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Starting Terry Pratchett?


Tychi

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Hey guys, 

 

I'm new here and new to reading in general really! I've always found it hard to concentrate when reading a book but i'd like to try again!

 

I went to Waterstones a few weeks a go and decided to purchase 2 books, one was 'The Gospel of Loki' and the other 'The Shepherds Crown' by Terry Pratchett. I've always been really interested in the fantasy genre: D&D, Warhammer, Warcraft etc and i've heard good things about Terry Pratchett books.

  My main question is, Do I need to read other Pratchett books before reading this one? I know this is the last book he wrote before passing. I'm worried i'll be introduced to many characters who i wont know making the book harder to understand/read. If anyone has any input, it would be great to hear from you! 

 

Thanks :)

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Hello Tychi, and welcome to the forum. :)

 

The Shepherds Crown is the final book in a 5 book series about a character called Tiffany Aching. To get the most from the books I would read them in order, otherwise there will be too many bits that won't make much sense, A number of the characters appear in the main body of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series so these 5 books will give you a good 'flavour' of his writing, although they are probably considered young adult books. The books in order are;

The Wee Free Men

A Hat Full Of Sky

Wintersmith

I Shall Wear Midnight

Shepherd's Crown

 

I have read them and loved them, they mature as Tiffany herself matures, but I love the folklore feel to them, and the nuggets of of "i never thought of it like that!" that hit me fairly regularly. If you want to dive into the main Discworld books, there are a number of threads on the forum that look at the series. Perhaps have a wander around those may help you decide, 

 

Good luck! 

 

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I would highly recommend using this guide when choosing what to read from the Discworld series:

 

NZudyea.jpg

 

There are several different story arcs based around certain characters. Pick a character you want to follow, and start at the beginning of their arc. I would recommend starting with Death - they are some of my favourite books by Pratchett.

 

Once you start reading the Discworld series you'll never look back.

 

14 hours ago, Tychi said:

Hey guys, 

 

I'm new here and new to reading in general really! I've always found it hard to concentrate when reading a book but i'd like to try again!

 

I went to Waterstones a few weeks a go and decided to purchase 2 books, one was 'The Gospel of Loki' and the other 'The Shepherds Crown' by Terry Pratchett. I've always been really interested in the fantasy genre: D&D, Warhammer, Warcraft etc and i've heard good things about Terry Pratchett books.

  My main question is, Do I need to read other Pratchett books before reading this one? I know this is the last book he wrote before passing. I'm worried i'll be introduced to many characters who i wont know making the book harder to understand/read. If anyone has any input, it would be great to hear from you! 

 

Thanks :)

 

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2 hours ago, Angury said:

I would highly recommend using this guide when choosing what to read from the Discworld series:

 

NZudyea.jpg

 

There are several different story arcs based around certain characters. Pick a character you want to follow, and start at the beginning of their arc. I would recommend starting with Death - they are some of my favourite books by Pratchett.

 

Once you start reading the Discworld series you'll never look back.

 

 

Great thanks! I was actually thinking of starting with Mort and now you've recommended it I'm definitely going to! :)

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I'd very much recommend NOT starting with The Shepherd's Crown as there are some events that you won't get the same emotional investment out of if you haven't read the earlier Witches book. :)

 

I started with his Nomes trilogy (Truckers, Diggers, Wings) and then went onto Discworld book 1: The Colour of Magic, but I think it is probably easier to get into if you start with something like Mort.

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I don't recommend starting with the Rincewind books - I have to admit, they're my least favourite, and when I read the first two books in the series (which were actually the very first two published in the whole Discworld series), I felt like if I'd read them first I wouldn't have bothered reading any others, and then I would have missed out on some awesome reading!

 

My favourites are the City Watch novels, closely followed by the Witches novels (including the Tiffany Aching books) and the Death novels tied,  then the Industrial Revolution novels tied with the Ancient Civilisations novels. When I go back to the Wizard books, I tend to miss out the first two, but if you do plan on reading the Wizard books, then do start with those because they do give some good back history to Rincewind who crops up time and time again, and the likes of Interesting Times is definitely worth it. :)

 

It's also worth mentioning that the last few books are missed off that graphic, as it hasn't been updated in years...

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I think he didn't really hit his stride till the third one, which is when the Witches books started. I think that's why the Witches books are so well beloved (that, and the fact that Granny Weatherwax is just all kinds of awesome - LOL!). By the time of the Death and Watch books he absolutely soared!

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