Hey! I really want to get into Discworld because I love seeing you post about it- can I please get a rec of maybe the first three books I should read? I've heard that most fans have a preferred order lol
Omg, you have no idea how excited I got when I saw this ask, I'm so glad my love for this series is proving infectious! Unfortunately by asking this of me you have in fact activated my trap card, so please buckle in because I'm incapable of being normal about this topic.
Alright so in terms of where to go next, there are these sort of thematic arcs throughout the series that are like threads you can follow, each with their own starting point. Obligatory flowchart incoming:
I won't go into them all in detail, but I can give you a few key recs and then you can pick and choose your reading order from there based on what interests you.
So first of all we've got Small Gods, which is one of the more popular starter recs, and for good reason. It's more or less a stand-alone so it's a good way to dip your toe in and get a feel for the series as a whole, which is slightly less relevant here since I know you've already read The Colour of Magic, but it's still quite good and worth mentioning up front. It's about the god Om who goes to manifest himself in the world to address his latest prophet, but winds up stuck in the form of a small tortoise because despite having this huge religious institution in his name, it turns out this prophet is his only remaining true believer. Said prophet then gets swept up in some political intrigue, all the while being yelled at by an irate tortoise whose voice only he can hear. It's a good indicator of the style of comedy and general vibe of the rest of the series, and it's where I started reading so it's got a special place in my heart.
I also recommend Monstrous Regiment, which is one of my all-time favourites. It's about a girl who dresses up as a boy to enlist in the army so that she can find her brother, and ends up part of this sort of ragtag underdog regiment. It's surprisingly queer, although no specific labels get used so a lot of the characters just have a sort of nebulously not cis/not straight vibe, but there is an actual canon wlw relationship, and at least one character who based on the text I would argue is a trans man even if those exact words are never used. A lot of the Gender™ in this book really resonated with teen Rowan for reasons that wouldn't become clear until several years later lol. By modern standards of representation it does stumble a little bit, but you can tell the overall intentions were good and it still feels very queer-positive. It's also just a fun read, all the characters are really endearing, there's a vampire who has sworn off blood and is instead obsessed with coffee and I love them with my whole entire heart.
My other biggest rec is Going Postal, which is another of my all-time favourites and where the reference in my url comes from. It's about a conman who's been caught and is about to be executed, but instead gets put in charge of the city's failing postal service. It's another really fun read, and it's got two direct sequels (Making Money and Raising Steam) wherein said conman gets put in charge of other public service institutions as a form of enrichment to keep him out of trouble.
This is already long so I'll just quickly cover the other main arcs. The Watch books are all extremely good, probably my favourite arc overall, they've got more of a police procedural crime mystery vibe so if you're into that Guards! Guards! is the starting point for those. If you're interested in the witches I'd recommend skipping Equal Rites and starting with Wyrd Sisters, it's a parody of Macbeth and it's very good. The other two Industrial Revolution books are stand alones that can be read whenever; Moving Pictures is a parody of the golden age of Hollywood, and The Truth is about the invention of the printing press and the Disc's first investigative journalist looking into a conspiracy to frame the patrician for murder. The Death novels are good but not the best starting point imo, worth coming back for at some point though, and parts of Night Watch make more sense if you've read Thief of Time first but it's not required. Rincewind is also worth revisiting eventually, he is one of my favourite characters, but maybe wait until you're already hooked before going back for The Light Fantastic and the rest of his books.
Ok, that's it, I'm cutting myself off here lol. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to infodump, I hope at least something in here is helpful! Please keep me post on what you end up reading next!
frederbee replied to your post “not sure if the man in my apartment stairwell who definitely doesn’t...”
Do you live with anyone else or have someone who can check up on you?
nope! and I am extremely reluctant to call the cops on a mentally ill homeless guy but I also feel wildly uncomfortable given that he has been talking to himself, and laughing at nothing 10 feet from my door for like an hour. the word ‘bitch’ features prominently. and the only way out of my building goes past him. this is not great.
the last time a homeless guy slept in our stairwell it was 20 degrees out so I was like ‘fair enough’ and gave him a bag lunch and he was like ‘cool thanks’ but this seems like a more fraught situation.
Hi, wondering if you could help me find a fic. It's in a few parts, with John as Bond and Sherlock as Q eventually. Starts with them as teens, with John in an abusive home, then leaving with Sherlock and Mycroft later recruiting them for MI6. Also Moriarty as a double agent who kidnaps John to get Sherlock. I'm trying to reread all my favourites!
I haven’t read any Bondlock so I’m no help! Does anyone know which fic series this is?
