Is it just me...

[sanityassassin]

I think it is just you, but to be honest his books are sometimes very different the Death books have a slightly different humour to the Watch books or the witches books as said before try guards guards for the watch or Witches Abroad for the witches or go for one of the individual books like Pyrimids or moving pictures

[paranoid marvin]

There are one or two which don't really work - If Monstrous Regiment and Thief Of Time were my first experieces of Pratchett , I too would be put off Pratchett

The Guards books are definately some of the funniest , with Nightwatch being the best Discworld novel ever

And am I the only one to think though that the Discworld novels really SHOULD be read in the sequence they were published?

[Essie]

I have to admit I read them in order but I think some of them can be read out of sequence - you really don't have to have read the others to follow Pyramids for example.

[paranoid marvin]

Originally Posted by Essie

I have to admit I read them in order but I think some of them can be read out of sequence - you really don't have to have read the others to follow Pyramids for example.

Oh , I agree , not all require you to read them in order - but could you honestly say that you would have enjoyed Nightwatch as much as you did , without first having read all the other 'Watch' books first?

[akfarrar]

Originally Posted by paranoid marvin

There are one or two which don't really work - If Monstrous Regiment and Thief Of Time were my first experieces of Pratchett , I too would be put off Pratchett

How wrong can you get?

Monstrous Regiment is one of the best things El Prat has written - and Thief of Time as good as any other.

As I almost said in an earlier post - horses for courses.

If I wanted to get certain people into El Prat - the recent stuff and the more thoughtful would be my starting point.

[Joel007]

Well if someone is looking for straightforward parody and humour then his early stuff would be good. For the more subtle parodies and deeper insights then the later books are a good read, although overall the central stories in his books have always been Hexcellent

[paranoid marvin]

Originally Posted by akfarrar

How wrong can you get?

Monstrous Regiment is one of the best things El Prat has written - and Thief of Time as good as any other.

As I almost said in an earlier post - horses for courses.

If I wanted to get certain people into El Prat - the recent stuff and the more thoughtful would be my starting point.

I guess you're right about horses and courses . Tbh I found TOT to be over-complicated and not particularly funny , whilst MR felt like a short story which had been dragged out too far , with a highly predictable story , not Pratchett at his best at all for me.

His new creation Albert Spangler is a great character , and I guess we'll see him crop up in a few of TP's future works - would like to see the return of Rincewind though

[akfarrar]

Rincewind - certainly good to see a return!

What did you make of Thud? - Odd bod in the recent novels - but I really liked it.

Suspect that El Pratt will be more likely to go for the 'Victorian' - it's not just the characters, its the style of writing he's adopted.

(Mind you - with only a couple left to come from him given his medical condition I bet he does something to foul up all bets!)

[Call me Gytha]

Originally Posted by Ramoth's Rider

Nah i like the Witches ones! Granny Weatherwax rules!!!

I would try lords and ladies or Carpe Jugulum.

I'm deeply offended so it's Nanny Ogg to you Seriously though and I don't want to take the thread off topic but as a fantasy die hard who doesn't do sci-fi would anyone recommend me reading Douglas Adams, bearing in mind I never bought into the HH series on TV all those years ago

[Vladd67]

You should try listening to the radio series of H2G2 or maybe read The Long Teatime of The Soul. The H2G2 books started ok but you got the feeling he was just writing them to fulfil a contract there was a bored air about them.

[Shamu]

I don't think Adams and Pratchett's books can be compared. Sure they fall under the umbrella term of "Fantasy" but they're very different in the way they tell their stories and likewise their humour is different as a result.

I say give another couple of his books a try as recommended.

[Lioness]

Out of Pratchett's books, NightWatch was the first one I ever read. It isn't my favourite though.
I love The Fifth Elephant, that one had me in tears, and I really love the Feegles! They are cute but undeniably Scottish at the same time.

One of my friends absolutely adores Monstrous Regiment, and takes great delight in quoting (or something like it, I can't remember) 'See, the problem is that you bulge where you shouldn't, and you don't bulge where you should.'

That alone has made me determined to read the book, it sounds hilarious.

[Lucien21]

I have a few of his books, but he's certainly not on my "must buy" list.

I can take him or leave him.

His stuff is ok.

The 3 adventure games are brilliant though.

[SpaceShip]

I agree with Essie - Pratchett hardly ever refers to previous books in the series to enlighten a new reader and thus confusion can arise. Best read in order I think - and I reckon they are very funny.

[Urlik]

Originally Posted by Call me Gytha

I'm deeply offended so it's Nanny Ogg to you Seriously though and I don't want to take the thread off topic but as a fantasy die hard who doesn't do sci-fi would anyone recommend me reading Douglas Adams, bearing in mind I never bought into the HH series on TV all those years ago

I'd have a go at Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams rather than HHGttG.
get used to DA's style in a "familiar" setting before travelling around the Universe