Miniseries: The Colour of Magic

[Rawbeard]

Basically, if you put Sir David into something, Brits will watch it. Whether it really makes sense or not will not be factored in.

it's good they had a reason and that you guys can enjoy it. I am not angry and I don't demand a reboot with some properly aged lad. it is what it is. and that's fine.

[Madner Kami]

Can we talk about the casting problem of Rincewind? In the book he is a youngish guy and here he is played by an old man.

he should be in his early 30s but the artworks for some reason almost always depicted him as 60+. not sure he ever actually REACHED that age in the books. it's my personal pet peeve. and unlike Charles Danse looking wrong but otherwise being amazing in the role, I don't see any saving grace in the performance of David Jason. I am sure he is a fine actor otherwise, just #NotMyRincewind

Rincewind tries to keep appearances, as indicated by the classic attire he is wearing, even going so far to make sure that everyone percieves him as a WIZZARD when looking at his pointed hat, so I find it perfectly acceptable that he also tries to appear as old, because, you know, have you ever seen a wizard that doesn't look like Gandalf? Exactly.
Besides, we know that not even Death knows how old Rincewind is, given the peculiar shape of Rincewind's Hourglass of Life, which can not just stop, but even even rewind the flow of life-sand inside of it. Everything is perfectly in character, in more ways than one, if you ask me.

Also, given Rincewind's relation to the Lady and magic in general, I'd bet that there's a million to one chance, that he will reach, has already reached or has been reaching beyond the age of 60+. Rincewind is essentially Schrödinger's Wizard, after all.

[...]

From the description in the video (that what Discworld started out as and what it became) I guess this was the wrong book to start with.

Is there a preferred, "START HERE" book for newcomers? Because I have seen so many ideas from the setting discussed in a manner that makes me curious that I WANT to like it, but... there are so many god damned books...

[...]

"The Colour of Magic" and "The Light Fantastic" are, chronologically speaking, the first books in the series and they are also the ones who show you the most of the Discworld at large, so they are actually the best in terms of showing you what is what, especially due to Twoflower's nature as a tourist resulting in lot of explanations about the world, which greatly benefits the reader.

As for where else you could start, well, the whole work can be loosely categorized into seven major... erm... "story arcs" for lack of a better word. You have the Witch cycle, the Death complex, the Rincewind novels, the City Watch stories, the Moist von Lipwig chronicles and the adventures of Tiffany Aching, as well as a loose collection of news from other cultures on the Discworld. Most of them have recurring characters and reference happenings from other storylines, but none are really interdependant or require prior knowledge. The starting points for each are as follows:

The Witch cycle:
Equal Rites - A dying wizard wants to pass on his staff to an eighth son of an eighths son, but notices too late, that this particular eighth son of an eighths son is actually born as a daughter, which complicates matters slightly.

The Death complex:
Mort - A farmer tries to find an apprenticeship for his problem-ridden son. You see, the son thinks too much and that makes him completely unsuited for the life of a farmer. The son ends up as the apprentice to a rather peculiar tradesman, whose trade is related to the dead.

The Rincewind novels:
Given that Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic are already mentioned and would be the first chronlogically, the next best would be...
Sourcery - A banished wizard, who did not follow the rules of wizardry and sired eight sons, transfers his soul into a staff destined for his eighth son in order to take revenge on the wizards and the world. Reality reacts rather allergic to this happening.

The City Watch stories:
Guards! Guards! - A secret society seeks to dethrone Lord Vetinari and replace him with a puppet king, by means of conjuring a dragon that the envisioned puppet king shall slay and thus legitimize his "reign". The City Watch and their newest recruit, a 6'6" tall son to dwarven parents are called upon in more ways than one.

The Moist von Lipwig chronicles:
Going Postal - Moist von Lipwig is a con-man about to be hanged, but Lord Vetinari sees potential in the man and offers him the position of post-master of Ankh-Morpork, a position previously unoccupied for a couple of decades. Moist has only two employees to dig through mountains of mail and pidgeon dung.

The adventures of Tiffany Aching:
The Wee Free Men - It tells the story of 9-years-old Tiffany Aching, who tries to free her brother Wentworth from the evil Queen of Fairies, with the help of the Nac Mac Feegles, a Glaswegian fae folk.

News from other cultures on the Discworld:
Pyramids - Pteppic is the heir to the throne of Djelibeybi and was educated as an assassin in Ankh-Morkpork. His father dies and he decides to return home in order to pick up his rightful place and the story deals with Pteppic's struggle with Tradition.

[AndrewGPaul]

I think this is the most successful of the miniseries, in that it compares to the source material better than the others did. Not sure why, might be that the first two novels are more ... obvious than Hogfather and Going Postal, or perhaps that there’s not the two decades of world building baggage behind them that the Tv series can’t fit in.

Having said that, my Rincewind is Eric Idle, courtesy of the video game.

[Gridlock]

Just a little correction to SFdebris The Color of Magic might be the last live action series based on the Discworld universe, but it wasn´t the last miniseries made.

A cartoon show was also produced about tow of the other books Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters.
Both are quite good, though its easy to see that it wasn´t produced on that big of a budget.

