Series Read: Pratchett, Terry - Discworld series - Buddy Read - Start Date December 20, 2014

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

                    

Discworld Series

Discworld is a comic fantasy book series written by the English writer Terry Pratchett, set on the fictional Discworld, a flat disc balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or take inspiration from, J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft and William Shakespeare, as well as mythology, folklore and fairy tales, often using them for satirical parallels with current cultural, political and scientific issues. The series is popular, with more than 80 million books sold in 37 languages.

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What is a buddy read?

An “Informal Buddy Read” doesn’t have a discussion leader and participants are asked to consider some generic questions when making comments about the book

Rules:
1. Identify the book you are discussing
2. Always post comments under a spoiler

EXPECT SPOILERS!

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

reserved

[[deleted user]]

Thank you! Okay guys so here is the list I came up with based on the reading chart I found here. I think this is the most updated reading guide, but let me know if you find a more recent one.

The Colour of Magic
The Light Fantastic
Sourcery
Troll Bridge
(Faust) Eric
Interesting Times
The Last Continent
The Science of Discworld
The Science of Discworld II- The Globe
The Science of Discworld III- Darwin’s Watch
The Science of Discworld IV- Judgement Day
The Last Hero
Unseen Academicals
A Collegiate Casting-out of Devilish Devices
Equal Rites
Wyrd Sisters
Witches Abroad
Lords and Ladies
Maskerade
Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook
The Sea and the Little Fishes
Carpe Jugulum
The Wee Free Men
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
A Hat Full of Sky
Winter-Smith
I Shall Wear Midnight
Pyramids
Death And What Comes Next
Small Gods
Mort
Reaper Man
Soul Music
Hogfather
Thief of Time
Guards! Guards!
Theatre of Cruelty
Men At Arms
Feet of Clay
Jingo
The Fifth Elephant
Night Watch
Thud!
Where’s My Cow?
Minutes of the Meeting to Form the Proposed Ankh-Morpork Federation of Scouts
Snuff
The World of Poo
Moving Pictures
The Truth
Monstrous Regiment
Going Postal
Making Money
Raising Steam


Of course if you have any suggestions let me know! But I thought I would just follow this guide, considering I've heard good things about it. (Note that this chart includes short stories, illustrated books, kid's books, and YA novels). I'd like to just go for the whole entire story.

So first up! The Colour of Magic!

[Alex]

I think if you read according to the reading guide you won't get the full chronology of some of the overarching stories. I'm pretty sure you just have to read the books about the different characters (eg. Rincewind, witches) in order as they act like mini series.

[[deleted user]]

Zee wrote: "I think if you read according to the reading guide you won't get the full chronology of some of the overarching stories. I'm pretty sure you just have to read the books about the different characte..."

So you recommend reading them according to their published dates?

[Rose]

I'm fine with any reading order :)

[Audrey Jane]

Taryn, the list you posted in your comment does it follow the intern chronological order?

Apparently you can read each book as a standalone. But I can't confirm that yet.

[[deleted user]]

Audrey Jane wrote: "Taryn, the list you posted in your comment does it follow the intern chronological order?

Apparently you can read each book as a standalone. But I can't confirm that yet."

No I don't think it does. But I don't really know. I got the reading guide from a friend who reads the series. She didn't use the reading guide and told me she wished she had.

[Audrey Jane]

No problem, I'm good with your suggestion since I have no idea either. Looking forward to this one.

[Alex]

Taryn wrote: "So you recommend reading them according to their published dates?"

I've only read the first five so can't comment on it completely, I just know if I tried to read all the Rincewind books in a row I would have given up in disgust. There's a lot of leeway for skipping around, as long as you stick to the order within the mini-series on the reading guide.

