I saw this topic on another site, and thought it was pretty interesting/tough to think about. Name your 5 favorite and 5 least favorite discworld novels.
5 Best:
- Interesting Times - Rincewind plots are my favorite, and this is probably the best one
- The Fifth Elephant - The watch were great in this one, and one of the best Discworld plots
- Sourcery - Fun apocalypse story with Rincewind
- Reaper Man - Death and Poons make this one great
- Soul Music - Love the rock and punk references
5 Worst:
- Mort - I didnt like Mort and his coming of age story
- The Color of Magic - Not cohesive enough, lacking in story
- The Light Fantastic - Same reason as TCOM, though admittedly getting better
- The Truth - Not adventurous enough for my liking, and the Watch seemed more incompetent than usual
- Going Postal - Same reason as The Truth, but even slower moving plot
Kind of a difficult one for me. As far as my favourite DW books - well that has a habit of changing. And some of my least favourite were, at one time, very much favourites. But I will give it a go (subject to change).
Top 5
Small Gods
Monstrous Regiment
I Shall Wear Midnight
Witches Abroad
The Truth
Bottom 5
Making Money
Sourcery
Pyramids
Colour of Magic
Light Fantastic
Having said that, there is not one of the books that I really hate.
Kind of a difficult one for me. As far as my favourite DW books - well that has a habit of changing. And some of my least favourite were, at one time, very much favourites. But I will give it a go (subject to change).
.....
Having said that, there is not one of the books that I really hate.
I actually had quite a hard time as well. I was never even close to regretting reading any of the DW books. Just thought it would be interesting to see roughly how fans rank them all.
Tonyblack said:
Top 5
Small Gods
Monstrous Regiment
I Shall Wear Midnight
Witches Abroad
The Truth
See, even though you have The Truth in 5 favs, and I have it in my least favs, I still enjoyed it a lot and even read it more than once.
Nice pick with Monstrous Regiment. I just recently listened to the audiobook for my first "read" of it, and I was definitely close to putting it in my top 5. So many good themes, and even though im kind of sick of feminist interpretations in modern novels, I felt like Pratchett handled it with a casualness that made it to be a joy to read. The only thing I have to knock MR for is
with Jackrum's sex being revealed to be female at the end. As much as it jives with the novel's message, I thought "he" was going to end up being the only man in the entire army. It entirely threw off my inner voice of her character when it was revealed, since Jackrum seemed like the epitomy of manliness. In retrospect it is quite humorous, and I will definitely enjoy a second read of the book knowing this from the start.
Tonyblack said:
Bottom 5
Making Money
Sourcery
Pyramids
Colour of Magic
Light Fantastic
Ah damn, I loved Pyramids. It was one of my early Pratchett reads, so I may be a bit biased, but I found this one to be one of the more exciting DW novels. Teppic was a great MC, and I found Dios's antics to be hilarious. Also, ive always been a fan of Egyptian mythology, and thought Pyramids was an interesting spin (no pun intended ) on the ancient Egyptians.
I have heard a lot of negativity surrounding Making Money, mostly because it is accused of being too similar to Going Postal. And though while I enjoyed Going Postal, I thought it was a bit too slow moving plotwise and seemed just a tad dull for a DW novel. Shame that MM is probably even worse, as I have yet to read it yet.
I have read all the books at least twice and often a lot more than that. Making Money didn't do it for me any of the four times I've read it. Oddly enough, some of my very favourites such as Small Gods and Monstrous Regiment, I didn't care for on the first read.
I've noticed this as well - i.e. I always enjoy Terry's books more when I read them for the second or third time. I found on many occasions that, when I read Terry's books for the first time, there are a few references - or many references! - that I don't understand. After I look them up online and educate myself, I go back to the book and read it again. The second time, because I know more about what Pterry is referring to and where the book is going, I enjoy it a whole lot more.
I don't really have a top 5 or a bottom 5. I enjoy all of Pterry's books, and for different reasons. Having said that, my current top 5 - in no specific order - are:
Top 5 Going Postal. I really enjoyed the introduction of a new protagonist (Moist von Lipwig) and the love interest (Adora Belle Dearheart). The Post Office, and Dave's Pin Exchange, were great fun. Mr Pump was good fun, and philosophical too at times. I loved Anghammarad, the 7,000-year-old golem, and was sad when
he died.
I don't know what you mean by the slow plot - I liked it.
