SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

So I know of that lovely flowchart that maps out the different subseries within Discworld and the order they go in, but I've heard mixed things about which subseries to start with (Color of Magic one vs. the Guards, Guards path). I've also heard some people suggest starting in the middle of a subseries.

Can anyone go over the pros/cons to each of these approaches?

(Also, my apologies if this topic has been hashed over already somewhere! In my defense, I did try using the search function :])

I've heard lots of different ways of reading them but for me I found the easiest to follow was by publication order. To me that's how the author wrote it, that's how they intended it to be read.

Sure you can read it in other orders but to my mind that's how the little things can be missed. Cameos and injokes that don't make sense or aren't noticed.

I would agree. Just read them in the order they were published.

I have heard more than one person tell me to NOT start with the first one, 'color of magic', because the writing is uneven and gets much better later in the series. I suppose book 4, where we are for our BOM this month, is a reasonable skip?

You'd still need to read books 1-3 at some point. Those books contain the first introduction of Rincewind, the Wizards, Ankh-Morpork, Granny Weatherwax and others. The Color of Magic may not be the best Discworld book but is definitely worth reading.

You'd still need to read books 1-3 at some point. Those books contain the first introduction of Rincewind, the Wizards, Ankh-Morpork, Granny Weatherwax and others. The Color of Magic may not be the best Discworld book but is definitely worth reading.

I do agree that the first books are worth reading, but they feel like the work of an author still finding his voice. They're not the best way to decide if you like the Discworld style, because it's not really there yet. Mort is a good starting point, but I'd even go a little farther ahead to Wyrd Sisters.

They're mostly fairly short. I'd go in publication order (I haven't but then again I used to live in a place that didn't have a public library, then when it got one certainly didn't carry Prachett...).

I've read them out of sequence starting with THUD because the bookstores I used in the Middle East only kept a few at a time but now I'm re-reading them in sequence.
Got to admit I'm enjoying them even more second time round, but probably because I'm now more familiar with the characters and have my favourites - so don't worry, just enjoy!

I don't think there's any need to read them in order or to necessarily read the first 2 or 3. You can either start near the beginning of one of the groups (Guards and Death are my favorites, but there's also the Witches and Rincewind/Unseen University.)

It might be easiest to pick out one that looks good from each of the groups and if you like it, read the ones in that group from the beginning.

I think reading in order or reading in publication order is often overrated and usually most strongly advocated by people who have already read them in order. Sometimes it is helpful but usually not necessary.

Tad wrote: "but there's also the Witches and Rincewind/Unseen University."

Which are books 3 and 1 respectively.

Kim wrote: "Which are books 3 and 1 respectively..

Right. And if you don't happen to care for those characters and only choose to read the Death or Guards novels, or even the stand alones, there is no need to ever read the first second or even third books. Or you could also read forward from the point you jump in where the books are generally better written than the first couple.

Thanks for all the input! I think what I will do is try out one of the later ones from each of the groups to see how I like them, and then start over from publication order. This all being contingent on what's available at the bookstore.

I tend to reread series, so that'll give me some mental leeway in approaching this. (On the one hand, I do want to catch all the cross-references. On the other, there's so much of it I want to get to sooner rather than later.)

I'd go for Mort or Equal Rites as a starting point, or maybe Guards Guards, because the first two feel a bit more like parodies than satire (Equal Rites might fall into this as well, but I really love the witches, so I'm biased). I think I might have started with Wyrd Sisters way back when, and I don't think it hurt. They're pretty much stand alone even within the groups (maybe the Tiffany Aching books shouldn't be read out of order, but that's about the only exception, I think).

the guards series are the funniest books in the series imo but that is because i like the political and social commentary he uses in there.

I would start to read some of the standalone books like or .

I agree with Kevin. I would begin with Small Gods. It's often considered the best, and it's almost probably the most completely stand-alone (which still isn't completely stand-alone), so you can read it without being completely flummoxed, and also without spoiling other books too much.

