Whether you’re a long-time fan of the best-selling, beloved British fantasy writer Terry Pratchett, or first heard about him when Good omenshis collaborative project with Neil Gaiman, got its long-awaited TV adaptation, Humble’s deal on Pratchett’s Discworld novels is a convenient way to get most of his books in one place. The bundle includes 38 fantasy novels from Pratchett’s Discworld setting, for just $18. To access the books, you’ll need to create a Kobo.com account or log in to your existing account.
Pratchett began writing Discworld books – set in a fantasy world traveling through space on the back of a giant turtle – in the 1980s and continued until his death in 2015. They were predictable bestsellers: the BBC estimates its lifetime sales at more than 100 million copies. Longtime fans could see the series evolve over the decades from the light, silly, satirical fantasy of his first novel in 1983. The color of magic — to much more sophisticated novels about duty, power, responsibility and the evolution of society, although he never lost his talent for wry, clever and unexpectedly hilarious turns of phrase.
The deal happening at Humble includes almost all of the Discworld novels except the last two – the 2013 one. Generate steam and 2015 The shepherd’s crown are not included – and the short illustrated novel The last hero. But 38 books at a time is a pretty overwhelming addition to anyone’s library. What now if you’ve downloaded them all?
Where do you start reading Terry Pratchett’s Discworld?
Longtime Discworld fans have a lot of strong opinions about the proper reading order for the Discworld books, and especially where to join the series. That’s because the series as a whole contains many different subseries, each of which follows a specific set of characters in an in-world setting and sees them evolve over time. Different fans have different favorites. It’s not exactly necessary to read the books in chronological order of publication – and if you try, you probably won’t get the best idea of Pratchett’s work from this series, as the earliest books are much crazier and shallower than the first books . later.
But it’s generally better to consult a guide to those subseries and read the books within a set in order. Unlike most long-form fantasy series, Discworld is not organized into trilogies or other sets that must be read in order. They all have their own plot from beginning to end, and few really rely on continuity. So you can really pick any Discworld book at random without missing more than some basic context.
That said, my personal recommendation for people approaching Discworld for the first time is 2003 Monstrous regiment, the rare Discworld book that isn’t actually part of a subseries. While there are some established characters in small roles, the central characters and their dilemma are all new in this book, so it’s an easy entry into the later series and into Pratchett’s more developed narrative voice. It’s also about a relatively remote and sheltered part of the Discworld, so you don’t need to know much.
Monstrous regiment follows Polly Perks, a newly created soldier in the army of the benighted nation of Borogravia, as she disguises herself as a man and goes into battle. Mulan-style. Like Mulan, Polly tries to protect a family member – in this case her missing soldier brother, whom she seeks by taking on Borogravia’s neighboring country, Zlobenia. Polly is trapped in a society that oppresses and devalues women, and is controlled by an increasingly capricious deity who has declared everything from cats to garlic to the color blue to be abomination. Polly has to pretend to be a man to make ends meet. But in a series of comic reveals, it turns out that her fellow soldiers also harbor secrets of their own. These secrets emerge one by one in a story that is partly satire on the… ‘disguised as a boy’ tropepart knowing deconstruction of repressive societies, and part warring adventure.
It’s a light, spirited, enjoyable read, but it also illustrates how well Pratchett balanced serious character arcs and fantasy plots with insights about humanity, and with typically British dry humour. And it gives you an introduction to Samuel Vimes, one of Pratchett favorite Discworld characters of all time, and the core of one of those subseries. If you want Monstrous regiment and you’re ready for more, try it Guards! Guards!the first of the Vimes-focused City Watch books – and consider yourself well on your way to becoming a Pratchett fanatic again, and well on your way to getting your $18 worth out of this Discworld bundle.