Reading Discworld!

[Aedilred]

Honestly, I feel like Lords and Ladies sets up the dread of the elves better than Discworld ever sets up the dread of, well, anything. Pratchett managed to make them feel inhuman, dread-inducing in a way he never managed with any of the things from the dungeon dimensions or the human villains.

With that said, I do see the point that once the elves actually appear, they are arguably a bit underwhelming. They run around for a bit and make a mess but the humans find a number of effective ways to deal with them quite quickly. Only the queen has any real "stage presence". So I can see why some readers might have been left cold. For me, I had bought into the threat posed by the elves sufficiently by that point thanks to the buildup that I was willing to go with it, but not everyone will have done.

[farothel]

Honestly, I feel like Lords and Ladies sets up the dread of the elves better than Discworld ever sets up the dread of, well, anything. Pratchett managed to make them feel inhuman, dread-inducing in a way he never managed with any of the things from the dungeon dimensions or the human villains.

And he adds the fey vulnerability to iron into it in a myriad of ways, something the Tolkien elves don't have (except for the 'sword through the chest' vulnerability to iron we all share).

[Eldan]

Pretty sure norse elves aren't weak to iron anyway, so that fits too.

[dehro]

I was pretty happy with the callback to the traditional folklore versions of elves and the many ways in which Pratchett flips expectations in universe and in the less savvy reader.
at times it was a suitably creepy depiction and I really got what imagery he was trying to portray.
In short, Lords and Ladies is pretty good and stays on Pratchett's high standard... that said, it is not one of my favourites, meaning not one of those I re-read often.

[Wizard_Lizard]

I was pretty happy with the callback to the traditional folklore versions of elves and the many ways in which Pratchett flips expectations in universe and in the less savvy reader.
at times it was a suitably creepy depiction and I really got what imagery he was trying to portray.
In short, Lords and Ladies is pretty good and stays on Pratchett's high standard... that said, it is not one of my favourites, meaning not one of those I re-read often.

Lords and Ladies is one of my favourite of all discworld.

[Mightymosy]

So, Jingo....
Huge thumbs up!
It sounded like I might not like it from the summary, but I did.
So from where I stand now:
Watch series: oooookay series at first, but really grew on to me, now clearly my favorite.

Witches: clear favorite at first, now almost a burden to read through :-(

Death series: somehow not reeeaally my thing, maybe skip it.

Wizard series: medium to good overall, with Eric being my favorite so far.

[Seppl]

So, Jingo....
Huge thumbs up!
It sounded like I might not like it from the summary, but I did.
So from where I stand now:
Watch series: oooookay series at first, but really grew on to me, now clearly my favorite.

Witches: clear favorite at first, now almost a burden to read through :-(

Death series: somehow not reeeaally my thing, maybe skip it.

Wizard series: medium to good overall, with Eric being my favorite so far.

I would recommend to not judge a Discworld book by its series
There are strong and weak entries in each series. Each book is so different that belonging to a particular series is not indicative to your expected enjoyment (unless you really hate certain main characters for some reason). For example, the next Death novel - Thief of Time - is one of the all time greats of the series.

[Yuki Akuma]

I would recommend to not judge a Discworld book by its series
There are strong and weak entries in each series. Each book is so different that belonging to a particular series is not indicative to your expected enjoyment (unless you really hate certain main characters for some reason). For example, the next Death novel - Thief of Time - is one of the all time greats of the series.

Thief of Time is amazing and if you don't read it just because Susan is in it you're doing yourself a disservice.

[Mightymosy]

Is that the one with Lu Tze, the monk, as main character?
I have read that a long time ago and liked it.

[The New Bruceski]

Is that the one with Lu Tze, the monk, as main character?
I have read that a long time ago and liked it.

I'd say primary secondary character, but that's splitting hairs.

[Mightymosy]

Hmmm it's been quite some time. If I forgot a whole primary character it is good reading again. I had intended to skip it, but I guess I might read it again.

[Starla]

This much, I agree with. Almost everything else in this post, I vehemently disagree with.

Which is why it's a good idea just to read in publication order, and not listen too much to any other opinions until you've formed your own. And always remember, feel free to stop or take a break at any time. Even at his productive peak, Pratchett only published two books a year - so if you read them any faster than that, you're binging.

I did not read the books in publication order. I borrowed them from my library as they were available to me and I did not suffer from the lack of order in my enjoyment of them. I also don't disagree with the caution against binge reading. My brain will eventually enjoy good writing less as I binge it. I try to limit my favorite past times for maximum enjoyment by slowing down.

Also, I know that Strata is listed as a Stand Alone book but I happened to read it as one of my first Terry Pratchett novels and got the sense that the Discworld series was born from that book. If I was to list the order of Discworld I would include Strata. It certainly gives a nice twist to the series if you think about it as being the origin story.

[dehro]

Thief of time is one of my absolute favourites.i can't even point out why other than the writing being done of Pratchett's finest... It's one of those I will reread with the most pleasure.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Also, I know that Strata is listed as a Stand Alone book but I happened to read it as one of my first Terry Pratchett novels and got the sense that the Discworld series was born from that book. If I was to list the order of Discworld I would include Strata. It certainly gives a nice twist to the series if you think about it as being the origin story.

Strata and Discwords both draw from common pools, rather than one directly inspiring the other. From the man himself:

- Is Strata a Discworld novel or isn't it?

"Strata used the idea of a Discworld but I've never thought of it as a Discworld novel within the meaning of the act. The first Discworld novel was The Colour of Magic. Let the message go throughout the kingdom..."

The idea originally came from a number of legends where the earth is a disk riding on the back of a turtle. Pratchett then took this idea and applied it in two books - The Colour of Magic was parodies/pastiches of existing fantasy/horror series; Strata was the same, but for the Ringworld stories.

[Eldan]

Yeah, if Strata is a parody/pastiche of anything, it's Larry Niven. While Colour of Magic leans very strongly on Howard and Leiber.

[Drascin]

I admit, Thief of Time was not one of my favorites. It felt kind of... I dunno. Just a bunch of things happening, rather than a plot? And while I was actually entirely on board with Susan in her previous outings, I liked her less in ToT. Maybe I'm weird, everyone seems to love the book to bits, but for me it's always been one of the least re-readable entries in Discworld.

[Manga Shoggoth]

I admit, Thief of Time was not one of my favorites. It felt kind of... I dunno. Just a bunch of things happening, rather than a plot? And while I was actually entirely on board with Susan in her previous outings, I liked her less in ToT. Maybe I'm weird, everyone seems to love the book to bits, but for me it's always been one of the least re-readable entries in Discworld.

Spoiler: Thief of Time

Show

There are several plot threads going on, but as they are all inter-related it can come across as a little incoherent in places - my problem is that it came across as a poor attempt to give Susan a boyfriend, which was then (fortunately) ignored in following books.

[Fyraltari]

I admit, Thief of Time was not one of my favorites. It felt kind of... I dunno. Just a bunch of things happening, rather than a plot? And while I was actually entirely on board with Susan in her previous outings, I liked her less in ToT. Maybe I'm weird, everyone seems to love the book to bits, but for me it's always been one of the least re-readable entries in Discworld.

I'm with you on that one.