[Werthead]

A good one-off book is Good Omens, which Pratchett co-wrote with Neil Gaiman. Very funny and at one time Terry Gilliam was going to make it into a film (there's a Monty Python connection for you ) but he went off to make the Quixote film instead. I think other directors are now looking at it.

As for Discworld there's several options. Reading the whole series in order is the logical way to go, although the earlier books aren't as good as the middle ones and some of the newest ones. The first book, The Colour of Magic, is very different in tone and style from the other books, although it is still funny in parts.

The advice I usually give is to start with the City Watch books. These books have a continuing arc of sorts and the character development of Vimes may be Pratchett's finest achievement in the series. They're also pretty funny and, being a fantasy take on police procedural dramas, very approachable. The first one is Guards! Guards!, followed by Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch and Thud! Vimes also has a supporting role in The Truth and Monstrous Regiment.

The one-offs with no recurring characters (or only recurring characters in background cameos) are also good to get a feel for the way Pratchett writes: Moving Pictures, Pyramids, Small Gods, The Truth, Monstrous Regiment and Going Postal are all good in this regard. Small Gods is almost certainly the single best thing Pratchett has ever written.

I'm not a big fan of the Granny Weatherwax/Lancre Witches plot line, but some people swear by them. These books are Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade and Carpe Jugulum. Of these Lords and Ladies is by far the best.

The Death books are pretty dull IMO but again they are well-regarded by others. These books are Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music and Hogfather. Mort is regarded by many as Pratchett's best novel, but I found it pretty bad.

Finally the Rincewind books are good for a knockabout, Monty Python-esque laugh: The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Sourcery, Eric, Interesting Times and The Last Continent.

Then there's the Young Adult Discworld books: The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky. The Wee Free Men is currently in development as a movie as well.

[Morgoth]

I actually enjoyed Witches Abroad a lot.. Interesting times as well, and the last continent. Rincewind is a genious

[Dolorous Menhir]

Small Gods & the one with "the Gonne", can't remember which Guard novel that was. both excellent as straight comedies and as parallels to the modern world (religion/violence).

read a few of his books and you nail down the formula though. by the time you've read 20 you're predicting the plot twists chapters in advance...at least the jokes remain fairly original throughout.

[Illuyankas]

"The Gonne" was in Men-At-Arms, btw. I'd agree with everybody here (Night Watch is my favourite, though I have some suspicions about some character development but that's neither here nor there), but he did another book around the same time as Strata, called The Dark Side Of The... Something. Is that any good? Apart from the Truckers books, it's the only book I haven't read of his yet, and I want to know if it's any good.

[Murrin]

I read the books in published order up to Lords and Ladies - I put it down halfway through and never got round to picking up the series again.The Witches books got progressively more boring, the way I remember it.

I agree that Small Gods is brilliant. Loved Reaper Man also.

[Blind]

Illuyankas said:

he did another book around the same time as Strata, called The Dark Side Of The... Something. Is that any good?

The Dark Side of the Sun. It's a SF parody, much like Strata, and about equal in quality, IMO. I didn't find either as funny as any of the Discworld novels.

My favourie DW books are the Watch series, and Rincewind, but I also loved the Death books, especially for the character of Death himself (not so much for Susan, who I find a little annoying).

[Imperial Historian]

I'd agree with most of the thoughts here, small gods is definitly a book one should read, I prefer the watch novels myself but the death, witches and rincewind novels are all very good.

Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic are very different from his later books, so don't judge the rest of the series from them.

Good Omens, Small Gods, Mort or Guards Guards are probably your best bet for being introduced to Pratchett.

I didn't really enjoy Dark Side of the Sun, nowhere near the quality of the discworld books.

Anyone heard anything about Sky doing a version of "The Hogfather" for their Christmas schedule, I read about it somewhere but haven't heard about it since...

[Imperial Historian]

No it's a cartoon of two of the disc world books, wyrd sister and soul music.

Wyrd Sisters was pretty good, and the half of soul music I saw was very good.

[Werthead]

I think Cosgrove Hall had a very tight budget for the animations. I can understand them not spending the money. After all, Pratchett is only the UK's second-biggest-selling living author (not fantasy author btw, that's 'author' full stop)...

[Werthead]

I thought I did mention Pyramids. It's a great book but has a kind of screwy conclusion. But Pteppic is a great character and the idea of Djelibeybi (a country 150 miles in length but only 2 miles in width) is quite amusing.