A beginner's guide to Terry Pratchett's Discworld 3/11/2016, 8:35 AM

Academic rigour, journalistic flair

A beginners guide to Terry Pratchetts Discworld

March 10, 2016 5.59am AEDT

Discworld is a wildly inventive literary creation that sprawls over dozens of books. David Skinner, CC BY-SA

Terry Pratchett once told me that he didnt actually recommend beginning your relationship Author
with the Discworld through his first novel in the series, The Colour of Magic (1983).

Thats because hindsight is 20:20. When Terry wrote The First Discworld Novel in 1983 he
didnt know how big a phenomenon he was starting.
David G. Lloyd
Vice-Chancellor and President , University of
Over the next 32 years, 40 more novels flowed, first from his keyboard and later from his
South Australia
speech recognition software, up until a year ago this Saturday, when Alzheimers stole away
one of the greatest contemporary English language writers.

Back in 1983, Terry was working full-time and writing in his spare time. When he created the Discworld,
Pratchett simply couldnt have foreseen how things would evolve.

It was a strange, magical, flat world, populated by wizards, dwarfs and trolls, replete with dragons and
barbarian heroes. In turn, this world was perched atop four enormous elephants, themselves standing
atop a giant star-turtle swimming through the galactic void.

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A beginner's guide to Terry Pratchett's Discworld 3/11/2016, 8:35 AM

Any reader beginning with book one and thinking that theyre embarking on a journey that will take
them through 41 variations on that first theme is hugely mistaken. For one thing, the Discworld novels
arent, strictly speaking, a series. Certainly not in the sense of a story where plot continues to be told
across multiple instalments.

Rincewind the Wizzard and the birth of a world

While The Colour of Magic and its 1986 sequel The Light Fantastic serve to introduce the Disc, these
early books are, in many ways, really only a prologue to the Discworld series that follows.

They introduce its idiosyncratic societal peculiarities, geographies and

some recurring characters.

All are brought to life and framed by Terrys wit and irreverence and
presented in a uniquely original style: no chapters, many puns, twisted
takes on the contemporary presented in less than contemporary environs
and frequent forays into footnotes, which meander through humorous
observation parallel to the main story.

Theyre laced with both overt and sly nods to classical mythology and
literary classics. In fact, a family of books is probably a more appropriate
description to use than series.

Books one and two are predominantly a comical riff on swords and
sorcery, dungeons and dragons, Tolkein-like quests and the concept and
conceits of using parallel universes as plot device.

Theyre referential and irreverent. Pratchetts first anti-hero, Rincewind

the Wizzard (whose inability to cast a spell is bettered only by his inability
to spell) is a misadventure magnet.

He bumbles his way through calamity, much of it caused by him, accompa-

nied by the innocent and all-trusting Twoflower, the Discs first tourist.
The Colour of Magic (1983). Corgi
Together, with Twoflowers malevolently sentient Luggage in tow, they
inadvertently and neatly manage to save the world.

The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic chart the protagonists chaotic course across the Disc and
could stand alone as a single novel. Indeed these two books are the only ones in the series that demand
sequential reading to convey a story in its entirety.

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In later novels, where other recurring characters are introduced, each episode is largely self-contained.
The reader doesnt have to have read these books in sequence to appreciate the story being told.

Structurally, the Discworld novels can be grouped into reasonably logical subsets: novels which feature
the same characters and which, if read sequentially in their own right, provide both narrative chronology
and character (if not plot) development and arc.

Mighty and mundane magic

Pratchetts first steps on the Discworld left his footprints in magic. One of Terrys earlier footnotes postu-
lated that the word wizard was derived from the archaic word Wys-ars a hypothesis which tees the
reader up with all they need to enjoy this series and its characters.

The Unseen University, (Discworlds premier university for

the study of magic) features centre stage across half dozen or
so novels. Its chaotic, with professional advancement through
wizarding hierarchy secured through assassination of ones
colleagues, while excessive use of magic attracts horrible
beasts from the Dungeon Dimensions.

This is all before things settle down with the arrival of

Mustrum Ridcully as the Arch-chancellor, who sensibly recog-
nises that the power of magic lies in knowing when not to use
it but at the same making sure that those around you know
that you could use it, you know, if you really felt like it.

This group of novels features more slapstick than its cousins in

the series, and is a must for anyone who has ever watched
Porterhouse Blue, or ever been to or worked in a university
(magical or otherwise). Terry never attended university, but he
Equal Rites (1987). Corgi certainly had insight as to how they run, in spite of themselves.

Magic in the Discworld is not restricted to the academy. The next major character created after
Rincewind was Mistress Esmerelda Weatherwax, a witch. Granny Weatherwax, as she is more
commonly known, is everything Rincewind is not: strong, fearless, stubborn, prim, proud and
immensely magical.

She and her wonderful compatriot and partner in adventure, Nanny Ogg only really get into their stride
in the second book recounting their activities Wyrd Sisters (1988).

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Along with the third member of their recurring trio, Magrat Garlick (whose
mother liked the name Margaret, but, alas, was unsure of the spelling) they
do what witches do best: interfere with what is going on around them.

Wyrd Sisters, which suspiciously resembles a well-known Scottish play by

W. Shakespeare, allows Pratchett full reign to twist the familiar through a
Discworld wringer and humour leaps from the pages right from the begin-
ning:

Wyrd Sisters (1988). Corgi

As the cauldron bubbled an eldritch voice shrieked: When shall we three meet again? There
was a pause. Finally another voice said, in far more ordinary tones: Well, I can do next Tues-
day.