Making Money. I liked the Bank and its chief cashier. Moist is back! Adora Belle is back! I liked the way that Moist is
forced into helping the bank, even against his wishes - and also the chief economist in the basement.
The plot cracks along very enjoyably, and the denouement is satisfying. Love it!
Mort. What's not to like? This is where Death becomes DEATH. We also get to see some of Pterry's most unusual concepts for the first time - e.g. reannual wines, Mort becoming more like DEATH and vice versa. Not to mention, this is where DEATH first finds out that he likes cats!
Small Gods. The deepest and most philosophical book in the series. I love it for the sheer fact that although it satirises religious institutions, people, and practices, and the role of religion in political life, it was recommended to parishioners by many bishops in England and elsewhere. Pterry himself had this to say (from a Q&A session in lspace):
Q. Do religious fanatics ever get mad at you for writing Small Gods?
A. "I may have posted something on these lines before, but a lot of mail about Small Gods is split between 1) pagans who say that it really shafts the Big Beard In the Sky religions and 2) Christians who say that it is an incredibly pro-Christian book.
I suspect the latter is because Brutha displays tolerance, compassion, charity, steadfastness and faith, and these are now considered Christian virtues (i.e., virtues that modern Christians feel they should have...)"
Feet of Clay. I am Jewish myself and well aware of the golem myths, which is why I found FoC so rewarding. The golems drop some words in Yiddish here and there, and even though I am not conversant in Yiddish, I pick up on them and grin and laugh uncontrollably. Colon and Nobby shine as usual, even if they are thoroughly incompetent. To date, one of the most complicated and satisfying police procedurals written by Pterry. The ending is unexpected. Thoroughly recommended.
Honourable Mentions go to all the witches books for being so fun, particuarly Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad and Maskerade. But also Moving Pictures, Soul Music, Interesting Times, The Last Hero... argh!! It's impossible to keep these to just five favourites!
Bottom 5
It's hard to say. The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic are very fun, even if the characters are less evolved than they are later. Death particularly is not the same DEATH that we see later.
Eric, likewise, suffers from the fact that Eric himself is not an evolved personality. To be sure, it's a fun romp through areas of Discworld that we haven't seen before, but it could have been much better if - particularly - Eric was more developed as a character. (Then again, no teenager is particularly evolved anyway).
Upon first reading, I found both Carpe Jugulum and Hogfather very confusing, which is why they are in my bottom five. After I read more about what Pterry is referring to, I tried re-reading them and found them easier to understand. Nevertheless, I still did not enjoy them as much.
Hi, I'm new to the forum, thought I'd add my thoughts regarding 5 best and 5 worst Discworld novels.
In no particular order:
Best
1. Guards Guards
2. Thief Of Time
3. The Last Continent
4. The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents
5. Men At Arms
Worst
1. Maskerade
2. Interesting Times
3. Witches Abroad
4. Lords And Ladies
5. Carpe Jugulum
This is not to say that I hate the ones I listed as worst, I just don't enjoy them as much, although I found Interesting Times hard to get into for some reason.
Hi, I'm new to the forum, thought I'd add my thoughts regarding 5 best and 5 worst Discworld novels.
In no particular order:
Best
1. Guards Guards
2. Thief Of Time
3. The Last Continent
4. The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents
5. Men At Arms
Worst
1. Maskerade
2. Interesting Times
3. Witches Abroad
4. Lords And Ladies
5. Carpe Jugulum
This is not to say that I hate the ones I listed as worst, I just don't enjoy them as much, although I found Interesting Times hard to get into for some reason.
I note that four of the five "worst" are in the Witches arc. Is there any reason for that, I wonder?
I actually found "Witches Abroad" and "Maskerade" to be among Terry's finest - and funniest. Then again, I was a fantasy nerd long before reading WA (so I got most of the jokes), and I became a music and theatre nerd not long after reading Maskerade (so I got all of the jokes).
Sure, of course you don't need to. I didn't mean it in a hurtful way! If that's how it came across, I'm very sorry. I just thought we might start a discussion about that, maybe...?
Hi, I'm new to the forum, thought I'd add my thoughts regarding 5 best and 5 worst Discworld novels.