[[deleted user]]

Maybe I'll keep looking at suggestions for a little longer...we have a sec before this one starts anyway. It probably won't matter much in the long run, but I would like to read them in a way that makes sense and I'm totally over my head with this series...I only heard of it a little while ago lol

[ilovebakedgoods (Teresa)]

I'm interested in this series and had been planning to tackle it eventually. I'll see if I can pop in for this one, depending on what other reading I'm doing at the time. I'm already behind on my buddy reads and they've only just begun.

Kind of surprised this isn't in the series reads folder.

[[deleted user]]

Oh huh I didn't even know. I mentioned in the BR thread that I wanted to read every bit of it lol Maybe because it's upcoming?

[ilovebakedgoods (Teresa)]

Might have been an oversight. There are a lot of current/upcoming series listed in the series buddy reads threads so I don't think it's that.

[Karen ⊰✿, Fiction Aficionado]

I thought the same - as a series read this should be in the series folder so I will move it ;)

This is such a cool series. I've read a lot of the Vimes ("The Watch") books of the series, but that's about it. I'm interested in others and happy to read what ever order we decide on :)

[Alex]

I'm planning on reading Reaper Man next as it's the second book with Death as a main character and the first, Mort, was my favourite of the series so far.

I'm sure whatever order everyone reads them in, as long as we say which book we are talking about and put any spoilery comments under cuts we can get some good discussion going. The nice thing about Discworld is that there's plenty to talk about in terms of the world, main characters etc without everyone being on the same book at the same time.

[[deleted user]]

Zee wrote: "I'm planning on reading Reaper Man next as it's the second book with Death as a main character and the first, Mort, was my favourite of the series so far.

I'm sure whate..."

Very good point. I'm just really excited to get to them finally!

[Christine]

I'm reading Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch right now, which is the first Terry Pratchett I've ever read, and I'm enjoying it a lot. I might try to squeeze in some of this series also.

[Emma (M)]

I have The Colour of Magic on my e-reader, so happy to join in on this BR

[Audrey Jane]

I checked and my library has the whole series so I'm good. I'm going to start The Colour of Magic tomorrow or during the week. I've never tried Terry Pratchett before. Good Omens is on my tbr list, glad to hear that.

[Alex]

I'm planning on cracking open a Discworld novel as soon as I've finished my current read, so within the next 24 hours or so :-D

[[deleted user]]

Ok so I've revised how I'm reading it! I'm just going to go the way Goodreads tells me to. If I get really confused, I can just look stuff up lol

[Emma (M)]

So, I have managed to read the first chapter of The Colour of Magic and am so far enjoying it. It took me a while to get used to the writing style, especially with the huge cast of characters you meet straight off the bat. It's definitely fun though :)

[Alex]

I'm about 50 pages into Reaper Man and I am, as always, enjoying Pratchett's humour. I realise I'm the only person on this specific book but the characters are all in the other books too.

I love Death! I love how he's so dry (no pun intended). I'm always amused by the way he speaks all in capital letters and I love how he gets around on a normal horse called Binky.

The wizards are amusing me, this book. I always liked finding out about their hierarchy and traditions, and I love how they're so childish in their knowledge of the world most of the time.

[Rose]

I'll be starting soon with the Color of Magic. I made the mistake of starting the Kingkiller Chronicles and now I can't make myself not read The Wise Man's Fear. #Readingissues

[Emma (M)]

The Colour of Magic: chapter - the Sending of Eight

After a quick break over Xmas I finally managed to get back to The Colour of Magic. I have to say I much preferred this next section of the book as the humour seemed to have ramped up a bit. I absolutely love Twoflower's picture box demon and Hrun's sword Kring. (view spoiler)[ I also love the idea of the characters lives being determined by the role of a dice during a game being played by the Gods (hide spoiler)]

[Justin]

The Color of Magic was $4 for the Kindle edition if anyone is interested. I'm hoping to join you all soon.

[Emma (M)]

Justin wrote: "The Color of Magic was $4 for the Kindle edition if anyone is interested. I'm hoping to join you all soon."

