📚 Discworld Reading Order Checker
Track your progress, find your next book, and explore all 41 Discworld novels by subseries
| # | Title | Subseries | Year | Pages (approx) |
|---|
| Subseries | Best Starting Book | Books in Series | Difficulty | Est. Reading Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Watch | Guards! Guards! (#8) | 9 | Easy | ~96 hrs |
| Witches | Equal Rites (#3) | 8 | Easy | ~75 hrs |
| Death | Mort (#4) | 5 | Easy | ~45 hrs |
| Rincewind | The Colour of Magic (#1) | 9 | Moderate | ~88 hrs |
| Moist von Lipwig | Going Postal (#33) | 3 | Easy | ~30 hrs |
| Tiffany Aching | The Wee Free Men (#30) | 5 | Easy | ~50 hrs |
| Industrial Revolution | The Truth (#25) | 2 | Easy | ~19 hrs |
| Standalone | Small Gods (#13) | 6 | Easy | ~50 hrs |
| Pages/Day | 1 Book (~320pp) | One Subseries (~8 avg) | All 41 Books | Total Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 pages/day | 32 days | ~256 days | ~13 years | ~13,120 |
| 20 pages/day | 16 days | ~128 days | ~6.5 years | ~13,120 |
| 30 pages/day | ~11 days | ~85 days | 4.4 years | ~13,120 |
| 50 pages/day | ~6 days | ~51 days | 2.6 years | ~13,120 |
| 100 pages/day | ~3 days | ~26 days | ~1.3 years | ~13,120 |
| 200 pages/day | ~2 days | ~13 days | ~8 months | ~13,120 |
| Format | Spine Width | Height | Books per Shelf Foot | Weight Each |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mass Market Paperback | 0.75–1.0 in (19–25mm) | 6.75 in (171mm) | 12–16 | ~0.5 lb / 230g |
| Trade Paperback | 0.9–1.1 in (23–28mm) | 9.0 in (229mm) | 11–13 | ~0.7 lb / 320g |
| Hardcover (standard) | 1.0–1.4 in (25–36mm) | 9.5 in (241mm) | 8–12 | ~1.1 lb / 500g |
| Hardcover (illustrated) | 1.4–2.0 in (36–51mm) | 10.0 in (254mm) | 6–8 | ~2.2 lb / 1kg |
| Ebook / Digital | N/A | N/A | Unlimited | 0 lb |
| Books Owned | Shelf Inches (Paperback) | Shelf cm (Paperback) | Shelf Inches (Hardcover) | Total Weight (Paperback) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 books | ~4–5 in | ~10–13 cm | ~5–7 in | ~2.5 lb / 1.1 kg |
| 10 books | ~8–10 in | ~20–25 cm | ~10–14 in | ~5 lb / 2.3 kg |
| 20 books | ~15–20 in | ~38–51 cm | ~20–28 in | ~10 lb / 4.5 kg |
| All 41 books | ~31–41 in | ~79–104 cm | ~41–57 in | ~20 lb / 9 kg |
The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett is made up of a big set of books, and deciding where to start can seem really hard. In this collection there are 41 novels whose publication stretched over almost 30 years. There also appeared some stories and extra books, for example The Science of the Discworld, Where is My Cow?
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and The World of the Poo. Each of them can please on its own, but having some guide, one fully enjoys the whole experience.
Where to Start Reading Discworld
The books first appeared as an ongoing sequence, but one also groups them in sub-series according to relevant novels, that share characters or themes. Between those groups belongs the Municipal Watch, the Lancre Coven (the Witches), the wizards of Ankh-Morpork, Rincewind, Tiffany Aching, Death and Moist von Lipwig. Others stand alone, like Small Gods, Pyramids, Moving Pictures, Monstrous Regiment and The Truth.
One commonly chooses to read in published order. Like this the plot unrolls like the author intended. It works well, because the writing style adjusts in unusual ways, and the Discworld itself grows from parody of fantasy to something nearer to a steampunk world.
Following the published order, one escapes confusion about prior events. Because many causes relate between the sub-series, that way ensures everything gets covered well.
But starting with the absolute first book, The Colour of Magic, does not always work best. The early books are sometimes called “proto-Discworld”, because they do not entirely show the series. They depend much on references too old fantasy literature, that newcomers maybe do not know.
Actually The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic form one single story arch in two parts, which deserves to be noted.
Three classic spots for starting show: Equal Rites, Mort and Guards! Guards!. Small Gods works also well for starting, because it stands entirely on its own and rarely gets mentioned elsewhere.
Choosing the series of the Guards or of Death is a reliable decision. The novels about Rincewind one can read in any order, because his character does not adjust too much, although Making Money certainly does not work before Going Postal.
The Discworld Reading Order by characters offers another opportunity. It means follow one sub-series after the other, for instance Rincewind, later Witches, later Death, later Municipal Watch. Read Wyrd Sisters before Equal Rites can help strengthen the tie to the witches.
The books are quite short, so jumping between the threads does not make it hard to follow the character growth paths. Really, the Discworld Reading Order depends on your own interest at the moment. The mainpoint is not the finish, but the wayitself.
