Yes. Publication order is definitely the best way to read the books. You get to see the world develop, You get to see Terry’s skills develop. You get to follow Ridcully’s and Stibbons’ arcs in order. You get to spot all the crossovers and references of bigger events and minor characters.
But…
It can be a bit overwhelming for new readers if they’re told that its a 41 book series, and the best character isn’t introduced until book 8, and the best books start around book 19, and the first couple of books are in a bit of a different style to the later ones, and the best book is book 29.
So my generic suggestion is for new readers to pick up Guards! Guards! and then decide whether they’re hooked enough to read the whole series in order, or want to carry on with the Watch books. If I know a bit more about the asker, I might suggest starting with a different one. If its winter, I’m likely to suggest Hogfather.
What order do people recommend to you?
The general consensus seems to be to pick a sub arc (The Watch, Moist, Rincewind etc.) and read all of those, but I sorta prefer publication order.
Yes. Publication order is definitely the best way to read the books. You get to see the world develop, You get to see Terry’s skills develop. You get to follow Ridcully’s and Stibbons’ arcs in order. You get to spot all the crossovers and references of bigger events and minor characters.
But…
It can be a bit overwhelming for new readers if they’re told that its a 41 book series, and the best character isn’t introduced until book 8, and the best books start around book 19, and the first couple of books are in a bit of a different style to the later ones, and the best book is book 29.
So my generic suggestion is for new readers to pick up Guards! Guards! and then decide whether they’re hooked enough to read the whole series in order, or want to carry on with the Watch books. If I know a bit more about the asker, I might suggest starting with a different one. If its winter, I’m likely to suggest Hogfather.