The fifth elephant. It actually made me read through all the other Rincewind books and then everything else I could find by Mr Pratchett. Loved his world building.
this post was submitted on 03 May 2023
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I really don't know which one I read first. It was either The Colour of Magic or Going Postal. Either way, I found the book in my school library, where I was told to cool down during sports after I fainted because we had a heatstroke.
As to my favourite book, it's between Lords and Ladies and The Thief of Time. Don't make me choose between Shakespeare and old Hongkong kungfu film tropes...
My first was Mort! And I immediately fell in love with Pratchett's style
As a child my first introduction to Terry Pratchett was the wee free men as an audiobook, and then a few years later some kind person recommended Mort to me, which I loved. It took me a while to figure out that my beloved childhood Tiffany Aching books were the same as the new Discworld series that I had discovered.
That's so sweet!
How, with such a breadth of outstanding novels, am I supposed to pick a favourite?
I also can't remember which is my first, a family friend lent us everything up to The Last Continent in one go, and I read them all in a completely random order.
First is hard to remember, but was probably The Color of Magic which delayed my reading of his other books for a time. It’s not bad, but didn’t grab me like the later books did. Favorite is hard to pick. The Last Continent, Monstrous Regiment, and Guards! Guards! are all great.
- Yes
- The Color of Magic, decades ago when I was in high school.
- It varies, often it's whichever one I just finished. Going Postal and Small Gods are always good.
I’m pretty sure it was Reaper Man, and then the Hogfather.
My dad was always a huge fan and after I started reading the books, The Hogfather movie became one of our regular Christmas watches.
I don't honestly remember my first book, it was either Colour of Magic or Mort. If I have to pick a favourite I'm going to cheat and say all of the Guards books. I love Vimes and Carrot.
That is fair, the Guards books are all very good.
I had heard about the series for ages before consuming any content. I have ADHD so I read pretty slow, and that tends to bias my enjoyment to visual media. I first watched the Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic mini series with Sean Astin, then Going Postal, and they were all great. I'm reading the books now in, I believe, publication order. Currently on Sourcery. They've all been quite enjoyable so far. Granny's headology still cracks me up.
The miniseries are a lot of fun! I rewatch the Hogfather miniseries every Christmas. I have heard the Watch on Amazon is terrible, and from what I have seen and heard of it, I'm inclined to agree. I also read them in publication order as well, though many people recommend against it. I quite enjoy the headology in all the witch books.
What order do people recommend to you?
The general consensus seems to be to pick a sub arc (The Watch, Moist, Rincewind etc.) and read all of those, but I sorta prefer publication order.
Yes. Publication order is definitely the best way to read the books. You get to see the world develop, You get to see Terry's skills develop. You get to follow Ridcully's and Stibbons' arcs in order. You get to spot all the crossovers and references of bigger events and minor characters.
But...
It can be a bit overwhelming for new readers if they're told that its a 41 book series, and the best character isn't introduced until book 8, and the best books start around book 19, and the first couple of books are in a bit of a different style to the later ones, and the best book is book 29.
So my generic suggestion is for new readers to pick up Guards! Guards! and then decide whether they're hooked enough to read the whole series in order, or want to carry on with the Watch books. If I know a bit more about the asker, I might suggest starting with a different one. If its winter, I'm likely to suggest Hogfather.
The first Pratchett book I got my hands on was a thrift store copy of Jingo, and I immediately fell in love. My older sister read Discworld books, and she told me to read Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic next, which I did.
Maybe it's because Jingo still holds a special place in my heart, but I think my favourite is any book that features Sam Vimes. Night Watch, Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms. The one where Carrot's origin story in the dwarf mines is described, cant remember which book it is.
Sam Vimes, and Rincewind.