Discworld Reading Order: Five Ways to Read Terry Pratchett's Masterpiece
October 21, 2025
Forty-one novels. Dozens of characters. One flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants standing on the back of a giant turtle swimming through space. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld is one of the greatest achievements in fantasy fiction — and also one of the most confusing series to begin.
Here are five ways to approach it, depending on who you are.
The Problem With Reading in Publication Order
The first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic (1983), is not representative of the series at all. It’s a parody of fantasy tropes, and Pratchett himself would later admit it took him a few books to find his voice. Many readers bounce off it and give up.
Don’t let that happen to you.
Approach 1: Start With Guards! Guards! (Recommended for Most Readers)
Guards! Guards! (Book 8) introduces Commander Sam Vimes and the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. It’s the point where Pratchett the satirist fully takes over from Pratchett the parodist. It’s funny, smart, and genuinely moving by the end.
After Guards! Guards!, follow the City Watch sub-series in order: Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud!, Snuff.
Approach 2: Follow the Sub-Series
Discworld is really several interlinked series sharing a world. The main sub-series are:
- City Watch: Guards! Guards! → Snuff (9 books)
- Witches: Equal Rites → Carpe Jugulum (6 books)
- Death: Mort → Thief of Time (6 books)
- Rincewind: The Colour of Magic → The Last Hero (8 books)
- Moist von Lipwig: Going Postal → Raising Steam (3 books)
Each sub-series can be read independently. The world overlaps but the plots don’t depend on each other.
Starting points for each sub-series:
City Watch — start with Guards! Guards!:
Witches — start with Wyrd Sisters:
Death — start with Mort:
Rincewind — start with The Colour of Magic:
Moist von Lipwig — start with Going Postal:
Approach 3: Start With Mort (Best for Fantasy Readers)
Mort (Book 4) is where most veteran fantasy readers are sent. It introduces Death — one of Pratchett’s greatest characters — and shows what Discworld does better than almost any other fantasy series: make you laugh and then break your heart.
Approach 4: Start With Small Gods (Best for Literary Readers)
Small Gods (Book 13) is a standalone. It requires no prior Discworld knowledge, and it’s the novel Pratchett fans most often call his best. A meditation on faith, power, and the nature of gods, wrapped in a comedy so dry it could sand furniture.
Approach 5: Publication Order (For the Patient)
If you want the complete journey, start at The Colour of Magic and go straight through. You’ll see a writer finding his voice in real time. By Book 5 or 6 it clicks, and by Book 13 you’ll understand what all the fuss is about.
Where to Find the Full List
The complete Discworld reading order covers all 41 novels, the companion books, and the short fiction — arranged both by publication date and by sub-series.
A Note on the Later Books
Pratchett was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2007. The later novels — particularly Snuff and Raising Steam — show the strain. They’re still worth reading, but don’t judge the whole series by them. Night Watch (2002) is widely considered his peak, and you should read it even if you stop after.
Discworld rewards patience. Most readers who get past Book 8 read the whole thing.