this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2025

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I picked up these 4 Pratchett books! Haven't read him before; recommendations for them? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by tpyo@lemmy.world to c/books@lemmy.world

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The titles are:
"Reaper Man", "Small Gods", "Wyrd Sisters", "Moving Pictures"

Went to an adorable book shop and found these guys. I haven't read Pratchett yet but I feel it'll be right up my alley

I'm pretty sure I see "Small Gods" and "Wyrd Sisters" recommended a lot and I know you can't really go wrong, but of these which would you recommend the most? Since this is what I have I'll read them all eventually

Regardless I'm excited to have gotten physical copies because my library has long wait lists for his books

Edit: Thanks for all of the discussion! This post brought me a lot of positive on an otherwise rough day. I've decided to start with "Small Gods"

I just want to say again thank you to everyone who responded to me or to someone else. It's been a joy hearing what each person has to contribute to the conversation

Even if they fall flat (which I highly doubt) all of your enthusiasm came through and that really in itself means so much. It was truly touching

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[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

Read all 41 books three times over. Neat thing is that reading order doesn't matter so much. My first was #20.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Reaper Man is an excellent standalone story featuring Death (tall, bony, robe and scythe...) as the protagonist. Wyrd Sisters is the first of the Witches of Lancre series (discounting Equal Rites, wherein Granny Weatherwax appears but is not depicted quite as her fully formed character yet), and Moving Pictures is the first of the series dealing with various phenomena which attempt to modernize the world.

Small Gods is also broadly a standalone story which mercilessly skewers the rise of Christianity from its humble desert beginnings up to the largess and insanity of the Inquisition, except with the key difference of the god in question being very much real, even if none of his ostensible followers except one actually believe in him anymore — despite the rest of them going around behaving very badly in his name.

[–] tpyo@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Great synopsis for the stories! It'll definitely help me as I'm learning the feel of each 'series'

[–] Denjin@feddit.uk 7 points 1 week ago

There isn't really a bad Discworld novel, you've definitely got some great jumping off points. They're all basically stand alone apart from one specific entry in the Witches cycle (Lords and Ladies) that is recommended to read after the preceeding one (Witches Abroad) so you won't have any issues picking one and going for it. Moving Pictures is a personal favourite but all 4 are great.

Next step is to probably get a Rincewind novel and a City Watch one.

[–] Shaper@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

I'd say start with small gods cause it's hilarious and standalone but I'd also say wyrd sisters cause Granny Weatherwax is the best character in all of discworld and I love her and her stories are the best.

[–] Asafum@feddit.nl 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I absolutely love the discworld series!! I haven't read all of them so I couldn't say which of those is the best, but moving pictures wasn't bad. I'm really more partial to the city watch "series" that starts with Guards Guards! I will say that I didn't really get sucked into the "death" series that Reaper Man is a part of.

Here's a site that shows the various orders you could read them in:

https://www.discworldemporium.com/reading-order/

They have overarching storylines that connect books, but I don't think you need to see them as Book I, Book II, Book III.

[–] tpyo@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Perfect, thank you for that link! It's a complicated universe but I'd love to get to know it better

I hear that series recommend a bunch so I'm keeping an eye out. And I appreciate that about this author and these books that there isn't a particular start

[–] theAeon@infosec.exchange 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

@tpyo

Terry Pratchetts Discworld books are a good read.

Sometimes absurd but I always enjoyed reading them

[–] tpyo@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

I'm excited to jump in for sure! And absurd is my thing so I think these will tickle my brain just right

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Find a cozy place, stack up on your favourite drink and snacks, and submerge yourself in the world of Terry Pratchett. I remember him fondly, sitting in front of a poster which claims him to be the funniest man on earth, something I cannot disagree with.

You are in for a ride.

[–] theskyisfalling@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)

This is obviously a really unpopular opinion but I just don't understand how there is always so much love for his books. I tried reading I think it was the first 9 books from the Discworld and I just found them boring and extremely cringeworthy.

Like I hope you enjoy them and it is great so many people do but I don't get it all.

[–] Bwaz@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Don't agree, but different strokes as you imply, different tastes are to be expected. I found the LOTR trilogy to be the absolute most boring and pompous thing I'd ever read and still can't understand why a writer would have dedicated much of his life to typing it out , but I know it's very popular with most people. Art is like that.

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[–] lime@feddit.nu 5 points 1 week ago (6 children)

he took a while to find his footing. going back to the early works after reading the later ones you can appreciate the roots of the tone he eventually settled into. if you're interested in giving it a second go (and i completely get it if not) i'd recommend trying one of the later ones rather than going in release order. i have a real soft spot for small gods, personally, and it's basically completely standalone. same goes for monstrous regiment.

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[–] zout@fedia.io 3 points 1 week ago

I'd start with Wyrd Sisters, followed by Reaper Man. I didn't like Small Gods and didn't finish. I don't remember anything about Moving Pictures, I must have at least started reading it since I read most of Pratchett's works.

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