[tickhill43]

If your just starting on Pratchett try to get the trilogy hardback editions, Death Trilogy, City Watch Trilogy, Death Trilogy and Rincewind Trilogy. I think they are still in print, they look great and are some of the best discworld novels as well.

[Ellestra]

Discworld and Good Omens are the best Terry Pratchett produts but he also wrot some young adults stuff:
The Bromeliad Trilogy: "Truckers", "Diggers", "Wings"
Johnny Maxwell Trilogy - "Only You Can Save Mankind", "Johnny and the Dead", "Johnny and the Bomb"
"Carpet People"
Of those I liked Johnny books best.

But still Discword is better

And I like wiches

[zergbrood]

A bit of info on the Hogfather Sky TV thingy-yoke...

"David Jason is to head the cast in a TV adaptation of Terry Pratchett's fantasy fiction novel 'Hogfather'.

'Hogfather' is part of Pratchett's long-running Discworld series and marks the first time that one of the books has been made into a feature-length film.

Jason, the star of 'Only Fools and Horses' and 'A Touch of Frost', will play Death's servant, Albert, a grumpy former wizard.

The two-part film, which will run for a total of four hours, is part of Sky One's 2006 Christmas schedule.

The first book in the Discworld series was published in 1983 and there have been 34 books since. 'Hogfather' is the third book in the series.

Pratchett, the UK's second most popular contemporary author, has sold more than 45 million books worldwide."
taken from: http://www.rte.ie/ar...pratchettt.html

Oh, and for another Monty Python connection, Eric Idle did the voice of Rincewind in Discworld I/II games..

[Illuyankas]

Hogfather? Third? Since when? Third to be shown on telly, or third in the Death series?

[Illuyankas]

I know, I was wondering which method of numbering Sky TV was using.

[Illuyankas]

Watch it then read it. The book will be better, that way you can watch an entertaining program, then read an excellent book, instead of reading an excellent book, then complaining about the inferior program. Smooth upwards curve in quality, that's the way I'd do it.

[caladanbrood]

I've decided to read the whole lot by the time I leave aus. The way I'm doing this is buying a few, then swapping them for the next ones at a second hand bookshop when I've finished. I'm just reading them straight through, in chronological order. Just finished Wyrd Sisters, and about to start Pyramids.

[caladanbrood]

There aint nothing better than lying on the beach reading and ogling the ladies;)

[Werthead]

Just did a brief (relatively) review of the whole series on Wotmania which I thought might be worth reposting here:

The Colour of Magic - Rincewind - 1983
Enjoyable, but a different style and feel to the other books. The Discworld is more of a serious fantasy world, Rincewind is merely a bumbler who has misadventures there. However, some iconic imagery and the most detailed exploration of the nature of the Discworld itself make it an interesting read. The graphic novel version is also very good. ***

The Light Fantastic - Rincewind - 1985
Direct sequel to TCOM but already the style of the writing is shifting more towards Pratchett's later tone. Very entertaining, especially the introduction of Cohen the Barbarian ***

Equal Rites - Granny Weatherwax - 1987
Solid and enjoyable, introduces Granny Weatherwax. Funny, but somewhat slight. ***

Mort - Death - 1987
Lauded as the best Discworld novel for years, I found it rather lacking. Some good laughs but nothing too special. ***

Sourcery - Rincewind - 1988
Rincewind returns, mayhem ensues. Notable for introducing the other three Horsemen of the Apocralypse and the scene where they miss the end of the world when they stop for a pub lunch. Extremely funny. ****

Wyrd Sisters - Granny Weatherwax - 1988
Introduces Magrat and the unstoppable Nanny Ogg and fills in the background of the Kingdom of Lancre. The plot may be lifted from Macbeth, but it's still raucoulsly funny. An early classic. ****

Pyramids - stand-alone - 1989
Another classic, introducing the Kingdom of Djelibeybi (d'ya get it?), a pyramid-obsessed Egyptian-flavoured country 150 miles long and 2 miles wide. ****

Guards! Guards! - City Watch - 1989
Almost continually funny satire on police procedurals marking the first appearance of Vimes, Nobby, Colon and Carrot. The first solid classic in the series. *****

Faust Eric - Rincewind - 1990
Short and somewhat slight novel. Intermittently amusing, but lacking the depth of the other works. ***

Moving Pictures - stand-alone, cameo from the Wizards & City Watch - 1990
Clever and amusing satire on Hollywood, with an excellent pastiche of King Kong at the end. ****

Reaper Man - Death - 1991
Solid book, but as with most Death ones lacking something for me. Enjoyable. ***

Witches Abroad - Granny Weatherwax - 1991
Road movie-style story following the Witches from Lancre to Genua and the unwitting mayhem they trigger along the way. Very funny, although the ending is a bit flat. ****

Small Gods - stand-alone - 1992
Simply the single best Pratchett book of them all. Religious fundamentalism is tackled in arguably the most serious book in the series, but featuring by far the most hilarious death sequence. *****

