Which is your favourite/worst Discworld book?

Woo Elephant Yeah · Post by **Woo Elephant Yeah** » May 16th, 2007, 16:25

For those of you that don't know, the Discworld series of books are written by Terry Pratchett, and I think the best way of summarising them, would be to quote "Monty Python meets Lord Of The Rings".

I have only read up to Pyramids so far, and I am glad I did, as I think it's the funniest one yet (not necessarily the best one though).

I do love Rincewind as a character, and enjoyed all of the books featuring him so far, however the Wyrd sisters is quite possibly the worst one I've read so far.

So for me, it would have to be "The Colour Of Magic" (the first book) as my favourite so far. Which titles would you say are the best/worst?

Post by **Dog Pants** » May 16th, 2007, 16:31

I'm not a big fan of the witch stories (Wyrd Sisters, Lords and Ladies off the top of my head), but the stories around Rincewind and Death are pretty funny. There was one with a zombie in it but I can't remember which (Wendle Poons I think he was called. How much useless information is in my head?), but I'd probably have to say Mort as it was the first one I read. They're all pretty good though. The Carpet People is worth a look too, away from Discworld.

Post by **Roman Totale** » May 16th, 2007, 17:00

I love the majority of them. I'd probably pick Reaper Man as my favourite though, mainly because it was the first book of his that I read.

The only Discworld book I haven't re-read (and I've re-read most of them about 10 times) is Carpe Jugulum. It just didn't do it for me, and I actually avoided his books for a while after that because I thought he'd gone right off the boil.

Stoat · Post by **Stoat** » May 16th, 2007, 17:22

I love the City Watch books, but it's difficult to choose a favourite... Night Watch, probably. Death is always a winner, though. I agree that Reaper Man is certainly one of the best.
I haven't read Pyramids in ages, but I remember it being quite good.
Least favourite would probably be Moving Pictures. It just didn't seem to work.

buzzmong · Post by **buzzmong** » May 16th, 2007, 18:12

Stoat wrote:I love the City Watch books, but it's difficult to choose a favourite... Night Watch, probably.

This

The City Watch (or should that be Night Watch to woo?) I personally find happen to be the better books, mainly because the main characters seem to be fleshed out more and they often refer to one another, you kind of get more of a sense of the universe of AnhkMorpork.

The Rincewind novels are also rather spiffing.

And Death...well...Death is just fantastic.

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » May 16th, 2007, 18:30

I've read a few and I think my favourite was Mort but I couldn't say why, it's been years since I've read one.

edit: ah yes, probably because of Death

cheeseandham · Post by **cheeseandham** » May 16th, 2007, 18:32

I think his earlier novels are some of the best, as I get the feeling he starts to churn them out (BTW I'm a huge Pratchett fan)

Death is a great character, Mort and Reaper man are the best of his.
Rincewind also - so Colour of Magic (quite heavy as it's his first novel) The Light Fantastic, Sorcery and Eric
The Watch - Guards Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, The Fifth Elephant

Other books(and their topics) that I found among his best
Pyramids
Moving Pictures
Small Gods

I also recommend out of his non-Discworld books
Good Omens
Strata
Dark side of the Sun

Oh, and since you mention it. I'm attempting a clear out of all sorts at the moment and as mentioned I'm a TP fan (my first books were bought almost 20 years ago) .

So if you ask on this thread (and it's first come first served) and then
send me a stamped,self addressed envelope (for the correct amount!) I will send them the Terry Pratchett book they ask for. I will of course PM these people my address.

P.S. Except Small Gods as it's signed, and also if I can't find the book (I can't see Colour of Magic right at this moment) then I'll let your know before you send the SAE.
P.P.S. If you include a quid as a "tip" I'd be really happy, but it's certainly not a requirement.

Post by **Dog Pants** » May 16th, 2007, 18:43

Small Gods, I remember liking that one but I can't quite remember why.

I've just put half a dozen books on my Amazon wishlist (dystopia stuff - Fahrenheit 451, Slaughterhouse 5, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, etc..), but I might have to add some Pratchett stuff for old time's sake. Once I find out what I actually own myself and have left at my parents' housde.

Post by **Joose** » May 16th, 2007, 21:16

I have every one of his books (bar a couple of the most recent, the kids discworld ones. Although I did enjoy the first of them, so I will probably get the others.) I also have managed to get the first dozen-ish signed

Best one...depends. I find the earlier ones tend to be funnier, but the latest ones have much better actual stories. There was a bit of a lull (around the Fifth Elephant) when they werent as funny as the old ones, and the stories were a little lacking, but he seems to be getting back on track now.

I think my favourite Pterry book is actually the one he did with Neil Gaiman, who is another favourite author of mine: Good Omens. Amazing book, and one of the few that has made me *actually* laugh out loud, even on re-readings.

Post by **HereComesPete** » May 16th, 2007, 23:13

Hmm, hard to choose, pyramids, despite being outside of the main story lines does rate as one of my favourites, I like the guards ones, the character progression means you can go back and read about carrot ironfoundersson turning from a simple country yokel into an indispensable part of the city, "guards guards", with the twisted slant on the classic dragon versus king is one that stands out for me, I go back and read it quite often. Cant beat a bit of albert, death and his love of cats, or even granny weatherwax changing from just another local witch into one that knows the arch-chancellor and is in line to become the greatest practitioner of magic the disc has ever seen. Basically they are all great as far as im concerned!

eion · Post by **eion** » May 17th, 2007, 1:12

cheeseandham wrote:I think his earlier novels are some of the best, as I get the feeling he starts to churn them out

This.

