fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #5998 ]

[ SECRET POST #5998 ]

⌈ Secret Post #5998 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

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What book would you suggest for someone who read The Colour of Magic and wasn't really too impressed but wants to give the world another try?

Guards Guards!

First book in the City Watch/Vimes series. They are my personal favourites, but also I think they're the best Discworld intro for a new reader. They mix the traditional fantasy satirical elements of Discworld with detective-ish mysteries. I think they also give the best "feel" for Discworld overall all, because Ankh Morpork (the city itself) is such a character in them, more so than the setting is in the other books imho.

That said, I'm not a huge fan of the Weatherwax books. I love her as a character but they don't grab me as much as the Vimes books. But they might work better for someone more into fantasy than mystery. Hopefully someone else will rec those properly!

The most logical would be one of Guards! Guards!, Mort, or Wyrd Sisters. They're all far enough along that early installment weirdness has mostly vanished. And these three books each serve as a good introduction to Pratchett's big recurring characters who get character development over the series - Guards! Guards! has Vimes, Carrot Ironfoundersson, Vetinari, and the City Watch trying to keep the peace in Ankh-Morpork; Mort has Death and a lot of the more out-there, fantastical, magical parts of Discworld; and Wyrd Sisters has the Witches who are extremely funny and awesome old ladies who do magic in a funny fantasy kingdom. So whichever one of those sounds most appealing, start with that.

If you don't care about internal storylines, IMO, the absolute strongest and best part of the series starts around Small Gods, Lords and Ladies and Men at Arms. It does help to have context from earlier books, but Discworld is something where it's pretty easy to jump around. So, up to you!

Guards! Guards! (the first Watch book) or Wyrd Sisters (the first book with more than one Witch). Some people suggest Small Gods which is a great book but less funny than most of the series.

Wyrd Sisters or Guards, Guards. Those are both still early, but more recognizably what Discworld would become. Mort is also great. And each of these 3 is the start of a "series" within Discworld: WD is the Lancre witches; Guards, Guards is Ankh-Morpork and the watch; Mort is the Death books. So they're all goods ways in, with logical next books to read if you enjoy them.

About 10 people are going to rec Small Gods, but I didn't like it--I think it's weirdly preachy for a book that's about not being preachy. However, YMMV. It's a stand-alone and so some people argue it's a better introduction, but any of the other books I recommended can be read perfectly well without any previous Discworld knowledge.

I think the shine has come off Small Gods a little compared to the 90s/00s - it's aged a little weirdly. It's still a good book IMO but it doesn't seem as important and emotional as it did way back when.

Heh I didn’t see your comment until after I recced it but tbh this thread is the first I’ve ever heard of any Discworld fans supposedly loving it. It’s just not a very Discworld book while still including all the lore from it. Fans weren’t happy when it came out and even today it gets trashed in fandom spaces constantly. It’s also the most popular Discworld book for people who don’t like the most popular storylines, which is why I recommended it. I wish I’d ever encountered the parts of the fandom that supposedly revered it because it was and is the best book he ever wrote.

Try Monstrous Regiment, or The Amazing Maurice, if they don't grab you then give up. Not everyone has to like everything.

I agree with Guards! Guards! and Wyrd Sisters, but not Mort; found it kinda boring.
If they like those first two, there are more books in each 'genre' (city watch, witches) that they can read without having to dip into the outliers, so to speak.

Although I did and do enjoy Soul Music.

the books are similar in style. I'm a fan but i know people that don't like TP. Don't read any more.

there are definitely differences in style and quality between Colour of Magic and later books

I don't like Colour of Magic and I'm a Discworld fan

I like all the books but the latest ones. Even the sci-fi archeology one. The excelent translations might have helped.

Why even comment this? OP said they wanted to try again and were looking for suggestions, your reply adds nothing to the table and is just negative.

I mean a LOT of people don't love Colour of Magic but are huge Disc fans?? It's like... a fairly popular opinion, there's a reason everyone says don't start at the beginning.

Anyway, my personal faves are The Hogfather, Carpe Jugulum, maybe Going Postal?

I’d recommend either:
Small Gods, which gives you a great overview of the cultures of Discworld and doesn’t require you to know anything about it. It’s interesting and funny but not zany. I found the characters to be more believable than in other Discworld books but yet if you do go on to read others, you’ll see some familiar faces, so to speak.

Or I’d recommend Mort, the first of the Death books. DEATH is a very interesting character and I enjoyed thinking about things from his perspective and seeing how his entire being clashes with the human world.

Small Gods is a standalone that’s loosely connected to several other books and Discworld at large, and Mort is the first in the Death books, a smaller branch of the main branches of the Discworld series. DEATH himself is a recurring character throughout all of the series.

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[ SECRET POST #5998 ]

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