[CrazyReader]

I wanted to try some Terry Pratchett books, so I went to the library and got The Fifth Elephant.(It was the only one they had). My question is, do I have to start with the first book(Colour Of Magic)?? Or can I just read them in any order?? Oh well, either way, I'll be reading The Fifth Elephant. :p

[ookey]

I started with the Colour of Magic and went from there. I think that's probably the best introduction to the world, but, in my experience, all of the Discworld series include enough backround information in each volume to easily be read independently or in any order.
The Fifth Elephant is one I own myself, but haven't read it yet.
Btw, I've found that if you have a taste for English humour :) (as I do), you'll adore Pratchett.

Good reading,
Kevin

[Decado]

Yep. Pratchet is the best (though Tom Holt is pretty good, too).

I don't think I read the series completely in order. It wouldn't hurt to do so if you can, though.

[Barbarossa]

You certainly don't have to read the whole series in order. It's basically not one series but a bunch of subseries and stand alone novels set in one world.

It makes some sense to read the subseries in order but even that isn't necesarry.

The subseries are:

Wizard Rincewind:

Colour of magic
Light fantastic
Sorcery
Eric
Interesting times
Fifth continent

I like Rincewind least of all the main characters, but Interesting times is my favorite Discworld.

The Witches:

Equal rites
Wyrd sisters
Witches abroad
Lords and Ladies
Masquerade
Carpe jugulum

Death:

Mort
Reaper man
Soul music
Hogfather
Thief of time

The city watch:

Guards Guards
Men at arms
Feet of clay
Jingo
Fifth elephant

Stand alones:

Pyramids
Moving pictures
Small gods
The truth

[LeMort]

just to add to Barbarossa's list, there are few more Discworld novels that she omitted. These are:


The Last Hero

The Science of Discworld (Half the book is a discworld novella, the rest explains real scientific ideas that are linked to the story.)

The Science of Discworld 2: The Globe - Same format as the first book; half novel-half science text.

The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents - A Discworld novel for kids, but still kind of enjoyable if you like the adult Discworld novels.

[Barbarossa]

Umm, I'm a he ;)

Yes I forgot Last hero, which is a graphic novel one should add, I left out science of discworld I + II deliberatly, since they are not novels. I forgot The amazing maurice.

[Rob B]

I've only read the first three published Pratchett books, they weren't too bad, but I haven't felt overly compelled to read more. Doesn't mean I won't.

However, surprised nobody mentioned Good Omens his collaboration with Neil Gaiman. An extremely funny apocalyptic tale

[hclark]

Pratchett is one of my favorites! I've got many of his books, but didn't really read them in any order. It was just as I could find them. The libraries where I live don't have any of his books. But if you have a system like we do here, you can interlibrary loan. Basically, your library can get books from other libraries near by.

As Barbarossa suggested, many of the books in the Discworld series belong to subsets. It's nice to read the subsets in some sort of order, for instance to to see the character progression. That way you'll know that Magrat used to be just a witch and now she's a witch who's the wife of the king and has a baby. :) Nothing crucial, so that if you don't get them in order they will still be enjoyable and you won't miss out on much.

As for the Fifth Elephant, I was given that book for my birthday a year or two ago. I haven't read it yet, partially because it is one of the only hardcovers in my collection and mostly because I have prioritized other books first. Speaking of the cover, it is one of the ugliest I have ever seen. The one I have is neon yellow, pink and blue. Ick. I noticed while in the UK that the book covers there are much nicer than the ones here. It's like with the US versions they don't want people to know they're fantasy books.

Not all of Pratchett's books are part of the Discworld series. He has other books, like the Bromelaid trilogy and the Good Omens book mentioned above. Both of those two, by the way, are set to be made into movies!

[LeMort]

Barbarossa - Sorry for calling you a girl!

Have you read the Last Hero? It's not a graphic novel, no more so than Eric! is.

Also, I think that both of the Science of Discworld books are worth a read if you like TP, because aproximately half of each book is a novella.

[Barbarossa]

Yup I read the Last Hero, and perhaps illustrated novel would be a better term, still The excellent pictures are what makes LH special.

Science of discworld is good but I wouldn't reccomend to anyone just starting.