h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hello, you seem to be a Terry Pratchett expert. I think his stuff is worth checking out, but he has a whole shelf of books at the bookstore. Which Discworld book do you recommend for someone who knows nothing about the series?

Thanks.

Yes, he has written a fair few.
It can be quite daunting to see that at first, but there's a couple of things to point out.
Terry did try to write most of his books (about the first twenty or so at least) so that the reader wouldn't need to have read any other books.
Also, he has several "groups" of characters, and any given book is usually about a certain group. Many readers have their favourites from among these and don't bother so much with the others.

But it always helps to start from the beginning, so I'd recommend the following:

Colour of Magic: Featuring a popular recurring character, Rincewind.
Equal Rites: The very first of Terry's "witch" books.
Guards, Guards: The first from the "City Watch" books.
Mort: Death, the grim reaper, appears in all Discworld books but this is the first one focussing on him as a character.
Reaperman: Introduces you to the wizard's faculty at the university, as they exist in most of the later books.

Other stories such as 'Pyramids', 'Small Gods' and 'The Truth' are more stand-alone and contain an almost entirely new set of characters.

Hope that helps!

Me thinks Terry himself admits that the books the people first read are the Rincewind set... and then they move on to the others... Me personally likes the 'City Watch' books... have you thought of borrowing a couple from you local library before buying... see which ones you prefer...

Greebs..xx

I love the Witches so I'd recommend starting with them. Small Gods, as a stand-alone is really good and very thought provoking. For something not Discworld-related try Good Omens.

Am always impressed by the depth and breadth of Terry's knowledge - The Truth introduces a character called William De Worde, who brings the printing press to Ankh Morpork. I thought his name was a bit of a pun to do with journalism, printing etc. The other weekend I was listening to a program on Radio 4 about the man who brought the printing press to what became fleet street in london - one Mr De Worde I'm kind of enjoying that book even more retrospectively now that I know this

This character has already shown up in subsequent books, I wouldn't be surprised if there are further books with him as the focus, journalism seems a rich vein...

That is one of the great things about Pratchett's books. You can read one and then a few months later see a film or read a book or be having a conversation and suddenly get a reference (e.g watching Pulp Fiction having previously read The Truth). This does however lead to strange looks from people when you suddenly laugh for no apparent reason.

This is one of the reasons I love the Internet.