Discworld
6 series41 books
Reading Order
2 reading orders available - see all →
Series (6)
Rincewind / The Wizards
8 books
Rincewind is the Disc's most useless wizard - he can't even spell "wizzard," and his most notable talent is running away very fast. Beginning with The Colour of Magic, these were Pratchett's earliest Discworld novels, initially written as parodies of fantasy before evolving into broader satire. The other wizards of Unseen University aren't much better, spending more time studying the common room biscuit tin than mystical tomes, though they occasionally stretch to some magic between elevenses. Across eight books, Rincewind is dragged into adventures spanning the entire Disc - from the Counterweight Continent to ancient civilisations to XXXX - while the Unseen University faculty, led by Archchancellor Ridcully, provide a recurring ensemble. Unseen Academicals shifts focus almost entirely to the university itself. The series establishes much of Discworld's cosmology, geography, and the Luggage - Rincewind's homicidal travelling companion.
The Witches
6 books
Discworld's witches, based around the rural and mostly vertical kingdom of Lancre, deliver babies, treat warts, and keep an eye on troublesome kings, vampires, and incursions from other worlds. They don't have leaders, but Granny Weatherwax is the most highly regarded and steely of the leaders they don't have, assisted by Nanny Ogg - mother of fifteen and brewer of lethally strong cider. Equal Rites introduces witchcraft on the Disc, but the core trio forms in Wyrd Sisters, which sets the template for the series: sharp parodies of well-known stories (Shakespeare, fairy tales, opera) filtered through Pratchett's rural comedy. Across six books, the cast expands to include Magrat Garlick and later Agnes Nitt, and the stories move from Lancre to Genua and back again.
Death
5 books
Death is, as you'd expect, a tall hooded skeleton with a scythe who SPEAKS IN A VOICE LIKE THE SLAMMING OF COFFIN LIDS. However, he also likes a good curry, kittens, and finds the lives of mortals endlessly fascinating. Beginning with Mort, in which Death takes on an apprentice, the series explores what happens when an immortal anthropomorphic personification develops an unhealthy interest in humanity. His granddaughter Susan Sto Helit becomes the central character from Soul Music onwards, reluctantly stepping in whenever Death goes missing or takes on new responsibilities. The five books range from workplace comedy to meditations on belief, memory, and time - Hogfather tackles the power of myth, while Thief of Time deals with the nature of time itself.
The City Watch
8 books
The City Watch series is one of the major story lines that make up 8 of the Discworld books. It focuses on the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, formerly the Ankh-Morpork Night Watch, in particular the captain, and later commander of the Watch, Samuel Vimes, usually when he is being manipulated by Lord Vetinari. The books tend to be whodunit in nature and often feature conspiracies aimed at toppling regimes.
Moist von Lipwig / The Industrial Revolution
3 books
Moist von Lipwig is a cheat, a swindler, and a conman - so he's the natural choice whenever an ailing institution needs new management. With a taste for flashy suits and even flashier publicity stunts, he takes on some of the worst jobs on the Disc and battles even bigger crooks than himself. Going Postal puts him in charge of the defunct Ankh-Morpork Post Office, Making Money hands him the Royal Bank, and Raising Steam sees him overseeing the development of the railway. The three books chart the Disc's industrial modernisation, with Moist as the reluctant engine of progress, always one step ahead of exposure. Lord Vetinari looms large as the puppet master behind each appointment.
Tiffany Aching
5 books
Tiffany Aching is a young witch, social worker, and cheese maker extraordinaire. She hails from a long line of shepherds and has a powerful connection with the Chalk where she lives. Wherever Tiffany goes, it's almost certain that a horde of tiny fighting, drinking blue men in kilts - the Nac Mac Feegle - won't be far away. The five books follow Tiffany from age nine through to young adulthood, each dealing with a different stage of growing up and learning what it means to be a witch. The series connects back to the Witches sub-series, with Granny Weatherwax serving as Tiffany's mentor. The Shepherd's Crown, the final Discworld novel, serves as a conclusion to both Tiffany's story and the series as a whole.
Books (6)
Pyramids
1989
Teppic is the heir to the ancient kingdom of Djelibeybi - the Discworld's Egypt - who has spent the last few years training as an assassin in Ankh-Morpork. When his father dies, Teppic returns home to find a kingdom so obsessed with tradition and pyramid-building that it has forgotten how to do anything else. The pyramids are accumulating so much time that reality itself is buckling. A satire of tradition, priesthood, and the dead hand of the past.
Small Gods
1992
The Great God Om wakes up to discover he's been incarnated as a tortoise. His church is one of the most powerful on the Disc, but almost nobody actually believes in him anymore - they believe in the church, its hierarchy, and its Inquisition. The only true believer is Brutha, a simple novice with a perfect memory. Together, god and believer must survive the machinations of a theocratic empire. The most self-contained and perhaps the most profound Discworld novel - a book about belief, doubt, and the difference between religion and faith.
The Truth
1995
William de Worde accidentally invents the newspaper. When a moveable-type printing press falls off the back of a cart, William starts writing things down and selling them, and Ankh-Morpork discovers journalism. A plot to overthrow the Patrician brings William face to face with the powerful interests who preferred the city without a free press. A novel about truth, lies, and the sentence "A dog bites a man - that's not news. A man bites a dog - that's news."
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
2001
A talking cat, a gang of talking rats, and a stupid-looking kid have a nice racket going - the rats infest a town, the kid plays his pipe, the rats leave, and everyone gets paid. It's the Pied Piper con. Then they arrive in the town of Bad Blintz, where something has already eaten all the real rats, and the game turns dangerous. A Discworld novel for younger readers, darker than it first appears, about stories, sentience, and the moment when being clever stops being enough.
Moving Pictures
2002
The Discworld discovers cinema. Holy Wood - a patch of land with strange creative properties - draws people to it, and soon the Disc has its own dream factory, complete with stars, studios, and a thousand-foot woman climbing a tower. Something ancient is using the power of moving pictures to break through from another dimension, and only a wizard dropout and a would-be leading lady stand in its way. Pratchett's Hollywood novel.
Monstrous Regiment
2003
Polly Perks disguises herself as a boy to join the army of Borogravia - a small, mad country at war with everyone, ruled by a duchess who may or may not be dead, and governed by an ever-growing list of Abominations Unto Nuggan (clove, the colour blue, babies, rocks). Polly's regiment turns out to have more secrets than she expected. A war novel about gender, patriotism, and the absurdity of the things nations ask their people to die for.
Groups (1)
| Name | Type | Appears In |
|---|---|---|
| The Assassins' Guild | Organisation |