But first I need reviews from those who have already read it. Is it worth the cash spent on the books?
I haven’t played the games yet, but I have read the back of the cover of a few books and it seems cool. If I get positive reviews here I might get one of them. BTW… I’d love to read them in cronological order too.
I’d suggest against it. I got hooked on the discworld series after reading these boards. Once you get past the first few books they get really hilarious, but they are quite expensive. Like 7 bucks a book, and they’re only 200 pages or so.
$$$ is not a problem. They’re selling really cheap where I live. I might buy 5 at once by Friday. If they’re only 200 pages each I might be done with all of them before May.
By all means go ahead then. I don’t know if you don’t care about reading them in order, but basically there are four different arcs or sagas: Rincewind, Death, Witches, and the Watch (with a few that simply stand alone). There’s also an overall order, but it’s less important to keep that then to read the arcs in order. The first two are The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, but they’re really not that good compared to the later ones. Try picking up Equal Rites when you’re first buying them, that was the first one I remember really liking.
The Color of Magic (the first Discworld book – very different from the rest)
The Light Fantastic
Sourcery
<strike>Faust</strike> Eric
Interesting Times
The Last Continent
The Last Hero (Actually, I’m not sure where it goes)
And Death’s an important character, too!
Mort
Reaper Man
Soul Music
Hogfather
Thief of Time (the previous Best Discworld Book until Night Watch came out)
Ren, if you can get them cheap I strongly suggest you do so. Read The Amazing Maurice. It’s a book set on the Disc, and it’s a cool twist on the Pied Piper of Hamelin. And yeah, Vimes kicks ass.
Read Soul Music. Because I said so. And Thief of Time, also because I said so.
Take care to not read too many of them at once and in succession. Terry Pratchett doesn’t do a lot to variate his writing style so doing that would just make you tired of him.
I personally can’t stand Terry Pratchet, I can normally read a good 400 page book in a day and a half without even trying, but it took me over 3 weeks to make it to the mid point of the first book and I just couldn’t take anymore.
A lot of people around here seem to like him, but he really has an unusual style that might not appeal to you. I personally prefer slower, dryer and darker fantasy, but if you want another excellent suggestion then check out “The Masquerade of the Red Death,” it’s a great modern gothic novel set in White Wolf’s World of Darkness Universe. It might be hard to find (especially book 1, but you can order them online), but it’s well worth the read. I read book 2 & 3 in two days, and now I’m joining a game of vampire the masquerade to get more.
Anyway, you might not be interested in that genre, but you might still want to be careful with the discworld novels, borrow the first one from a friend and see if you like it before buying them yourself.
Awhile back I read of The Color of Magic, and recently aquired a copy of The Light Fantastic. Havn’t read it yet (Want to finnish Dune first) but I’m liking the series so far.
I finished Night Watch around…last week or so. Agreeably his best works.
Remember the opening dedication towards the Watchmen in “Guards, Guards”? THAT was beautiful.
I highly recommend the Watch (Feet of Clay somehow wasn’t as enjoyable as the others…but enjoyable none-the-less), and then the Witches. Death is a riot, but I read most of his books first and got a bit burnt out, really. Everyone has to read Rincewind, reguardless. REGARTLESS!
Don’t base any of your impressions on the first book. Up until book four or five, he’s just getting his ideas in place and they’re nowhere near as entertaining.
Btw, I just finished reading the latest book (Monstrous Regiment). It’s definitely interesting, but it lacks the Discworldiness of the middle books. It could really take place in the real world besides for just a few story elements.
I am buying a four book pack tomorrow (the ones I’ve found in my fave bookstore): The Color of Magic, The Light Fantastic, The Wyrd Sisters & one that I didn’t see in Yar’s list, the title in Portuguese goes like “The 8th Mage”.