. Honestly, this is going to be a huge undertaking in itself so that handy guide may make things easier. I'm still not 100% sure how I'll tackle this but I have more info than I did before I posted.

Honestly, I think that's the wrong way to look at it. It's not a "huge undertaking", you're under no obligation to read the entire canon at all, let alone to do it in any particular timeframe. You can take a break, or just stop entirely, any time you like.

I read the books pretty much as they came out, which means that even at the peak there were gaps of up to 6 months between books. That's how they were written. I think it's a huge mistake to try to devour them all to some arbitrary self-imposed deadline.

Publication order is the best way to see "how he developed as a writer". Viewing them as separate "series" is always slightly misleading, because there are crossover elements between them - the only real advantage is to make it more "approachable", and that's only an issue if you're thinking in these "undertaking" terms.

[Unseenmal]

Honestly, I think that's the wrong way to look at it. It's not a "huge undertaking", you're under no obligation to read the entire canon at all, let alone to do it in any particular timeframe. You can take a break, or just stop entirely, any time you like.

I read the books pretty much as they came out, which means that even at the peak there were gaps of up to 6 months between books. That's how they were written. I think it's a huge mistake to try to devour them all to some arbitrary self-imposed deadline.

Publication order is the best way to see "how he developed as a writer". Viewing them as separate "series" is always slightly misleading, because there are crossover elements between them - the only real advantage is to make it more "approachable", and that's only an issue if you're thinking in these "undertaking" terms.

No no...no deadline.... But when I say huge undertaking, bear in mind that it's said with a giant smile and child-like excitement. I love reading so I can't wait to get started on this. To me, this is less a daunting task and more, well, just fun. Plus think about it, when was the last time you just decided to read 41 books? I'm going to do this no matter how long it takes. Everyone I've spoken to about Mr. Pratchett has had nothing but praise. Like Kato said "the Douglas Adams of Fantasy"....that's good company to be in, if you ask me. Plus, I do also plan to read other books in there as well. That's why I asked for other fantasy books to read. (Thanks again BWR!)

But after giving it some thought, I think I would rather read them in publication order. The storyline idea is cool and all but it's not how they were written. I think it's the most logical way to go.

Now if only my Amazon order would show up....

[Tengu_temp]

I consider the reading order guide to be more like a suggestion. It shows which books are direct sequels to which other books, so you'll know to read the other book first, but technically apart from that you can read Discworld books in any order you want.

That said, I recommend reading them in the order they were published. Reading them by series (as in: all the Rincewind books, then all the Witches books, then all the Watch books, etc), is something I definitely do not recommend. There's a lot of cross-series references in Discworld, the chart is not 100% accurate, and you'll jump to and fro all over Discworld's timeline, which will get jarring.