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Terry Pratchett


Michelle

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I've not read any fantasy before and I think that Terry Pratchett would be a good place to start. I've taken a look at the link posted about but I'm still not sure which book to start with. I am assuming that one of the starter books is obviously the place to go to but which one in particular?

 

The starter books are as follows.

The Colour of Magic

Equal Rites

Mort

Guards! Guards!

Moving Pictures

Pyramids

 

I am a bit confused but I really want to read some fantasy, any advice on which to go with is appreciated.

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  • 4 weeks later...

As there are so many books, Why not pick a character or group you would like to read about. Witches , Wizards, Guards etc and then find out which books feature them and go from there.

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I read Pratchetts Colour of Magic and found that it is maybe not a good beginners book at all. It parodies a lot of other fantasy tropes and I'm afraid that if you don't have a bit of a grasp on the genre already a lot of the humour might get lost.

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I agree that Mort is a good book to start off with. Death is such a great character (the best in the Discworld for me) so a book with him at the centre is inevitably enjoyable. I actually read through Mort in one day, which I rarely do.

I didn't like Pratchett's latest book, Snuff, at all though. I can't put my finger on it but it just felt very bland and I don't think I laughed once. Perhaps his illness is impacting upon his writing. His earlier books are great fun though,

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  • 4 months later...

For anyone who is thinking of starting to read terry Pratchet I would suggest the Last Continent. It was the first one that I read.

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  • 4 months later...

The title of Mr. P's next novel has been announced as Raising Steam.

 

No information on who is in it or when it will be published, but it sounds like a Moist Von Lipwig story to me.

 

24th October 2013, and it is a Moist Von Lipwig story (Great!  Another story set in Ankh-Bloody-Morpork!).

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Even though I'm not a huge fan of the fantasy genre, Terry Pratchett is one of my favorites. However, I started with one of his later books, Carpe Jugulum, which I happened to find in a library. I'm glad I started with that one rather from the his first book because for me CJ is one of his best (even though I had not read the earlier books in the particular 'grouping'). I ended up reading the "groupings" series first and then went back to the first books, which I still find nearly unreadable.

 

Personally, I suggest starting off with one of the 'groupings'. These are essentially the "Watch" books, which focus on the Ankh Morpork City Watch headed by Sam VImes (Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud and Snuff), the "witches" series (Wyrd Sisters, Witches Aboard, Lords and Ladies, Masquerade, Carpe Jugulum) the loosely defined "Death" series (Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hogfather, Thief of Time) the "Moist Van Lipwig series" (Going Postal, Making Money), and my least favorites series, the "Rincewind" series (The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Sourcery, Eric, Interesting Times, The Lost Continent). Then there are some "one offs" like Equal Rites, Pyramids, Moving Pictures, The Truth, Unseen Academicals, and one of my all time favorites, Small Gods.

 

I definitely think that Mort was the turning point in his literary evolution. Before that, Pratchett seemed mostly interested in becoming the Douglas Adams of fantasy and cleverness was accentuated over character development.

 

Enjoy!  

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was introduced years ago by a friend to Terry's work, my friend was on the trains, and the paperbacks just fitted into his pocket. I love his work always smile when I read them, my favourite character wierdly is BINKY, cant explain why but love the stupid animal loads. I recomended to my mum, but she could not understand the nuances of his wit, so I would read them to her - in character and she would love it. I loved Small Gods and Equal Rites.

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My boyfriend introduced me to Pratchett with Interesting Times and we got together with a copy of Moving Pictures, so the series always had a special place in my heart.

I've actually read the Rincewind series (Color of Magic, Light Fantastic, Sourcery) early on and liked it well enough, though in retrospective I have to admit the other book are a lot better.

 

I've never read the Diskworld in any kind of order. I think the best way is to just take the book you think sounds the most interesting to you and go from there. Since they can be pretty much read in any kind of order, without loosing much, if any, connection, I preferred that way. Though I'd keep the Tiffany Arching arch together. Those where to me more closely connected then all of the others.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Kell has posted links to an illustrated reading guide before. The updated version can be found here.

This list certainly makes more sense than starting a book at random in the middle of a specific series.

 

Thanks kell....and kylie.

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I have read I think just about every one of his discworld books and have loved most of them. A few like mort I didn't fine that appealing, loved the Rincewind and Vimes books as well as the ones with Granny weatherwax in them.

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