Discworld Reading Order: Where to Start With Terry Pratchett's 41 Novels

Terry Pratchett's Discworld runs to 41 novels, and the usual advice ("start anywhere!") isn't much help when you're staring at the whole shelf. The better answer is that Discworld is really a set of smaller series that share a world. Pick the one that sounds most like you, read it in order, and branch out from there.

Don't Start With Book One

The Colour of Magic (1983) and The Light Fantastic (1986) are the first two Discworld novels, but they're early, scrappy parodies of fantasy clichés. They're fun, yet they don't show how good the series became. Most fans suggest saving them for later.

The Main Sub-Series

The City Watch: a ragtag police force in the city of Ankh-Morpork, led by the cynical, decent Sam Vimes. Crime, politics and some of Pratchett's sharpest writing about justice. Start with Guards! Guards!, and see our full City Watch reading order.

The Witches: Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick take on elves, vampires and stories that won't behave. Start with Wyrd Sisters. Equal Rites comes first, but it's less typical of what follows.

Death: the Grim Reaper, who speaks in capital letters and is endlessly curious about humanity. Start with Mort.

Rincewind: a cowardly, incompetent wizard who keeps getting dragged into adventures. This is where the series began; read it if you enjoy broad fantasy parody.

Tiffany Aching: a young witch in the chalk hill country, written for younger readers and loved by everyone. Start with The Wee Free Men. The last of them, The Shepherd's Crown (2015), was Pratchett's final novel.

Moist von Lipwig: a con man reluctantly put in charge of the post office, and later the bank. Start with Going Postal.

There are also standalones, such as Small Gods, Pyramids and Monstrous Regiment, that need no background at all.

Our Recommended Starting Points

Does Reading Order Matter?

Within each sub-series, yes. Characters grow and change, and later books build on earlier ones. Sam Vimes in particular changes enormously between Guards! Guards! (1989) and Snuff (2011), and Night Watch lands best after the earlier Watch books. Across sub-series, the order matters very little: characters do cross over, but the books are written to stand on their own.

How Long Is Discworld?

The eight City Watch books alone come to about 65 hours at our standard pace of 50 pages an hour. All 41 novels are a multi-year project for most readers, which is exactly why picking one sub-series at a time works so well.