Guards! Guards!: A Discworld Novel by Terry Pratchett (eBook) Expired

I read this one a year ago and I've proceeded to dive into way more Pratchett. The audiobooks on audible/Spotify premium are all really well voiced. Currently on the 4th book in this Night Watch series (Jingo).

I grew up with Pratchett and loved it, video games included! Thanks, Eric Idle! That said, I could not get into the audio books at all (old or new versions). Maybe if Stephen Fry had voiced them…

I listened to the audiobook and the whole time I kept wondering if I'd like it more if I were reading it.

I absolutely love Pratchett and this isn't one of my faves either. Tastes differ from person to person. Heck, I find Colour of Magic a great read and it's almost always rated as one of his worst.

Vimes is a slow burn. The guards series really took a long time to find its stride, and you can tell by the end that Pterry was having trouble with Vimes' skills overtaking other characters, so he started boosting others (the Going Postal and later Making Money and Raising Steam diminsh Vimes by creating another character who's just a bit more clever in a very specific area).

If you really didn't find your groove, I'd suggest a different theme. The best part about Discworld is there are essentially multiple entry points.

Besides multiple characters who have one off novels that touch the main series to a greater or lesser amount (Thief of Time, Moving Pictures, Small Gods (one of my favorites), Pyramids, Amazing Maurice, The Truth, probably another I'm forgetting), there are "themes" or ones that follow specific characters.

There are the Witches series, which follows a coven of witches from the deep country and very occasionally touches the main city. Generally the more intricate of the books.

There's the Death series, which while not a consecutive stories is a set of stories around Death, including the seasonally appropriate Hogfather. Generally more heady concepts.

There's the "teen series" Tiffany Aching books, which became "teen" books on the second to get the market share but isn't written down in any way. This also has the very last book Pratchett wrote. They have an overall arcing message about understanding and accepting responsibility.

The wizards series which follows Rincewind and/or the various wizards. Generally the more slapstick and silly of the books.

And of course the guards series, which starts with this book. The writing on the guard series really shows Pratchett learning how to involve an ensemble cast and not just a single person. Carrot, for example, is mentioned as an important character but takes several books to become more than a background joke.

He also wrote books before coming up with Discworld that are worth a read. The Carpet People, The Nome/Bromeliad Trilogy, and Strata, to name a few. Strata and Carpet people have tons of proto-Discworld characters in them. The Nome books just have to be read to explain...and they are loooooooong, but good.

Hope this helps you and others considering reading Terry Pratchett's works. Really a great author and also had a very interesting life I recommend looking into as well. Among other things, he made his own sword from a meteor when he was knighted (and making a sword is apparently illegal!).

Edit - the official website has a little "where should I start" interactive guide you can try here: https://www.discworldemporium.com/reading-order/

Thanks! What do you think about my plan to try Going Postal next? As someone on the fence about Discworld and likely only going to read one more, what would you recommend that one more chance to hook me should be?

I grew up with Pratchett and loved it, video games included! Thanks, Eric Idle! That said, I could not get into the audio books at all (old or new versions). Maybe if Stephen Fry had voiced them…

Thanks! What do you think about my plan to try Going Postal next? As someone on the fence about Discworld and likely only going to read one more, what would you recommend that one more chance to hook me should be?