Here's a post by good friend and editor Eben T.
Welcome to Discworld
It’s a book series. It’s a place. It’s—well, it’s a “geological pizza without the anchovies,” in the words of the brilliant author, Sir Terry Pratchett. The Discworld is a disc resting on the backs of four giant elephants which stand on the back of the World Turtle, Great A’Tuin. Don't worry about it. People don't talk about it, any more than we say, "Wow, we're standing a few thousand miles above a ball of molten iron!" (yes, that’s Terry talking again). It’s a world that parodies, satirizes, challenges, and resonates of our own, with characters that are so deftly and wonderfully portrayed they must be real. There are wizards, Assassins, witches, History Monks, DEATH (and his extended family), the Nac Mac Feegle and the Watch, a sourcerer, a Thieves’ Guild, opera ghost, heroes and barbarians, a Patrician and The Luggage (it eats people). The largest city on the Disc is Ankh-Morpork, pearl of cities—that is, something that was stuck in the body of an oyster and irritated it to such an extent that it covered it in mucus and spat it back out (the river Ankh, which divides the city, regularly catches fire). There’s Klatch, which bears no resemblance to Africa whatsoever; the Ramtops, where the weather tends to ignore the season; the Aegetean Empire, birthplace of the first tourist; and XXXX that has these bloomin’ great kangaroos hopping around. There are a bunch of other places too, but like Terry says, “You can’t map a sense of humor.” Oh, and it’s got real vampires and werewolves. Huzzah!
The Discworld series is different than other series in that it doesn’t have to be read straight from Book 1 to Book 38 (yes, there are 38 books in the series—and trust me, that’s too few). Really, you could pick up any book in the series, read it, and if you have a basic grasp of fantasy then you’ll be able to understand it and enjoy it enormously. Inside of the whole, giant series are smaller “mini-series” (for lack of a better phrase) that follow a character or set of characters as they be awesome. Lots of times these are categorized into sets of books, like ‘the Watch books’ or ‘the DEATH books’ but Terry himself doesn’t much like this separation. He prefers it if you read it in chronological order, and really, that’s the way I’d recommend. If you do it that way, you get all the inside jokes. :)
Once you start reading the Discworld series you will fall madly in love. The characters are complex, unique, and realistic, with strong female characters that aren’t always the ‘fairest of them all’ (a fact I quite appreciate) who are super awesome next to their (also) awesome male counterparts. These characters have strengths and weaknesses, trials and triumphs, face both the evil in the world and the in themselves, and you’ll be cheering for them until the end. You’ll laugh out loud at Terry’s brilliant wit, cry with sadness, and stay up under the covers reading far into the night (or, erm, morning. It was an exciting part, okay?!). There’s a reason that Terry was knighted for his services to literature and is the most popular writer in Britain. He’s a genius, and it shows in his books.
So go to your nearest bookstore, library, or awesome friend who already has the books, grab The Color of Magic, and start your adventure. You’ll thank me.
Welcome to Discworld—welcome to your new obsession. And always remember, ”just because we've heard a spine-chilling, blood-curdling scream of the sort to make your very marrow freeze in your bones doesn't automatically mean there's anything wrong."
-Eben Thomas
For more information on Terry Pratchett, the Discworld series, or his other works check out http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/ (the American site), http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/ (the UK Site) or http://www.lspace.org/ (the largest fan site I can find)
