A Beginner's Guide to Discworld

The Discworld is a flat world which sits on the backs of four elephants, who in turn stand on the back of the space turtle Great A'tuin.

It's also a fantasy series by Terry Pratchett, and a bloody good one at that. But since there's around forty books in the series, it can be a little daunting to get into, so I thought I'd make a quick guide so people can get a general idea of where they can start.

The first thing you should know about the Discworld novels is that there's about six mini-series within it, meaning that you don't necessarily have to start at the beginning.

First there's the Rincewind/Wizard series, which starts with The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, the first two novels. These are about the wizard (or wizzard) Rincewind, who is terrible at magic and something of a reluctant hero. These books generally parody tropes of the fantasy genre more than other books in the Discworld series.

There's also the Witch series, and you can start with either Equal Rites or Wyrd Sisters. Equal Rites is about a young girl, Esk, who becomes the Disc's first female wizard, and it explores the differences between wizard magic and witch magic. Wyrd Sisters and the other witch books focus on Esk's mentor, Granny Weatherwax. One of the main themes of this series is stories and words. (Wyrd Sisters is basically a mash-up of Hamlet and Macbeth, and it's amazing, and the next book in the series has a lot of fairy tale references.)

There's also a different witch series, focusing on Tiffany Aching, a nine-year-old becoming a witch and starts with The Wee Free Men. Like the Weatherwax witch books, the Tiffany books have a lot about stories and fairytales, and her books are about her learning how to become a witch, often with help from a clan of tiny blue pictsies called the Nac Mac Feegle.
Tiffany is amazing, and is one of my favourite characters.

Then there are the Death novels, starting with Mort. (If you're in the UK, you can listen to a radio adaptation of Mort here.) Death appears in most of the novels, and SPEAKS LIKE THIS, but these books focus mainly on him (and later on his granddaughter Susan). Death is a very kind anthropomorphic personification, and is very fond of cats.

The Watch series (starting with Gaurds! Gaurds!) are some of my favourite books. They focus on the Ankh Morpork City Watch, who are basically the police force. These are some of the more overtly political of the Discworld series. They also focus on Sam Vimes, who is possibly my favourite character ever. (I may do a blog focusing on him at some point.) Vimes is a cynical bastard and I love him.

The Moist von Lipwig (starting with Going Postal) is another series set in Ankh Morpork, this time focusing on reformed con artist Moist von Lipwig, who is employed by the Patrician to reform various sectors of the city. (i.e the post office, the bank, and the railway).

There are also several standalone novels that don't fit into any of the above series.

Pyramids is set in Djelibeybi, a counterpart to Ancient Egypt, and is about the young prince Teppic.

Moving Pictures is about alchemists who start making movies on the Disc.

Small Gods is about a monk, Brudda, who is a prophet to the god Om. It focuses a lot on the way believe works on the Disc.

The Truth is set in Ankh Morpork, and focuses on the start of the first printing press and newspaper.

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is aimed at younger readers, and is a retelling of the Pied Piper.

Monstrous Regiment is about Polly, a girl who joins the army disguised as a boy in order to find her brother. One of the best books ever.