Discworld vs. Spiderwick Chronicles

[Olivia]

Has anyone out there read both of these series. If you have, which would you recommend I read first. I am leaning towards Discworld but the Spiderwick Chronicles look interesting as well. Even if you haven't read both, I would appreciate any feedback anyone can give on either book.

[Cindy]

Spiderwick is a much faster read. I enjoyed both, but I like the Discworld books better. Color of Magic, however, is not the best of the series. So if you do read it first and don't really get into, don't judge all of Pratchett's work by that book.

Oh, and I hear they are making a Spiderwick movie starring the boy in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

[Dennis]

Discworld is much better. Spiderwick bored me, it was filled with fantasy cliches, but Discworld had much more interesting characters/plot. Guess it depends on your taste.

[Ed]

Discworld is much better--tremendous.

[Michael]

I don't get the comparison? Spiderwick is a (like Dennis said) cliche fantasy series with nice illustrations for twelve-year-olds; Discworld is an adult sci-fi-fused-with-humourous-parodies series... That said, both are "good reads" (depending on reading level, of course)

[Gabe495]

I think Discworld is definatly a better read than the spiderwick. I enjoy his parodies on current events and the way he always incorporates hysterical humor in his books. I must admit though that "The Color of Magic" was one of his worse books.

[rubiscodisco]

Olivia, I suggest you read the Tiffany Aching subseries on discworld as it is the same genre as Spiderwick (Young Adult Fantasy). It starts with the book "The Wee Free Men". As you know, there is no strict reading order for the discworld series as long as you follow the subseries in order.

Since you are interested with the Spiderwick Chonicles, this might be the discworld book for you. I haven't read Spiderwick yet but I have read Discworld and it's fantastic. :)

[Wastrel]

Cindy wrote: "Spiderwick is a much faster read. I enjoyed both, but I like the Discworld books better. Color of Magic, however, is not the best of the series. So if you do read it first and don't really get into..."

And more importantly, CoM is a different STYLE. Later books aren't just better, they're very different in style. [Of course, it's not a binary thing. Sourcery, for instance, is still quite CoM-like]

[Ken]

Discworld FTW. I'm sorry Cindy didn't like Color of Magic... I loved it and it got me into the series. Having said that, Mort is my favorite.

[Tasula]

I loved Color of Magic too- it was like slapstick - the Luggage was hilarious. All of Discworld is great, I especially like Susan and Death.

[Hazel]

Discworld wins hands down for me...there are many facets to each book which appeals to people on all sorts of levels ...Personally I'm not that fussed on the tiffany Aching stories, but that is a very small fly in a large pot of ointment

[rubiscodisco]

Hazel wrote: "...Personally I'm not that fussed on the tiffany Aching stories, but that is a very small fly in a large pot of ointment "

really? what was favorite story arc?

[Hazel]

Personally I love any of the stories featuring Vimes and the watch in general...

[David]

Either Vimes, or The Witches for me

[Michelle]

I agree with those that said there's really no comparison. The art was much better than the writing in Spiderwick. It's for kids, and it doesn't try hard to be anything special. Discworld is a hilarious world of fantastical parody set off with a brilliant, British sense of humour. I liked CoM a lot. I liked others even better, of course, and I have many favorite characters out of all of the different subseries. I suppose if you're going to read both of them anyway, get Spiderwick done with first. It'll take you a day for the whole series, maybe. Then you can get serious with the 39 and counting full volumes of Discworld. Though I wouldn't read them all at once. I like to spread things out and sample lots of variety.

Oh, and there is a Spiderwick movie and several Discworld movies out there, both animated and not. I've liked all of them that I've seen so far.

[Colleen]

Definitely Discworld. I particularly love Terry's books with the witches and Sam Vimes

[Penroj]

I have not read the Spiderwick books, but can highly recommend Terry Prachett's books, he writes for all ages. I have however found that not everyone is as enamoured of him as I am, like Donna said above, nobody thinks like him and it is his quirky look at life which adds so much to his stories.