Pratchett uses this conceit on other occasions with the Witches of Lancre, notably the Phantom of the
Opera styled Masquerade (1995), and Cinderella in Witches Abroad (1991).

Rather than simply retelling these tales on Discworld, were presented with a kernel of the familiar
narrative, which is then deftly inverted and gleefully perverted in Pratchetts alternate rendering.

Death and loss on Discworld

Its interesting that I Shall Wear Midnight (2010) was written by a man who was, at the time of writing,
beginning a more serious struggle with Alzheimers disease than his outward persona may have let on.
The pacing, complexity and adventure of this story is exceptional, and I rank it among Terrys very best

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work.

Reflecting on his own mortality and the role that Alzheimers might play in his demise, Terry once told
me, riffing on Spike Milligan,

I dont mind dying, Id just like to be there when it happens.

Death may not strike the reader as possessing the makings of a great recurring literary character, but on
the Discworld he is chaperoned through an exploration of life and humanity by Pratchett.

The skeletal, cowl-wearing, bee-keeping, scythe wielding, soul-

stalking harbinger of the end of all things, who talks in all-caps
s has become a firm fan favourite and has
taken on some more human traits over time.

The Death novels usually relate to world-ending catastrophe,

brought about by the naivety and innocence of the ultimate
arbiter as he struggles to deal with the personality he feels is
missing from his personification. His horse, for example, is
called Binky.

Mort (1987), the story of what goes terribly wrong when Death
takes on an apprentice, is another book in the canon where
new readers can dip their toe safely into the Discworld without
prior knowledge being needed to get to grips with the goings-
on which unfold.

Mort (1987). Corgi.

I fought the law

In his graduation address to the University of South Australias Class of 2014, on receipt of his honorary
doctorate from our institution, Terry noted,

there is possibly more of me in Sir Samuel than in any other player on my pages.

Thats what makes the group of books that deals with the Watchmen of Ankh Morpork a must for
anyone interested in Pratchett.

Samuel Vimes, introduced as a drunken night-watchman in Guards! Guards! (1989), develops and grows
in the course of our encounters with him across multiple books.

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The dedication from Guards! Guards! sums up the genre-bending playful-

ness of these works:

Guards! Guards! (1989). Corgi

They may be called the Palace Guard, the City Guard, or the Patrol. Whatever the name, their
purpose in any work of heroic fantasy is identical: it is, round about Chapter Three (or ten
minutes into the film) to rush into the room, attack the hero one at a time, and be slaughtered.
No one ever asks them if they want to.

This book is dedicated to those fine men.

Across ten Guards novels Pratchett explores prejudice and humanity with forays into nationalism,
racism, bigotry and genocide.

Big topics, subtly handled and with a thread of passion that leaps from the page. Whenever asked, I
generally recommend that anyone stepping onto the Disc for their first time does so with Guards!
Guards!

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The development of technology

Beyond a handful which deal with gods and religion, many of the remaining novels individually and
collectively deal with the industrialisation of the Discworld. Some are stand-alone, some are linked by
recurring characters. Pratchett grew increasingly interested in the impacts of technology on society and
he explored this through the introduction of technologies to the Disc.

Moving Pictures (1990) intersects with the wizards of Unseen

University and indeed, sees the first appearance of one of that
series favourites, Ponder Stibbons who in later life emerges
as the one person who actually knows how the Unseen Univer-
sity actually works on a day to day basis.

But in Moving Pictures our focus is on the invention of (or

indeed the rediscovery of the magic behind) the movies. Film
buffs will relish spotting subtle and not-so-subtle references to
early Hollywood greats.

Much later on in the Discworld series, The Truth (2000) sees

the invention of moveable type and the first newspaper, along
with journalistic freedom in the context of a City ruled by a
sometimes benign dictator.

Pratchett drew deeply on his own journalistic background with

Moving Pictures (1990). Corgi ample references to amusingly shaped vegetables and the
importance of recording both the name, age and address of
everyone quoted in every interest piece.

The Moist Von Lipwig series revolve around an improbably named ex-con anti-hero who is reprieved
from the jaws of certain death by the Patrician and set to work to revitalise the official postal service just
as commercial modern telecommunications begin to blossom on the Disc in Going Postal (2004).

Moist returns a second time to revamp the banking system in Making Money (2007), which came into
print coincident with the global financial crisis, and in his last instalment, sets out to lay down the iron
highway as the Discworld enters the age of rail in Raising Steam (2013).

In each of these outings, Von Lipwig outshines his con-artistic tendencies and grows in his heroism
through the selflessness of his deeds and actions, despite himself. I do know that this particular charac-
ter, oddly named though he may be, was originally conceived with a different name but that secret
remains one for someone else to tell in Terrys biography perhaps.

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The body of work that is Discworld extends into companion pieces, guides,
maps, plays, folklore and popular science guides. Even the odd (but excit-
ing) short movie exists, set atop that magical world. Like any companion
set to a core series, readers can get by with or without these additions, but
fans probably cant.

The moral of this tale is that you can step onto the Discworld anywhere
you like. If you enjoy wit, humour and fastly-paced plot, you will enjoy
yourself immensely. Just dont feel obliged to begin at the beginning.

The beauty of it is that with forty-one books to enjoy, you can always go
back around again for more and such is the depth of Pratchetts craft,
youll likely find something youve previously missed on every re-read.

Literature Books English language Fantasy literature

Terry Pratchett

Making Money (2007). Corgi

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