Looking forward to hearing what you think of it Justin - it took me a little while to get used to the writing style, but I am really enjoying it now.

[Emma (M)]

I am on the last chapter of The Color of Magic and I just love Rincewind and Twoflower as travelling companions. They are such complete opposites. Rincewind is a nervous, some would say cowardly being, while Twoflower does not appear to be scared by anything. He takes every circumstance they find themselves in, no matter how perilous, as some grand new experience. These two travelling together is hilarious.

[Amanda]

Emma wrote: "The Colour of Magic: chapter - the Sending of Eight

After a quick break over Xmas I finally managed to get back to The Colour of Magic. I have to say I much preferred this next section of the boo..."

I loved the magic demon box!
(view spoiler)[
I love that Terry Pratchett took things that are common in our own lives and twisted them into magical things. Like the camera= magic demon box.
And I loved when Twoflower was selling insurance at the tavern. Seeing it all from Rincewind's point of view made me realize just how ridiculous it all sounds :). And really, it wasn't hard to predict exactly what was going to happen next! LOL (hide spoiler)]

[Emma (M)]

Yeah (view spoiler)[ seeing Twoflower trying to sell something as mundane as insurance to these people in a fantasy world that have never heard of it was really quite funny and it does make you realise what a stupid concept it sounds like (hide spoiler)]. I'm looking forward to seeing what else Terry Pratchett comes up with in later stories :)

[Amanda]

Emma wrote: "I'm looking forward to seeing what else Terry Pratchett comes up with in later stories :)"

You will not be disappointed! My absolute favorite is Thud!

[RachelvlehcaR]

Emma wrote: "So, I have managed to read the first chapter of The Colour of Magic and am so far enjoying it. It took me a while to get used to the writing style, especially with the huge cast o..."

I LOVE the first chapter of The Color of Magic. It's really neat about the build up of the world.

[RachelvlehcaR]

I just finished The Color of Magic. I enjoyed the book. I will for sure continue on in the series. There are so many in it!

[Emma (M)]

Yeah, there is so many it is almost overwhelming. I would like to get through them all over time though. Its a pretty awesome world Terry Pratchett has imagined.

[RachelvlehcaR]

Emma wrote: "So, I have managed to read the first chapter of The Colour of Magic and am so far enjoying it. It took me a while to get used to the writing style, especially with the huge cast o..."


I agree Emma, it does take a while to get use to the writing of the book and all the characters. I've found with books like this it's best to just push through it until it clicks. I did that with this book and I really enjoyed it. I'm happy I did.

[RachelvlehcaR]

Emma wrote: "The Colour of Magic: chapter - the Sending of Eight

After a quick break over Xmas I finally managed to get back to The Colour of Magic. I have to say I much preferred this next section of the boo..."

(view spoiler)[ I love the dice aspect of the characters and their lives. It's like per chance and D&D. :P

Also, the humor is just not expected which makes it fun. It's not so in your face like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but I see this is like the what Douglas Adams has done to Sci-fi, Terry has done to Fantasy. :) (hide spoiler)]

[RachelvlehcaR]

Book:

I am still floored away by how the world is.

(view spoiler)[ How the world is a flat disc is on the back of four giant elephants named Berilia, Tubul, Great T`Phon and Jerakeen, that are on the large shell of a giant World Turtle called Great A`Tuin who swims through space. I mean this is just brilliant. LOL. It reminds me so much of the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with the whale part. Just so brilliant. (hide spoiler)]

Death
(view spoiler)[
I like how Death is introduced in this one. I can't wait to read more about him. I hear that he is great in the other books. (hide spoiler)]

[Emma (M)]

RachelvlehcaR wrote: "Book:

I am still floored away by how the world is.


Yeah the world building is pretty awesome and just so out there. It does make for a dense read though, I don' think I could read more than one at a time with a break between.

[RachelvlehcaR]

I will for sure continue on in the series. I feel you. It is dense at times. I hear it gets better.