Lateralus · Post by **Lateralus** » May 17th, 2007, 8:39

I love the diskworld books, and just this morning put Interesting Times in my bag for a re-read. I'm steadily making my way through them all again - I have about 20/25ish, but have never bothered to work out which ones I'm missing to read them all. My favourites are definitely the Watch-based ones, as I just find the characters that much more interesting. It's hard to say exactly why this is the case, but it is.

The only one I think of as bad is Masquerade, and thats purely because it was the first one I tried to read after being given it as a present. I think I was too young to properly appreciate it (11 or 12 maybe) and it put me off Pratchett for many years. That was until about 3 years ago when my Dad sat next to him at some dinner and got chatting to Pratchett and told him he'd never read any of his stuff. He then bought Guards! Guards! which he enjoyed and lent to me. I then borrowed about 15 books from a friend, who never asked for them back.

I also really enjoyed Good Omens, and that was what compelled me to read American Gods. I have some of the Science of Diskworld books, but have never read them. Maybe I should.

Anhamgrimmar · Post by **Anhamgrimmar** » May 17th, 2007, 10:07

Lateralus wrote:I love the diskworld books, and just this morning put Interesting Times in my bag for a re-read. I'm steadily making my way through them all again - I have about 20/25ish, but have never bothered to work out which ones I'm missing to read them all. My favourites are definitely the Watch-based ones, as I just find the characters that much more interesting. It's hard to say exactly why this is the case, but it is.

The only one I think of as bad is Masquerade, and thats purely because it was the first one I tried to read after being given it as a present. I think I was too young to properly appreciate it (11 or 12 maybe) and it put me off Pratchett for many years. That was until about 3 years ago when my Dad sat next to him at some dinner and got chatting to Pratchett and told him he'd never read any of his stuff. He then bought Guards! Guards! which he enjoyed and lent to me. I then borrowed about 15 books from a friend, who never asked for them back.

I also really enjoyed Good Omens, and that was what compelled me to read American Gods. I have some of the Science of Diskworld books, but have never read them. Maybe I should.

The 3 science of diskworld books are very good. not because of the TP bits*, but because they explained very 'high science' concepts too me in a very accessable way.

My personal fave series of his is the Guards Guards series of books (Guards Guards, Feet of clay, Night Watch, Thud!, and the otherone i cant remember), but my actuall favoirite book of his is Going Postal. its where my (Misremembered and Misspelled) username comes from

*The TP bits were a bit too disjointed in the book, but they did the job well

Post by **tandino** » May 17th, 2007, 11:47

Woo! This thread's a bit overdue. I've not read a Discworld novel I didn't like so far but have a few stand outs that'll stay with me for a long time. I reckon my overall favourite out of the 10 or so I have to hand is Thief of Time, very Matrixey in its feel, but also really funny, especially towards the end with the Auditors coming in. Next favourite (possibly due to it being the first one of the series I read) is Sorcery.

Other miscellaneous favourites include Guards! Guards!, The Fifth Elephant, Small Gods and Interesting Times. I've not read any of the newer ones really, but I think I'll be investing in them soon.

Post by **Roman Totale** » May 17th, 2007, 18:19

Lateralus wrote: The only one I think of as bad is Masquerade, and thats purely because it was the first one I tried to read after being given it as a present.

Funnily enough, Masquerade is about the time I first went off Pratchett. Not because I disliked the book (I think it's brilliant), but because that's when I first met Pratchett at a book signing. I found him to be a smug, arrogant tosser - more interested in making money (he practically guilt tripped my mum into buying me a tshirt, not easy to refuse when you're at the front of a fecking massive queue) than interacting with his fans.

Never meet your heroes I say.

Woo Elephant Yeah · Post by **Woo Elephant Yeah** » May 18th, 2007, 7:18

cheeseandham wrote:Oh, and since you mention it. I'm attempting a clear out of all sorts at the moment and as mentioned I'm a TP fan (my first books were bought almost 20 years ago)

I have all the books up to Guards, Guards (I think that's the next one on my list now I've finished Pyramids)

I'm interested in having the all of them if you want, let me know how much postage and packaging is, and pm me on how much you want for the lot.

cheeseandham · Post by **cheeseandham** » May 18th, 2007, 7:33

Ok woo, i'll check it out this w/e.

pixie pie · Post by **pixie pie** » May 18th, 2007, 19:40

Anhamgrimmar wrote:
my actuall favoirite book of his is Going Postal.

I am yet to read a Pratchett book (A horrible crime I know!) But I seem to remember one of my family members being given this book as a gift a christmas or two ago. So I'm gonna try and root it out.

Post by **FatherJack** » May 18th, 2007, 20:56

Woo Elephant Yeah wrote:I have all the books up to Guards, Guards (I think that's the next one on my list now I've finished Pyramids)

I'm at exactly the same place. I don't find them terribly amusing, just good stories. I certainly liked Mort the most, and the Rincewind ones the least - not sure why, perhaps they are more character than event-driven.

cheeseandham · Post by **cheeseandham** » June 4th, 2007, 10:48

Woo Elephant Yeah wrote:I'm interested in having the all of them if you want, let me know how much postage and packaging is, and pm me on how much you want for the lot.

Woo, sorry I haven't got round to this yet. Two things have been in the way.
Firstly, work/pleasure/life etc. Taking a load of books down the Post-Office has weighed in low on my list of priorities.
Secondly - Since you said that I've found this. It's a great idea, I was contemplating doing it instead with the TP books and suggest that you have a look at it, or perhaps we could do a swap for some interesting books on a one to one basis you have rather than use cash?