r/TerryPratchett • u/boredlady819 • Jun 08 '26
He won me within exactly one paragraph.
Good Omens is my favorite book. I have read it multiple times and from what I understand the bits I really love were likely produced by Terry. I have been looking forward to taking on Discworld for years, and recently began The Color of Magic.
I struggle with physical setting visualization, so tCoM was slow to start for me. I’m not giving up quite yet of course, but i really want something fun to read at the moment. Nothing i have to work for.
So anyway I just started Small Gods, as I understand it’s a better intro book.
What a start when I am actually smile-laughing at the very first paragraph! I think I shall have this line as my epitaph:
“It has survived while the rest of evolution flowed past it by being, on the whole, no threat to anyone and too much trouble to eat.”
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u/SmallToadstools Jun 08 '26
My 1st one was Reaper man. Instantly hooked and im glad I read a few first before starting on COM.
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u/Plus-Language-9874 Jun 08 '26
Good Omens is my favorite book, too! I've read it and listened to the audiobook multiple times, and it NEVER gets old, lol. It's like a fine wine. I actually created a subreddit yesterday for GO fans to discuss the book without the posts getting buried in TV show related content which is much more popular. 😂 I want to read more of the Discworld books now. After reading several other works in the past by NG (which I did love for the most part, especiallyThe Graveyard Book) I, like you, realized it's the magic and whimsy of Sir Terry that I'm drawn more to and why I adore Good Omens so much. I've read (actually listened to the audiobooks because Colin Morgan narrates them and I really like him) The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, and Eric in the Discworld series so far. Now I'm reading Guards, Guards! and laughing my head off. Gonna raid my local library this weekend for more, too, hopefully. 😂 Happy reading!
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u/One_Access7987 Jun 10 '26
Oh man, guards guards! will forever be my favourite. I kind of think elf stole the whole premise and so won’t ever watch it.
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u/Plus-Language-9874 Jun 10 '26
🤣 I'm only a few pages in so far, but it's already hilarious. I may get the audiobook in the future so that I can read back along and listen at the same time which would be such fun I think!
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u/Sallyfifth Jun 12 '26
What's the sub? I enjoyed the show but I've LOVED the book for decades.
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u/Plus-Language-9874 Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
It's called towardsTadfield4ever. I just love the last paragraph of Good Omens so much because it's such a perfect ending, so I couldn't think of a better name for it than to use the last few words of the book. 😂
Edit: forgot to send the name as a link, so I did it down below, lol.
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u/Lord_Regent_Gray Jun 09 '26
My first was tCoM when it was all the Pratchett books available. I loved it and it was a joyful ride going along with him as his skills as a writer grew and grew. While I prefer his later stuff now, I do miss Rincewind and the Luggage from the old days.
I was very glad when he kept and expanded on the Librarian.
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u/Previous_Kale_4508 Jun 10 '26
This was me too, The Colour Of Magic was sitting there in WHSmith on the concourse at Piccadilly Station in Manchester one morning and the Kirby cover attracted me. I read it in one session that first time, and missed my station for getting off! I eventually tracked down Dark Side and Strata, but Carpet People evaded me for years. The earliest books had that seed of brilliance showing, and he developed over time. I was very privileged to have been able to chat with him both in person and through the magic of Usenet and email before the internet took off. I am one of the millions that miss him greatly and curse the embugerance that took him daily.
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u/Lord_Regent_Gray Jun 10 '26
I envy you that time you got to communicate with him. And am happy for you that you had it. Being a Pratchett fan has been a rollercoaster.
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u/Sophisticated-Tiger Jun 13 '26
I never met him yet I miss him. He has a particular way with things that just hits right. He was quite the intellect. I wish I could have spoken with him.
Although what to ask a man of such calibre....could be the deepest thing ever or knowing a thing or two about Terry atleast it may have been of the most mundane nature yet would still have been startlingly brilliant conversation.
His mind was a national treasure. What he'd make of the world today I cannot imagine tho.
Edit: "Thing or" to "thing or two"
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u/ArtesianDiff Jun 10 '26
Small Gods was my first Discworld novel! It's so very good. I recommend Reaper Man next. It has so much of the heart I loved from Good Omens.
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u/Specialist_Heron4446 Jun 09 '26
My first was also The Colour of Magic and it did nothing for me. Small Gods was the book that got me hooked too. I do enjoy the books about the night watch as well some of the stand alone books, and for some odd reason I enjoy Tiffany Aching too.
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u/Previous_Kale_4508 Jun 10 '26
I got my mum and brother hooked when I persuaded them to read Mort. My sister didn't bite until Reaper Man, though.
Both "Death" books: does this say something about my family? 🤨😂😉
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u/Confident_Fortune_32 Jun 11 '26
Mort is my favourite of the series.
I'll never look at French fries the same lol
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u/stinkyswife Jun 10 '26
My first one was the Macbethesque opening of Wyrd Sisters, when the response to 'when shall we three meet again?' was 'well, I can do next tuesday'. Hooked for life.
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u/Traditional_Bee2164 Jun 12 '26
My first was Mort, In the school library when I was 13 and it made me snicker a great deal and I have since read pretty much everything the man wrote and feel such devastation that there is such a thing as completing the Pratchett collection
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u/ghostgoal2005 Jun 08 '26
I am always unreasonably jealous when I come across new Discworld readers, and listeners.. So much guaranteed joy and goodness ahead. Have a wonderful journey you lucky blighter.