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Mort
Plot summary As a teenager, Mort has a personality and temperament that makes him unsuited to the family farming business. Mort's father Lezek takes him to a local hiring fair in the hope that Mort will land an apprenticeship; not only would this provide a job for his son, but it would also make his son's propensity for…
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Equal Rites
Plot summary The wizard Drum Billet knows that he will soon die and travels to a place where an eighth son of an eighth son is about to be born. This signifies that the child is destined to become a wizard; on the Discworld, the number eight has many of the magical properties that are sometimes ascribed to seven in other…
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The Light Fantastic
Plot summary The book begins shortly after the ending of The Colour of Magic, with wizard Rincewind, the tourist Twoflower, and the Luggage falling from the Discworld. They are saved when the Octavo, the most powerful book of magic on the Discworld, readjusts reality to prevent the loss of one of its eight spells. The…
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The Color of Magic
Setting The story takes place on the Discworld, a planet-sized flat disc carried through space on the backs of four gargantuan elephants – Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen – who themselves stand on the shell of Great A'Tuin, a gigantic star turtle. The surface of the disc contains oceans and continents, and with…
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How many books are in the Discworld series?
I would like to know how many books are in the Discworld series?
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Tiffany Aching in Discworld
The young adult books: Although aimed at a younger audience, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents and the Tiffany Aching series can be enjoyed by all ages. The former is a Pied Piper retelling of sorts, and the latter is about a young witch-in-training. These books are also a rare exception to the ‘no chapters’…
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The Gods in Discworld
The ‘Gods’ series: Not really a series, but since these don’t fit in anywhere else, they’ve sort of been given a series of their own. It consists of two standalone books, Pyramids and Small Gods. The latter is often cited by Discworld fans as an excellent starting point. Both books deal with ancient civilisations in some…
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The Industrial Revolution in Discworld
Starting book: Moving Pictures, The Truth or Going Postal What’s to love: all standalones with different stories; commentary on a myriad of topics, such as freedom of speech, war and embracing change Industrial Revolution is a difficult series to recommend since all of these books can be considered jumping off points…
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Death in Discworld
Starting book: Mort What’s to love: the personification of the Grim Reaper just trying to be a cool dad; explorations of existentialism and family; rock music This was the Discworld series I cut my teeth on. Like the City Watch, Death is one of the most popular subseries, mainly due to its titular character. A great deal…
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The City Watch of Discworld
Starting book: Guards! Guards! What’s to love: sarcastic protagonists; redemption arcs; found family; social justice commentary I will be completely honest here and admit that I am quite biased when writing about the City Watch as it’s my favourite Discworld series. In it, we meet my favourite fictional character of all…
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The Witches of Discworld
Starting book: Equal Rites or Wyrd Sisters What’s to love: sassy grandmothers; girlbosses; old friendships with a grumpy/sunshine dynamic; Shakespeare retellings done with generous doses of humour Depending on where you start, the Witches series follows a slightly different cast of characters. Many recommend starting with…
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The Wizards in Discworld
Starting book: The Colour of Magic What’s to love: disaster wizards; a magical university with terrible administration; an orangutan librarian who only cares about books and bananas; plots that feel like a rollicking D&D campaign Okay, okay. I know I just said don’t start with The Colour of Magic, but if the Wizards…
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A Beginner’s Guide to Discworld with a realllllly realllllly realllllly long title for testing purposes for what it might do now. 012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789
It’s quite a daunting thing to start reading a 41-book series, especially when the only rule is that you don’t start with the first book. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series was born in 1983 with the publication of its flagship book, The Colour of Magic. Set on a flat disc resting on the back of four elephants, who are, in…