I would also start with the latest series, Moist von Lipwig, the main character with and .

My favourite ones are the ones mainly featuring Vimes, I'd start with Night Watch. It isn't chronologically the first Vimes book but it covers his time in the Watch from when he was a lad and it is a brilliant story introducing many of the characters in a way you will fall in love with them.
Then I'd read the other Vimes books.
Alternatively I'd read The Truth - about how newspapers developed in Discworld - stand alone and very very readable and again introducing many characters, followed by Going Postal - about how stamps developed in Discworld and then Making Money - about how banking developed in Discworld.
The Mort series is also wonderful.
Mort, followed by Reaper Man and then Hogfather.

Or..... You could start with his YA series about Tiffany Aching with the Wee Free Men.
I found this book especially charming.
(Okay, the accents of the little blue guys takes some getting used to, but they are hilarious.)

Oh, I love the Tiffany Aching books. My daughters seemed to be less charmed, though.

Darci wrote: "Oh, I love the Tiffany Aching books. My daughters seemed to be less charmed, though."

I have found that the best 'YA' books, are most enjoyed by adults. Funny, that, although I call them 'best' because I liked them, so the argument is circular. :-) But yes, I agree. There are only a few books that, at the end, I sigh and say to myself, 'that was wonderful.' The Tiffany aching books fell into that category.

I guess it's that writers and literary agents are adults, who remember the kind of thing they liked as kids - while the kids have moved on. Or the little monsters have no taste :)

Darci wrote: "I guess it's that writers and literary agents are adults, who remember the kind of thing they liked as kids - while the kids have moved on. Or the little monsters have no taste :)"
I have no doubt it's the latter. :-)

I started with Hogfather. I loved it, and got hooked on the series. I think the first books are fun to go back to and look at once you love the world. I think it's a great IDEA to start at the beginning, but my concern would be that you might burn out before it gets Amazing...

Agree that you should start from the beginning. One of the magical things about Pratchett is the way the characters are allowed to evolve over the books. But one could make the point that you could start with "the Night watch". That is far along in the series and still a glimpse back in to the past of several of series most important characters. It will get you exited to read all the previous books. You have a ton of fun in front of you!

Colour of magic is the beginning ...start there

i bought Night Watch as it was in a 2nd book shop, so im going to start with the City Watch series beginning with Guards! Guards! and if i like it go back and start at # 1

Michele wrote: "My favourite ones are the ones mainly featuring Vimes, I'd start with Night Watch. It isn't chronologically the first Vimes book but it covers his time in the Watch from when he was a lad and it i..."

what's all the books in the Sam Vines series as the list on here differs to what i was told?

Another vote here for starting at the beginning and reading all the books in the order they were published. I honestly have no idea why so many people warn against starting with the first books. I just reread The Colour of Magic for at least the 3rd time and it's still one of my favorites. I'm now rereading The Light Fantastic and having lots of fun with it.

I started with the Wee Free Men because I didn't know it was a part of a larger series. Then I tried to go from the beginning. They're all good, and I had trouble tracking down each book, so start where you want, I say.

I'm not a huge fantasy reader and my best fried handed me The Color of Magic and demanded I read it. It was fantastic. They may get better, but I don't think they start off badly.

Yeah I felt the same way about the first one and had to run off and get the next book immediately after I finished it.

I'm reading them in publication order. If I had gone with the flowchart I've seen, I may never have read the Colour of Magic, which I thought was a great book.

I thought Colour was hilarious- I loved "the luggage".

The problem with the "read only the best books" advice is that reasonable people may disagree as to which are the best. I would say to pick one at random to see if it's your cup of tea at all. If you like it, consider going to the first book in that thread, i.e. Unseen University, or Night's Watch, or Granny Weatherwax. Once you're comfortable in that thread, branch out.

If on the other hand you weren't crazy about the first book you picked, try another thread.