Lords and Ladies - Granny Weatherwax - 1992
The Elves finally turn up and every single person who has ever wanted to lay out Legolas gets their wish come true in what is partly a war story and partly a treatise on the superficiality of beauty. Introduces Casanunda, the greatest dwarf since Thorin Oakenshield, and reveals Ridcully to be a surprising man of action. Also a great joke on the Schroedinger's Box theory. *****

Men at Arms - City Watch - 1993
Entertaining sequel to Guards! Guards!, introducing firearms to the Discworld and a love interest for Carrot. ****

Soul Music - Death - 1994
Solid book which introduces rock music to the Discworld. Aside from some great band names, the novel is somewhat ordinary, notable only for introducing the recurring character of Susan. ***

Interesting Times - Rincewind - 1994
Surprisingly weak book, with out first (and to date only) visit to the Agatean Empire and the Counterweight Continent weakened by some inane scenes at the start of the book. The novel never really gets going and it feels like Pratchett only wrote it because his publishers wanted to see Rincewind again. **

Maskerade - Granny Weatherwax - 1995
The Witches come to Ankh-Morpork in this intresting take on The Phantom of the Opera. As someone who hates opera, this book was surprisingly funny and enjoyable. ***

Feet of Clay - City Watch - 1996
Excellent continuation of the City Watch stories. Very well written, featuring a great fantasy take on robots and androids. ****

Hogfather - Death - 1996
Actually strangely forgettable book about Christmas. I remember it not being tremendously bad, but not great either. ***

Jingo - City Watch - 1997
Ankh-Morpork goes to war over some pointless islands in this interesting take on warfare, but ultimately not one of the funniest books in the series. ***

The Last Continent - Rincewind - 1998
Very weak novel, possibly the weakest in the series to date, albeit with a few good gags. **

Carpe Jugulum - Granny Weatherwax - 1998
Another weak book about unreformed vampires menacing Lancre. Feels too much like treading over ground alread established in Lords and Ladies. **

The Fifth Elephant - City Watch - 1999
Dull book about Vimes sorting out problems in a city allied to Ankh-Morpork. **

The Truth - stand-alone, camoes by the City Watch - 2000
Excellent return to form, establishing Pratchett's 'new' format of basing his books mainly in Ankh-Morpork with more cross-pollination between his established characters and new ones. Very funny satire on the newspaper and tabloid industry. *****

Thief of Time - stand-alone - 2001
Irritatingly dull book about the nature of time. **

Night Watch - City Watch - 2002
Vimes in time travel story. Funny with a serious underpinning and an interesting book all-round. ***

Monstrous Regiment - stand-alone, cameos by the City Watch - 2003
Despite the slightly unbelievable premise, this war story sees a young woman joining the army to search for his missing brother. Pratchett turns cliches on their heads once again to great effect. ***

Going Postal - Moist von Lipwig, camoes by the City Watch - 2004
Largely different characters, but a similar feel to The Truth with a promising, initially very amoral new character and some great development of Ankh-Morpork, plus at last an in-depth look at the AM 'clacks' system. *****

Thud! - City Watch - 2005
Haven't read it yet. I take my Pratchett in paperback.

Making Money - Mois von Lipwig - 2006 (forthcoming)
This Christmas' Pratchett hardcover. Rumoured to be about the revival of the Ankh-Morpork Mint.

I haven't read the Young Adult novels yet (The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky and the forthcoming Wintersmith and I Shall Wear Midnight). Pratchett has also announced that Rincewind will return and there will be additional Discworld books entitled Nation, Unseen Academicals and Scouting for Trolls.

The Streets of Ankh-Morpork and The Discworld Mappe are great references to have to hand and both have some very funny notes attached to them. Once you are more familiar with the series, than the latest edition of The Discworld Companion is worth picking up for its hilarious expansion of background detail to the books (like the agrophobic elephants who walk around in huts; they do not find these difficult to acquire as "few people will remain in a hut once an elephant joins them").

[Morgoth]

all in all I would agree with you reviews, though I found both Interesting times and to some extent Lost continent to be very good. Interesting times especially had me laughing again and again.

Also enjoyed Thief of Time. Lu Tze is a classic

[Urko Crust]

you summed it all up. But i thought that the fifth elephant was one of the best. the elaboration on the dwarvish culture and some classic comedy moments

[Valgard]

I love pratchett some of my favourites are the witches series and I must admit i really enjoyed lords and ladies (bloody elves). Small Gods though is definately his best it is brilliant and i love the way that you have some of believers of Om mentioned again in the series

Spoiler

converting the heathan with explanatory pamphlets

[Ellestra]

Hey I really like Interesting Times. And Last Continent was pretty good too. But maybe it's because I like Luggage, Librarian, mages and even Rincewind.

I agree Small Gods is best

And love th Lords and Ladies especially the parts about cats