In no particular order:
Best
1. Guards Guards
2. Thief Of Time
3. The Last Continent
4. The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents
5. Men At Arms
Worst
1. Maskerade
2. Interesting Times
3. Witches Abroad
4. Lords And Ladies
5. Carpe Jugulum
This is not to say that I hate the ones I listed as worst, I just don't enjoy them as much, although I found Interesting Times hard to get into for some reason.
Interesting Times is basically the Asian influenced version of The Last Continent, except instead of listening to the Wizards' banter you have Cohen's horde, which is equally if not better in dialogue. Definitely worth revisiting if you havent read it in a while.
RathDarkblade said:
I actually found "Witches Abroad" and "Maskerade" to be among Terry's finest - and funniest. Then again, I was a fantasy nerd long before reading WA (so I got most of the jokes), and I became a music and theatre nerd not long after reading Maskerade (so I got all of the jokes).
I found Witches Abroad to be a bit underwhelming, but then again it was my first Witches' novel, so in retrospect maybe it wasnt the best starting point. I havent read Maskerade yet since im not too into theater, but ill probably get around to it soon enough. After im done with Lords and Ladies that is
owenmahamilton said:
Not sure I need to justify my choices to be honest.
See, I think Maskerade is the worst witches' book (since the others are superb), but it wasn't "bad" enough to make my Bottom 5 list. The plot was confusing and not particularly compelling (and rather derivative of Moving Pictures in some ways) and from a character development point of view, I thought it was a step back for Granny Weatherwax in particular. To me, Carpe Jugulum is the natural progression from Lords and Ladies and Maskerade is just a farcical sidestep. You really don't need to have the Agnes Nitt backstory of Maskerade to enjoy her character in CJ.
Hmm, perhaps. I don't know what you mean by "a step back" for Granny, though - she is just as fearsome in Maskerade as she is in Lords and Ladies, it's just that the setting is different.
I don't really think that M!!!!! is derivative of MP. MP is funnier if you know your Hollywood history, particularly the early days, but you don't need to be a Hollywood nerd to enjoy it. M!!!!! is just the same - it is funnier if you know your musical theatre history (particularly The Phantom of the Opera), but you don't need to be a theatre nerd (or a "Phantom" nerd) to enjoy it. So they are both funny, just in different ways.
As for Agnes Nitt - I've performed as part of a chorus for 10 years, and have done more auditions than I can count, so I could empathise with Agnes. A lot of people who sing in a chorus actually DO have a better voice than many of the principal actors, it's just that choristers often don't act very well (or can act, but not as well as the actors can). So much of M!!!! is pretty true, especially the character of Christine - I've known a few Christines in my time, and at least two Enrico Basilicas.
I also enjoyed Greebo's adventures in M!!!!!. Greebo is always good for a laugh!
I think M!!!!! is one of Granny's more humanizing appearances. It's one of the few times when she is polite to someone ordinary (removes her hat when requested to), and then admits (to Nanny Ogg) that she might be wrong about something (her prediction). Yet she is still the bad witch doing good. She so rarely has a chance to glide swanlike into a social occasion, I'm glad she got to do it. Much of the story hinges on pride - Granny's, Agnes's, Nanny's, Christine's. There's more than a little sacrifice involved as well.
This is all relatively speaking, as Discworld is collectively "joy in book form" for me. I won't deny I wrestled to narrow the list for the Best 5 from something like 15, though, and the differences are so narrow that this list would probably change from day to day. I also hasten to add that I haven't reread a few titles in a while, so my memory of the events contained therein are probably too skewed in favour of those I've been to recently. And I just have to include honourable mentions, otherwise I'd feel like I'm letting some books down. That said:
Best 5
Thud! - One of my first reads; it instantaneously solidified Sam Vimes as the best character ever. Also, dark political thriller with crime aspects in a fantasy setting, and it never feels incongruous with the relatively more comical and light-hearted Discworld books elsewhere Witches Abroad - The trio of witches at their best, with such clever and twisty plotting. It's one of those Discworld books seemingly built out of classic scenes, from the hilarious (Granny versus the card sharps, Nanny versus Casanunda, everything involving human Greebo) to the hard-hitting (the death of the wolf, Magrat's resentment from the letter-revealing scene onwards, the sheer creepiness of the sisters, and the Weatherwax sibling rivalry). Guards! Guards! - The best blend of dark themes with utterly LOL storytelling. The classic four watch members and Lady Ramkin (and most of the rest of the cast, to be honest) are just entertaining to read about on many levels (comedy, character design, character dynamics, trope parodies, etc.) Monstrous Regiment - It's thorough and unshy in presenting harsh military life and its effect on the squad. Polly's mental sparring matches with Jackrum and Blouse are topped only by the Jackrum and Blouse matches themselves. Night Watch - Basically dark psychology with historical cynicism, and delving into the small nobilities of grubby watch, street, and city life. Special mention must go to the range of villains, from the utterly terrifying Carcer through the arrythmic Captain Swing and up to the insanely paranoid Lord Winder.
