Subject: Question about Terry Pratchett {completely unrelated}
Author:
Posted on: 2010-07-16 19:31:00 UTC
Um, what is the reading order of Discworld? It's kinda confusing- I did Tiffany Aching, then Nation, and I'm on the Color of Magic, and they don't seem related- at all.
And I'm feeling even more like there's just a whole huge universe of stuff about the PPC I'll never know about the PPC if I spend every hour left of my life researching. Huzzah. How the heck do people find the time to do over a dozen agents with profiles and missions and everything? Well, back to English summer reading homework...
Um, what is the reading order of Discworld? It's kinda confusing- I did Tiffany Aching, then Nation, and I'm on the Color of Magic, and they don't seem related- at all.
1) Nation, to my knowledge, isn't a Discworld book. So that would explain a lot.
2) I did the EXACT same thing - first Tiffany, then CoM, and I was just as confused as you. Having read more, in The Color of Magic the whole idea of Discworld is still sort of... gestating; it hasn't really taken the form that it's famous for. As you get further along, they start to seem more in-sync, and even before it all reaches its most famous form (if you read in the order of publication), characters you'll recognize starts showing up. Granny Weatherwax shows up as early as Equal Rites , which is only the third one. A couple books after that it starts to seem more like the Discworld Tiffany lives in.
3) I'm reading them in pretty much publishing order, which I'd recommend. I read Monstrous Regiment immediately after Guards! Guards! , and since a lot of characters and innovations are added in between books, it was quite surreal.
So, anyway, sorry to boss your ear off. I hope you got something useful out of it.
Nation isn't a Discworld book. Neither are the Bromeliad trilogy (although it's my pet theory that the Nac Mac Feegle are nomes affecting Scottish accents).
I think Small Gods was the first I read, followed by The Fifth Elephant, and I got around to reading Colour of Magic three or four in.
So, in order of publication (but not necessarily chronological order), the books run thusly:
1. The Colour of Magic (1983)
2. The Light Fantastic (1986)
3. Equal Rites (1987)
4. Mort (1987)
5. Sourcery (1988)
6. Wyrd Sisters (1988)
7. Pyramids (1989)
8. Guards! Guards! (1989)
9. Eric (1990)
10. Moving Pictures (1990)
11. Reaper Man (1991)
12. Witches Abroad (1991)
13. Small Gods (1992)
14. Lords and Ladies (1992)
15. Men at Arms (1993)
16. Soul Music (1994)
17. Interesting Times (1994)
18. Maskerade (1995)
19. Feet of Clay (1996)
20. Hogfather (1996)
21. Jingo (1997)
22. The Last Continent (1998)
23. Carpe Jugulum (1998)
24. The Fifth Elephant (1999)
25. The Truth (2000)
26. Thief of Time (2001)
27. Night Watch (2002)
28. Monstrous Regiment (2003)
29. Going Postal (2004)
30. Thud! (2005)
31. Making Money (2007)
32. Unseen Academicals (2009)
However, most of the books also correspond to various character arcs, focusing on one particular group of characters. By far and large, the Ankh-Morpork City Watch seems to be Pterry's favorite group to write about, with the wizards a close second.
Some of my personal favorites of the series include Guards, Guards! (wherein we're first introduced to the City Watch), Thief of Time, Thud!, Hogfather, The Last Continent, and Pyramids.
I have a lot of reading to do, eh?
date of publication is identical to chronological order. I say this having read them all, several times. :)
Some do seem to run concurrently- Thief of Time crosses over with Night Watch (albeit briefly, though the events of Thief directly impact those of Night), and a few others do likewise.
certainly, there are the History Monks in both, in multiple times, but what's-his-face, the protagonist of Thief of Time isn't in Night Watch, and so I got the impression that these monks, who live a long time (albeit not necessarily linearly) were simply at a different point in their own timeline. And if you don't read Thief of Time before Night Watch, it lessens the cohesion and comprehensibility of Night Watch. And there are little in-series hints -- such as who is Archchancellor of the Unseen University -- which help with chronology.
I'm trying to remember others might overlap, but my brain seems fuzzy. In any case, it's certainly *safe* to read them in order of publication.
Not that I ever do. But whatever. I trust you have some in mind. :)
If you want to read them by main character, there's a link for character arcs over at,
http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/10529-reading-order-for-discworld-novels.html
which you might find helpful.
... if there are any inconsistancies in the timeline (for example, the question of when Small Gods takes place), you can always blame it on the first Glass Clock disaster. :P
hS
Small Gods took place a significant time before the other books, seeing as how Oats in Carpe Jugulum seems to act as if it was long(ish) ago- I got the impression (without, admittedly, any hard evidence) that Brutha was long-dead by the time Oats trained.
That said, Small Gods doesn't really affect any of the other books (excepting Carpe Jugulum) so I guess it's timeline could be pretty fluid. Unless any of the Ephebans are also in Pyramids? It's been many years since I read it, and I no longer have a copy.
As an aside, Night Watch is by far my favourite, but I also have a soft spot for the Fifth Elephant, mainly cause of the Dwarf opera.