I am, as I’ve hinted before, a huge fan of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels.  The natural result of this is that I’m enthusiastic about them when they come up in conversation.  (Okay, it’s not that I just refer to them out of the blue, but if we’re talking about, say, how clowns are scary, that leads naturally to the Ankh-Morpork Fools’ Guild.  Or Pennywise the clown, but he scares me.)  No, I’m not the kind of enthusiastic that has people checking their watches or looking for the nearest exit.  Probably.  It’s just that sometimes, when people talk about things they love, it makes you interested to know more.  That kind of enthusiastic.

So I have often had people ask me which Discworld novel to start with.  “Jane,” they say, “we don’t know where to start.  There are 37 books in the series and that is long even for those of us who have been patiently waiting for all 58 volumes of The Wheel of Time.  Please give us the benefit of your vast knowledge of all things bookish.”

(What they really say is, “So this Pratchett guy is good, huh?  Just give me a book and back away slowly.  Incidentally, did you know you’re foaming at the mouth again?”)

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Ahem.  The point is that Discworld reading order is something even fans who have read the whole series multiple times can argue about.  Partly this is because the Discworld novels can be grouped according to protagonist; partly it’s because Pratchett’s writing style, like any good author’s, has evolved over time.  However, these discussions between fans aren’t necessarily helpful to a new Discworld initiate reader.  When you’re deciding which Discworld novel to start with, it’s more important to choose based on what kind of experience you’re after than on some predefined ideal.

In this post I’m going to set out a number of possible reading orders, in hope that those of you who are new to the Discworld series will find one that appeals to you.  Almost all Discworld novels are available in your local bookstore or library.  (And, of course, Amazon.com, which sells everything.)  No matter where you choose to start, you’ll be able to find the right book.

(Rather than link to each title every time I’ve mentioned it, I’ve put the Wikipedia entry for Pratchett’s bibliography here.  Just click on an individual title to read more about it.  I can’t guarantee that this site contains no spoilers, but if you stick to just the synopsis at the beginning of each entry, you should be fine.)

Order #1: Modified Sub-Series

This is the order I personally prefer.  The advantage is that you have some flexibility in where to start, and you only have five to seven books in a series, which isn’t quite so overwhelming.  The disadvantage is that it’s easy to overlook the books that aren’t part of a sub-series (although I’ve seen lists that create groups for those as well).  Also, if you really enjoy a particular sub-series, you may be dissatisfied with some of the others simply because they’re not that one favorite.  Even so, I think this method is a good introduction to Discworld, particularly if you don’t feel inclined to tackle 37 books at once.

The reason it’s modified is that the very early Pratchett books are very different in tone and content from even the middle novels, let alone the more recent ones. The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic in particular represent a different sort of experiment, in which Pratchett was experimenting heavily with parody and the Discworld was simply a background through which the main characters traveled from one subplot to the next.  The books in parentheses can safely be skipped without ruining the reading experience.  If you do choose to read them, all I ask is that if you don’t like them, please give the next one in the series a chance.

Order #2: Strict Chronological

This reading order—chronological by publication date—is best for people who want to see how the Discworld and Pratchett’s writing style changed over time.  The disadvantage is, as noted above, that the very early novels bear little resemblance to the later ones.  I recommend this method for people who may have read one or two other Pratchett novels at random and already know they like the series.  There is some valuable plot information in the early books that’s better for having seen it first-hand, even though all of it is given out in later books as well.

Order #3: Truncated Chronological

This order arises from some discussions I had with friends on the Diana Wynne Jones email list a while back.  We were talking about how there are places within the chronology where Pratchett’s writing style and novel structure passes some kind of hurdle, making one book markedly different (and improved) from the previous one.  I said there were two places like that; others called for three or more; in any case, it was quite revelatory as to how people perceived the Discworld novels based on where they came in to the series.

Using the above chronology and starting with Reaper Man means passing over most of the overt parody and broad humor of the earlier novels.  At this point Pratchett had established enough material about the Discworld that he could tell stories that referred to his own creation rather than using it as a backdrop for retelling or satirizing other people’s stories.  Reaper Man is also one of the most moving of the novels while retaining the sense of the ridiculous that makes Discworld novels what they are.

If you move a bit further down the list, it’s harder to pick a solid breaking point, but I’d probably go with Feet of Clay (and not just because it’s my favorite).  After Reaper Man, the novels gradually gain a kind of solidity that comes when a book is About Something more than just a story.  At the same time, they’re still enormously funny—which is, I think, the marvel; you don’t really notice the ethical underpinnings as you’re reading.  This movement culminates in Feet of Clay, where you just can’t help realizing that this is a brilliant story about freedom and humanity.  The novels from that point definitely continue this trend.

Finally, you can skip straight to Night Watch, which is the first book in the series that is not intrinsically funny.  Lots of funny moments, sure, but the core of the plot is deadly serious.  After this point, the humor is delivered more in dialogue, character interaction, and situational humor than in a ridiculous plot.  Starting here will give you a very different idea of what the Discworld novels are really about.

If you’re at all interested in giving the Discworld series a try, pick one of these methods and jump right in.  The truth is that anywhere you start is fine; on some level, they’re all stand-alone novels.  Read.  Enjoy.  Come back here and talk about it.  You’re always welcome.