Discworld - Where to start?

Awesome summary. As Anders noted, Equal Rites is the first witches book. It’s sort of an out-of-sequence prequel though, as Granny Weatherwax is more of a fantasy stereotype and less the (slightly tiresome) all-powerful Mary-Sue she later becomes. Also, the main characters disappear from the continuity, so possibly he wasn’t fond of them. I thought it was fine, certainly not one of the weaker ones.

Mort is probably the first great Discworld book.

I just remembered that Small Gods is where the American editions began when they started publishing them in the 90s.

I started with Carpe Jugulum because it caught my eye as a “Funny vampire novel” when it came out, then started going piecemeal through the series until I finally decided “to heck with it” and started from the beginning.

I’ll second the order of favorites that Funk put up, except I will reverse Death and Co. and the witches, and also that Night Watch was my favorite of the entire series. A very gripping, deeply felt book.

Basically, I think if you find one book that the summary appeals to you, start there, and see if you like it. I think that the series got better over time, so you might go with one of the “middle” books as a better choice, then if you enjoy that you can start from the beginning (or the beginning of that character’s series).

Just don’t start with Monstrous Regiment, as it is both fairly full of references to previous books, and also pretty weak.

And if you decide to skip over Rincewind, you’ll miss out on Cohen the Barbarian, a great fantasy parody.

“Going Postal” and “Making Money” are essentially a new sub-series (of the con-man Moist von Lipwig), and tries to parody the mechanisms of modern society (the Postal Service and the Banking system so far… the third in the series will supposedly discuss the Taxing system). The Truth is sort of a prequel to the Moist von Lipwig stories as the newspaper established in that book is fairly central to many of von Lipwig’s antics.

Otherwise I’d third (or fourth?) Funkula’s post. “Pyramids” and Small Gods" are definitely the best of the stand-alone, self-contained Discworld novels.

I remember really liking Going Postal, but I love the books to death so I don’t think I’m a great judge :)

I think Night Watch I found to be brilliantly crafted and has an edge to it that sets it apart. But I’d definitely familiarise yourself with the world first.

I’d go along with that. For that reason, it’s probably my place to suggest starting. In that, it’s where Discworld really starts, moving from just straight parody to something more interesting.

Small Gods remains my favourite, and it does standalone but… well, it’s also not a characteristic Discworld book partially for the reasons that it is my favourite.

KG

I do agree, completely, that Mort is the first truly great book. But as Rasputin posted, skipping the first books means you miss Cohen the Barbarian, who is just a joy. I acknowledge, however that it is just the Anal Book Nazi in me who thinks reading them all in order is the way to go. The suggestions here are just fine. :)

Cohen returns in Interesting Times, so you’ll meet him eventually.

I’d start with Guards Guards or Wyrd Sisters, keeping in mind that the later books are better. Both get the basic feel of the world across, and then you get to see the quality building up over the rest of the series. I don’t think Small Gods is a particularly good starting point because love it or hate it, it’s a pretty different style to the rest of the books.

Good call.

It’s funny, like a lot of people here, I started with Small Gods, loved it and was hooked but it was entirely coincidental. I just picked it up on the cheap at a used bookstore while looking for something to read on vacation.

From there I’ve mostly read the books in order. I tend to read a couple a year whenever I’m in the mood for something light which is a nice way to read them as I haven’t exhausted the series in several years of reading! I’ll be enjoying Disc World novels for years to come.

I also agree with everyone who says the Nightwatch book are their favorites.

Since nobody has mentioned them yet, I’ll add that you should definitely have the Tiffany Aching books on your list as well (Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith)–they are all excellent. They involve some of the Lancre witches, but are basically standalone books, and read fine even if you haven’t read any of the other Discworld books.

Since we’ve sorted the starting order, I’m up for talking about the books in general.

I have to say that I’ve felt the series has slowed down a lot in the last few years. I didn’t like Monstrous Regiment, and I wasn’t a big fan of Going Postal, which felt like a watered down version of

I’ve had Thud! on my shelf for quite a while, but haven’t actually read it yet.

Thud! is one of the good ones.
Okay, why didn’t anyone tell me they have an actual boardgame which can only be obtained across the pond?

Rules here.

Oh, good point - Thud’s probably my favourite Vimes book (didn’t love Night Watch as much as everyone else, for some reason. Will have to find it again and see if I can remember why.

Also great - the Tiffany Aching books. Technically ‘young adult’, but damned if I can tell the difference. Nac Mac Feegle wa HEY.

Yeah, Thud! is definitely worth your time if you like the Watch.

For me, the Watch is a close second to the witches. Lords and Ladies is probably my favorite so far, having read about half of the series in no particular order.

For some reason Moving Pictures just didn’t do anything for me at all. I think that’s my least favorite (and I have read Monstrous Regiment).

Minor tangent: Has anyone read his new non-Discworld book, Nation? The reviews were quite good!

It’s really rather good, actually, with your RDA of Moby Dick references, and an underlying message which pleasantly reminds me of Carl Sagan.

Yep. It’s funny, of course, but rather more serious and heartfelt than most of the Discworld books (Night Watch being an exception). I quite enjoyed it. Even though I was expecting a Discworld book for some reason.

Moving pictures didn’t do much for me either, it’s probably my least favorite discworld book, and I’m a big fan. I’m currently re-reading the series.
I actually liked Monstrous Regiment, but may be it’s gender related.

I also liked Monstrous Regiment, so it’s definitely gender related.

On Saturday I found myself stuck in a bus station for three hours, so I wandered down the street to the airport mall, which has a bookstore. They had Thud!, so I picked it up and read through it. Now I’m hooked! I’ll probably start by going back to the beginning of the Watch books and then branch out from there.

The end of Thud! also had a preview to Making Money though, so I’m also interested in reading Going Postal.