Honourable Mentions
Feet of Clay - Brooding "howtheydunit" that shows the watch as a fully functioning unit, almost like a crazy family. And that twist deserves a round of applause, the magnificent b****rd. Jingo - I was sold on "An island rises in the ocean and nations scramble and fight over it, and yes this actually happened in real life". Nothing else could be a better example of Pratchett's eye for crazy fantasy stories that just happen to be inspired by crazy real stories. Also, a masterclass at using fantasy to explore serious themes, and it gives Klatch a much better examination than Sourcery did. Men at Arms - The ensemble cast and aura of menace around the mystery killer are excellent, but the look at the werewolf-dog comparison is a nice treat. Interesting Times - The comparisons between barbarianism and civilization that shockingly make murderer-rapist "heroes" pretty likeable and relatable guys. Rincewind's general cynicism and attempts to deal with the punches and kicks of his life. And fantasy Orientalism is played to the hilt. The Truth - After a slightly slow start, the characters and probes into journalism are well worth the price of admission. Special mention must go to Otto, the Firm, and "can't tell a lie" William de Worde. Reaper Man - My favourite Death book, as it contains pretty much all of his most important character development. The premise is irresistable, as is the range of subplots that stem from it, and the concepts on display are amazing (the undead society Reg summons up is just one highlight, as are the ways the UU faculty try to make sense of the life force congestion). The Light Fantastic - It takes the fantasy free-for-all ethos and puts it through the wringer in an actual plot. Also, I like watching the way Twoflower and Rincewind bounce off each other in the midst of all this, especially when Conan and Bethan come in. Maskerade - Nanny Ogg at her most mercilessly entertaining. I also like the general "opera is insanity" vibe that the story plays around with, and Bucket and Salzella's scenes as they make (little) sense of what is happening. Also, Agnes-Perdita is a concept that needed attention, and this is as good as it gets. Most of the rest of the series, if I'm honest. I'm running out of things to say.
Worst 5
Equal Rites - Not "bad" per se, but let down by an uninteresting climax involving a tonally unnecessary Dungeon Dimensions crisis, and I never felt like Esk was a standalone character rather than a plot piece. Granny's fine, but simply not as entertaining without the likes of Nanny Ogg or Magrat around. The Last Hero - Felt mostly pointless and flat, and one or two good digs at classic heroism aside, mostly forgettable and vestigial compared with, say, the glories of Interesting Times, which handled similar themes a lot better.
Worst 3 of the Worst 5 Snuff - The writing style is way too wordy, pedantic, and lacking in humour or even much absurdity (other later Watch books show it can be done while being dark). Utterly devoid of thrills - Vimes never once seems to be in any genuine danger and is basically a narrative juggernaut - uninterestingly portrays forgettable characters, and handles themes that frankly have been better handled in other Discworld stories. Made even worse by the fact that there's clearly a good Discworld book lurking beneath the surface. Raising Steam - Similar to above. Regular characters feel shockingly unrecognisable, and it's definitely way too telly for its own good. The Shepherd's Crown - Similar to above. Despite the genuinely moving death in the first quarter, it also takes some interesting concepts and leaves them awfully executed or underdeveloped. Read more out of duty than love.
Honourable Mentions
The Colour of Magic - Some good bits, but desperately needed a plot and an actual ending. Some of the fantasy tropes being parodied feel off somehow, and some comedic attempts just seem like a less skilled Douglas Adams imitation. Eric - Individually, the scenes are great. In this mish-mash, they're just plain distracting in how incongruous they are. Sourcery - An amusing enough apocalyptic adventure with some of the darkness of Guards! Guards! and amusing moments scattered throughout (drunken four horsemen, for example), but initially interesting characters become bland (or dead), and it feels terribly unfocused overall. It's also more chaotic in its humour even by Discworld standards.
I liked the way that Moist is