[Darth Wedgius]

The casting didn't bother me. I might roll my eyes a bit at the PC that might be behind TwoFlower's casting, but I didn't realize he was Asian-ish until I read "Interesting Times" (I won't hold my breath for that one to get turned into a miniseries...) And Rincewind isn't that far from what I imagined, just with a few extra wrinkles.

The idea of using a tourist to explore a new setting was wonderful, and I think Rincewind has become a much-beloved fantasy character, maybe even a little more than the author intended.

If someone wants to read a Discworld story without worrying much about continuity, "Pyramids" or "Small Gods" might do. I think they're pretty good with the flavor of most of the books without spending much of their time in the usual settings. You do miss characters like Rincewind, Ridcully's generation of Wizards, Death, the Night Watch, Granny Weatherwax's troop of witches -- the characters that really stuck and got more books written about them. If that tickles someone's fancy for more, "Guards, Guards" is a nice intro to the Night Watch.

I'm sure Discworld's not for everyone. I like my fantasy peppered with humor; I can take dark and gritty sci-fi, but not high fantasy. I liked trying to guess where Pratchett was going, what seemingly minor notes were going to turn out to be important, and what twists were going to come along, and I was usually pleasantly surprised. I'll never sing like Houston, paint like Michelangelo, or sculpt like Donatello, and I'll never care. I'll never write like Pratchett, and that I wish I could do.

[Steve]

"Small Gods" is one of the best and most memorable Discworld stand-alones.

Also, I'd recommend starting the Guards mini-series before you do Moist, given the Watch has a background role in Moist's books so far (Sir Terry even once said he had trouble with stories in Ankh-Morpork later on as the Watch kept getting into things.) The Tiffany Aching books are also arguably a continuation of the Witch mini-series after its apparent end in "Carpe Jugulum".

[Riedquat]

The casting didn't bother me. I might roll my eyes a bit at the PC that might be behind TwoFlower's casting, but I didn't realize he was Asian-ish until I read "Interesting Times" (I won't hold my breath for that one to get turned into a miniseries...)

The casting notwithstanding I did like making him look rather like a modern tourist. Normally such things in a fantasy setting, even a comedy one, would make me wince but it worked here.

[Independent George]

I'm in the minority among Discworld fans, but I actively dislike most of the Rincewind books (and the Wizards who supplant him). I actually do like Rincewind as a character, but he's a bit one-note, and it shows in his books; he's amusing, but I was relieved when he got his well-earned retirement. By the time Sourcery ended, he'd pretty much had his entire character arc. Meanwhile, if Rincewind is one-note, the Wizards are no-note. They're not so much much characters as collections of wacky traits. The only ones who really stand out are Stibbons and Ridcully, and neither is really suitable as a novel's protagonist.

Wyrd Sisters is genuinely great, but I don't recommend it as the start just because it's not the first Witches book, and Equal Rites was merely ok. The Granny Weatherwax we see there is not quite the same as the one in the later Witches books, and she really shines most when she has Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick to play off of. Guards! Guards! is the first of the City Watch novels, and therefore probably the best entry into the Discworld. It's also probably one of the least weird Discworld novels, though this is, like most things, a relative term...

It's a toss-up between the Witches and The Watch as to which is more beloved by fans. Pratchett was still young and learning at the time of Equal Rites; meanwhile, his declining health was clearly affecting him at the time Snuff was published (I believe that both it and Raising Steam were mostly ghostwritten). But aside from those outliers at opposite edges of his career, those two sub-series are probably the heart and soul of Discworld.

Pratchett at his best was the only writer I know of that could be simultaneously funny, sad, exciting, inspiring, heartwarming, and terrifying, in a single sentence. I just can't recommend him enough.

[TheStarWarsTrek]

"The Colour of Magic" and "The Light Fantastic" are, chronologically speaking, the first books in the series and they are also the ones who show you the most of the Discworld at large, so they are actually the best in terms of showing you what is what, especially due to Twoflower's nature as a tourist resulting in lot of explanations about the world, which greatly benefits the reader.

I disagree. Rincewind and Twoflower may travel all over the Disc in those two books, but that doesn't mean they're good for introducing someone to the series. What locations do our heroes visit? Ankh Morpork for one. Certainly a major location and almost a character in its own right, but pretty much every book that features it has a few paragraphs that explain the nature of the city. The temple of Bel Shamoroth. Which is never seen again. I suppose you could say it introduces the concept of the Dungeon Dimensions, but again those are explained in every book where they're relevant. Wyrmberg? Never seen again. Krull and the edge of the Disc in general? I think they're briefly mentioned in The Last Hero. In The Light Fantastic I remember them traveling to try and stop the end of the world, but if there was a new major named location I can't recall. I'd compare those flyover magic countries they visit to how Chuck describes Atuin in Hogfather: establishes that this is a fantasy world, but dosn't directly effect the plot.

Also you can't really say that the books "show you what's what" when a lot of what was introduced would change (elves being mentioned as if they were standard Tolkien elves instead of The Fair Folk from another dimension, saying that gnomes where extinct, the characters of Death, Ysabell, and the Patrician, etc).

[hammerofglass]

I'd recommend Sourcery, for absolutely no reason other than it was the first one that I read and I then went on to read them all.