Try one, I think you may be pleasently surprised. If I was to recommend one only, then it would be "Witches Abroad" a fantastic take on fairy tales and their characters, Greebo the cat is definately a one-off.

[Jacqui]

Definitely go with Discworld. Terry Pratchett is a genius. He goes way beyond comic fantasy into social satire. Think Mark Twain with a modern, fantastical twist. If I had to pick just one, I'd say start with "Thud".

[Helen]

Thud was certainly good and I agree with those who say that C of M isn't Pratchett's best. It does introduce you to Discworld, the city of MorPork (in flames)magicians and the whole topsy turveyness of the Discworld. I agree that the Witches and Mr. Vimes are marvelous inventions although the one about Movie making was really hysterical.

[Mallory]

Spiderwick definitely bored me. It was written way too much for kids, and even though I read it when I was young I still felt it to be uninteresting. Discworld, on the other hand, is probably my favorite series of all time. It is funny, clever, and has some great real-world connections that you don't get from many fantasy books.

Personally, I think you should start with Color of Magic and Light Fantastic. They outline the basic aspects of the world in a way that helps to understand what's going on in the other books. After that, there is no real order to read in. I loved the Tiffany Aching books, even though they were geared for a slightly younger audience. My favorite stories are the ones with the City Watch, as I love Sam Vimes, Angua, and the lot.

[Kimber]

Olivia wrote: "Has anyone out there read both of these series. If you have, which would you recommend I read first. I am leaning towards Discworld but the Spiderwick Chronicles look interesting as well. Even if y..."

Discworld all the way! I agree with Mallory that you should start with Color of Magic and Light Fantastic but do not judge the entire series on those two books. The best way to read them is to either take them on chronologically- as they were published - or in groups. The main groups they fall into are Guards books, Witches books, Wizard books and Death books. There are a few that have no association but will mention a character or two from other books. I read them straight thru chronologically and when I re-read I do so in the groups. You can find a complete grouping of the titles online at Wikipedia or there is actually a Discworld Wikipedia as well. I love the Guards/City Watch series myself with the Witches running a close second but they are all good reads.

[Helen]

All good reads, in any order, yes! Discworld forever. I agree about the Guards group, because I love Sam and Sybil and the guards and Sybil's dragons and the 6 o'clock book reading. You can buy the book he reads, you know.

[Sean]

The whole Diskworld cycle is definitely worth the read, some books are better than others (the Watch books come to mind) and the early books show some wandering and can be somewhat inconsistent with later mythology but that's just the author learning about the world himself.

[Francesca]

I listend to Spiderwick on cd. enjoyable but definately geard toward children. I suggest you read this seris 1st, just because it is quite short and won't take long. the two authors are not really comparable. Prachett's discworld is by far the better written. Everyone has their favorite charachters/subseries. Try any one and you'll probably get hooked.

[Keren]

I read Spiderwick with my kids when they were in 1st grade. Entertaining books, but not fantastic. I received Small Gods as a graduation present from college and loved it then; didn't realize that there were so many in the series until I bought a kindle this summer and began checking books out from the library. My now 7th grade sons and I have been working our way through the series and LOVING them!

[[deleted user]]

That's not even fair. You can't compare high-end quality fantasy written with grace, beauty, perfected humor and with such a classic story-telling feel with enough layers to appeal to every audience to a small set of books intended for children. That just really isn't fair at all. Of course everyone is going to say Discworld. Because the scale just isn't fair. Of course the guy who's been playing football his entire life is going to have a better technique and form or whatever than the guy who just started. Like I said, it really isn't fair.

[[deleted user]]

Mallory wrote: "Spiderwick definitely bored me. It was written way too much for kids, and even though I read it when I was young I still felt it to be uninteresting. Discworld, on the other hand, is probably my fa..."

Color of Magic was good, but I couldn't finish it until after I read Equal Rites, which got me into the series. I don't see Equal Rites talked about much, so I guess I'm the odd man out, but Equal Rites got me into the series and made me able to read other books in the series.

[Olleh]

I have read both, Discworld are much better!