I am an avid SF and Fantasy reader, but I admit for some reason I've avoided Terry Pratchett's Discworld... until now.

Any clues on which was the first book of the series, do the books have to be read in a certain order,... ?

I am confused because when I search for Discworld on amazon.co.uk for example there is a godzillion books,... dunno where to start.

all of them. the witches seris and the city guard ones are the best. colour of magic would be a logical start tho.

terry pratchett owns btw...

The Discworld books are a bit odd, you don't have to read them in order but it helps for most of them. To date, I think, the orders are:

The Witches Books: Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade, and Carpe Jugulum.

The Gaurds Books: Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, and Jingo.

The Rincewind Books: The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Sourcery, Eric, Interesting Times, and The Last Continent.

The Death Books: Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hogfather, and Thief of Time.

The Wizard Books: (the Rincewind ones and sometimes pre-requisites for these as well, but not essential) Moving Pictures, Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hogfather, ajnd The Last Continent (yes, I know these are in other lists as well... its hard to explain, especially Reaper Man)

Misc: Pyramids, Small Gods, and The Truth.

I must have missed some out here, anyone else with more encylopeadic knowledge willing to help...

EDIT - BTW, this is not the order the books were written in. All of the books are written about the one world, but mostly they focus on one of several reccurring groups of characters, like the Witches or the Wizards. So you don't have to read them in the sequence they were written - just the sequence according to the central characters. Even then, its hardly essential.

[ 10-07-2002, 06:49 AM: Message edited by: Barry the Sprout ]

It does help to read the books in a particular order, as you'll need some knowledge of the way the Discworld works to fully appreciate the later ones. Since they're all numbered, you can just start out with the first one in the series, called "The colour of magic". Next up is "The light fantastic". All of Pratchett's books are good for multiple laughs, guaranteed ;)

Barry the Sprout wrote:

>The Guards Books: Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, and Jingo.

And the Fifth Elephant
Uncomfirmed rumor : Terry said that the guards characters are *almost* fully developed now and Guards series will get some well deserved rest from the chase. I just hope not, since those are my personal favorites. Just can't wait to get to the end of the book, since I know there will be Vetinari/Vimes confrontation which will send me laughing to the floor.
As for the reading sequence : I agree with you lot, that the correct sequence isn't necessary, but it DOES help a lot. Some of the jokes are more understandable and character reactions more funny (because by now you know what to/not to expect from them)

Neuro

Thanks a lot guys.

I'll start with "The Colour of Magic" and "The Light Fantastic".

Barry the Sprout: I am copying your list to my harddrive

The full list

The Colour of Magic
The Light Fantastic
Equal Rites
Mort
Sourcery
Wyrd Sisters
Pyramids
Guards! Guards!
Eric
Moving Pictures
Reaper Man
Lords and Ladies
Witches Abroad
Soul Music
Small Gods
Men at Arms
Interesting Times
Masqurade
Feet of Clay
Hogfather
Jingo
Carpe Jugulum
The Last Continent
The Fifth Elephant
The Truth
The Thief of Time

and

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents (officially a childrens book - but it can be read by all Pratchett-lovers)
The Last Hero (Illustrated and in Large Format)

and

After the King (stories in honour of J.R.R. Tolkien - shortstory featuring Cohen the Barbarian)
Legends (shortstory featuring Granny Weatherwax)

I think that this is the complete list [img]smile.gif[/img]

nanny oggs cookbook? the wyrdist link? The unseen university challenge?

(people in the uk will see where terry pratchett got the inspiration from the last two from..)

Well if we have to include the non-story books don't forget

The maps:
The Discworld Map
The Streets of Ankh-Morpork
The Tourist Guide to Lancre
Death's Domain

and

The Sience of Discworld 1 + 2(?)
The Discworld Companion
Discworld's Unseen University Diary ( I think the thieves guild also published one)

How am I doing so far? ;)

[ 10-07-2002, 09:24 AM: Message edited by: Ar-Cunin ]

Well if we have to include the non-story books don't forget

The maps:
The Discworld Map
The Streets of Ankh-Morpork
The Tourist Guide to Lancre
Death's Domain

and

The Sience of Discworld 1 + 2(?)
The Discworld Companion
Discworld's Unseen University Diary ( I think the thieves guild also published one)

How am I doing so far? ;) </font>[/QUOTE]CONCLUSIVE!!!!!

[ 10-07-2002, 09:26 AM: Message edited by: Radiant_Memphit ]

Impressive.

Ar-Cunin, the full list in your first post, is it the chronological order they were published in ?

Edit: And by the way are they all available in Pharao's Cigarer ? ;)

[ 10-07-2002, 09:41 AM: Message edited by: Warhammer ]

im not Ar-Cunin, but the order looks to be chronological to me.

These are the ones I've read so far. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Great books [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img] Some of the concepts are weird to understand at first, but once you are into the book it's no problem. There is some very clever, witty and funnny dialogue in there [img]graemlins/laugh2.gif[/img] Must read books!

BTW, how is the humor, compared to Doug Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series ?

the humour is often implied humour. it can be very subtle at times. all the books ive read are good and ive read most. the witches seris probebly has the edge though.

Argh! Terry Pratchett has got to be the funniest humor writer ever! So dry, so witty, so satire-ish, so reflective of society!

Note: Make sure you re-read his books, everynow and then, you'll be surprised as to just how many jokes you will have missed when reading the first time, i swear to god :D !!!!
I wish I was rich so as i could buy all his books in hardcover! :D

He's definitely a great writer, and anyone who wants to start reading the seires for the first time, I'd recommend reading them in order so you can see them 'grow up'. Alternatively you could try reading them in chronoligcal order depending on main characters but there is always slight overlapping so you may miss out.

Thanks for the tip about Legends by the way, I'll have to find a comfy corner in the bookshop and check it out [img]smile.gif[/img] (just as well I read quickly...).
You really get an idea of the society, the characters are really well developed and have a lot of depth.

As to the booklist, if you really like the series, you may want to read the Science of Discworld I and II, it does read like a story, but spends time explaining earth via Discworld (those who like the faculty of the Unseen University will like it most probably). There's also the Fools Guild Diary (but my favourite is the Assasin's guild diary from a couple of years back).

I've read all of the Discworld books, what do you all think of his other books like Johnny and the bomb or Diggers?

There is also a cartoon made with the witches in it. I think it's called "Wyrd Sisters". There is also one based on "Soul Music". Not sure if they are available through anything but the Science Fiction Book Club, though. I'm planning on getting one of them for my mom's birthday, since we both read Discworld. I'd recommend them to anyone with the least bit of a sense of humor! Plus, since they read so fast, you might want to have others on hand.

Yes - and I would try Fantask if I was you - they have all of them.

P.S. Pharao's Cigarer and Fantask are bookstores in Copenhagen - just some info to all the non-Danes here ;)