You could also pick a thread by what sort of writing you like in general. The Unseen University books are quite farcical and would appeal to anyone who has experience of academic institutions. The Night's Watch books are a sort of alternate-reality police procedural. While the Granny Weatherwax series is arguably the most real, in the sense of being a fairly unromantic portrayal of medieval rural life, but somehow being all the more charming because of that.

I suppose the only thing I would caution against is reading a standalone like Small Gods because it wouldn't be very representative.

My first was Moving Pictures, followed by Pyramids. I then decided to go back to the beginning, although I did find Colour of Magic more uneven. I've read them mostly in order although I somehow missed Wyrd Sisters and so found Witches Abroad a bit disjointed. I would recommend reading Wyrd Sisters as early as possible!

I fondly remembered reading them all when I was younger but now I look at the list I really didn't read very many at all. I also did not know about the flow chart. I think I have a lot of reading to catch up on

While I almost always recommend reading in publication order, in this case I agree with those that suggest skipping at least the first three books. They're good books, but they don't really match the style of the later ones. If you get hooked on Discworld, you can always go back and read them later. It's not like reading in order is an absolute necessity with this series as it is with others.

Yeah though if reading out of order, one should make sure to at least read The Colour of Magic before The Light Fantastic since The Light Fantastic is a direct sequel picking up where the Colour of Magic left off. I haven't read the whole series so I'm not sure if there are any other books in the series that do that, but there are lots of books that do build on ones that came before them.

I had the great good fortune to grow up with the discworld books. I even read Strata before I read the colour of magic.

The answer is the same as it always was. It depends...

Rincewind (books one and two - and revived later) is no match for Vimes, Death, Weatherwax, or even Moist von Lipwig, but they are all great books.

Reading the discworld series is like exploring a new world. No corner should be ignored. You could do worse than share the author's journey.

My personal favourites are Maurice, Mort, all the Vimes books, and anything with Granny Weatherwax.

The Discworld books aren't really a series. They are a setting. This means reading them out of order is not a problem -- except for the internal series, of which it has several.

The problem with publication order is that he didn't really have a grip on Discworld in the first two, so they don't give a good idea of the whole thing. I'd probably recommend starting with Mort. Or Pyramids or Guards! Guards!. the start of the Death series, a standalone, and the start of the Watch series, respectively.

I would recommend starting with Men At Arms. It's one of the strongest in the early books and it's early enough that you can get with the characters. After that, if you need more convincing, try Going Postal and if you're still not sure (WHAT?!), go for A Hat Full of Sky. Each of them starts new character arcs (except for Men At Arms; it's preceded by Guards! Guards!, but that's alright). That's been my strategy for bringing in a lot of my friends to this insane world.

Yeah, The Color of Magic was certainly parodying fantasy elements that are no longer in fashion. And he hadn't quite gotten a grip on the worldbuilding.

I would, however, recommend starting with the first of a series. The Watch series, for instance, or the Death books. It helps.

Here's a map for you.

http://io9.com/how-to-read-terry-prat...

An excellent map.

Wow, that's very helpful. I was just wondering where to start.

♥,
Cat at Galaxy Press

I'd say just go for the series-within-series that appeals the most to you. When someone in the family was interested, I pointed them to Wyrd Sisters, as I figured the witches would interest them the most. (The Tiffany Aching ones weren't written at the time, but I might have also recommended those if they had been.)

But this doesn't mean everyone should start there. You might think the guards sound more entertaining or really love stuff with wizards. The main thing is you think it sounds fun.

The witches one is definitely the one I'm most interested in.

Vlad wrote: "I'll amend my post above; do not start with Unseen Academicals. Not because you won't understand it (you will), but simply because it's by far the worst of Pratchett's work I have read, to the poi..."


Surely it can't be worse than The Dark Side of the Sun? While not a Discworld novel, that book is by far the worst of his work that I've read so far. Granted I have not read Unseen Academicals yet so I really can't compare.

It's strange, but I think that every point is good to start except the first book "The Colour of Magic", not good as the others I've read. My favourite: "Guards!Guards!"