Is Discworld the best?

[high eight]

The animation was called rotoscoping he also done one called Wizards.

I might have to look that out,( Hordes of the Things ) thanks for that High Eight.

You can download it here for a fiver.

[Maura:-D]

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the Bartimaeus-trilogy (which has 4 parts by now ) And maybe some of you didn't, but I really liked the Potter series...

Bartimaeus has four books? Yay!!!!

I love that series, and Harry Potter, and loads of vampire series (Twilight, House of Night, Vampire Academy, Morganville) and alsoA Series of unfortunate events.... In fact I love far too many books to name!

[Tonyblack]

I bought the rest, if it is a series, because I was interested in the story. But with the Discworld, Terry's jazz style, I love, which is why I read his book ...... it is not even as if DW is a continuous series.

[Oberon]

it is not even as if DW is a continuous series.

Very good point. It's really more of a collection isn't it.

The only two series of books I'm a big fan of are Stephen Donaldson's "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" (currently listening to the second chronicles for the umpteenth time on audio book) and George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series which I got into after watching the HBO TV series of "A Game of Thrones".

[Oggham Rune]

Aside from Discworld... hmmm. let me have a quick look on my bookshelf.

One of Terry's favourite authors is George MacDonald Fraser, one of mine too,. The Flashman Papers are really good.

Over the last couple of years I've found the Shardlake books by CJ Sansom. Great historical stuff.

In my spotty teens I discovered the Lensman series for SF, and the Eternal Champion as well as the Conan series for fantasy.

And finally only a trilogy, but a good one, Dream Park, The Barsoom Project, and The California Voodoo Game, by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes.

I'll go along with Flashman and pretty much anything by George Macdonald Fraser (His McAuslan stories are hilarious looks at a more modern military idiot).

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin stories. The best Napoleonic sea stories I've ever read and close to the best historical novels full stop.

Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next stories.

Robert Rankin's Brentford Trilogy (up to eight volumes and counting......)

Have to agree with MacDonald Fraser, knew a couple of McAuslans when I was in the forces, and O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels are for me the high point of 20th C literature. One I haven't noticed on a brief skim of the thread is the Many Coloured Land/Galactic Milieu series by Julian May.

Was the Lensman series by E.E. 'Doc' Smith ? I got a lot of the original SF books/short stories back in the 70s when my father worked in the Merchant Navy and brought them back from the States.

[Mycroft Vimes]

If DW is the best might depend on your definition of best,if it's most read Terry Pratchett is very much the best in my case.

The only two series of books I'm a big fan of are Stephen Donaldson's "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant"

I've got "Against all things ending" waiting to be read,did start in it,but forgot it takes a while to really get into it.
So i've put it off,will begin again soon.
Edit later : The same didn't apply to his GAP-series btw(Stephen Donaldson),i should have mentioned them,they are great reads!
Another writer i love is Peter F. Hamilton,the Confederation/Commonwealth Universe-series is fantastic.
Also a big fan of Fritz Leiber,Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser are unforgettable caracters of course.
At the moment the only series i'm into is Dean Koontz's Frankenstein.

[Antiq]

As a series, or collection of novels set in the same world, I'd have to say yes - partly because of sheer numbers, none of which disappoint. That's pretty amazing to me. I do like some other series, like Bank's Cutlure novels, and Mieville's Bas-Lag books, and Song of Fire and Ice, but DW is currently heading the list.

[Homeless Hublander]

Personally i find that Hitch hiker and Discworld fill 2 seperate parts of my needs, while still staying linked with the witty originality of both series'. Basically they're both great!

[Tonyblack]

depends on your preferences, depends on what tickles your fancy

personally I quite like the earlier books with Vimes (such as Guards, Guards), later Vimes novels are a bit weak in my opinion
most of the books with the Carrot character I enjoy
Wyrd Sisters & Witches Abroad have their moments
unseen academicals works well as a stand alone book

I find the books with Tiffany Aching and the Mac Na Feegle entertaining even though they are supposedly targeted at a younger audience

I think the first two or 3 'discworld' books can be a bit trying (until he developed his ideas fully), but after that I'd suggest you pick any of them and go read. if his style of telli9ng a story gels with you then find more, if it doesn't then move on and find another author.

in essence try any of the books and see how you go.

A word of caution however I think that many of the stories are very 'samey', not neccesarily in detaqil but in themes. I think it must always be a problem for an author writing about the same world with similar characters so don't try to read too many pratchett books sequentially, and you'll enjoy 'em more

[raptornx01]

Though Discworld is my favorite, there are a number of others i love.

The Maximum Ride series by James Patterson i've been into since the begining. fun and entertaining reading. the final Warning is kind of weak but never had issue with the others.

The Meg series By Steve Alten never fails to disappoint (me, anyway). Though if you get into it get the reprint of the first book. it was tweaked by the author after switching pubs and reads much better.

The Slayers series by Hajime Kanzaka is one I'd definitely recommend to DW fans. With a humor and parody of fantasy to rival TP. Plus the universe itself has a great deal of depth to it. There is an anime series that was based on the books and it does a very good job of bringing the humor and depth into it. Some of the books kind of get shafted a bit because there is an over arching storyline that fills the first 8 books (sadly all that has been released in the US). That takes the main stage over the ancillary storylines. but those stories are there, if only condensed. but if you aren't open to that kind of tv series there is still the books. and both are great.

The Warriors series By Erin Hunter is another i've gotten into. Though i got sidetracked halfway through the.... I guess you could say, second season (the stories are separated into 6 book chunks with side tales released inbetween). Very dark for a young adult series about feral cats. Think Watership down in terms of tone.

Red dwarf by Bob Grant and Doug Naylor was a bit a of a surprise. I had loved the tv series, but the books just expand on it so much. the first two essentially retell the series (up to that point anyway), but in a grander form that makes you wish the show had a bigger budget. and the differing stories of the show are woven together so well you forget they were all supposed to be stand alone stories. and I HIGHLY recommend getting the audio books of the first two books. Chris Barrie (who plays Rimmer in the series) reads them and does near pitch perfect impressions of all the actors. The ABs end up like radio dramas.

But here is where thing get odd. there are 4 RD books total, BUT there is a book one (Red Dwarf) and book two (Better than Life), and TWO book threes. after the two creators of the series (who wrote the first two books) split they still had a deal for 4 books. so they each decided to do their own versions of book three, Bob Grant felt the series should focus more on offbeat humor and his book (Backwards) reflects that. Doug Naylor felt the series should be more of an action scifi series with funny bits, and his book (Last Human) shows that. both are good, but they worked better together. I tend to like Last human more though. Bob reads his, dryly, and Craig Charles (lister in the series) reads LH. They are hugely different stories, though oddly enough, how one character ends up is similar in both books (though they go about it in different ways)

[Tonyblack]

I also loved the Red Dwarf books. The first two are the best - book one had one of the sadest endings to a book - EVER!

I wasn't too keen on Last Human, but really enjoyed Backwards.

[Bouncy Castle]

There's a Red Dwarf paperback available on Amazon (Primordial Soup) for a snip at £47.56 for a new copy, or £0.01 for a used copy!

[raptornx01]

I also loved the Red Dwarf books. The first two are the best - book one had one of the sadest endings to a book - EVER!

I wasn't too keen on Last Human, but really enjoyed Backwards.

I'll have to go through them again. the first two kind of meld together in my mind since i listen to them at work and go straight from one into the other.

And on the other two I can see that. And that seems to be the consensus based on the reviews i've read. While neither really satisfy as a conclusion i've always been drawn to comedic stories that can be serious. And the "theme of redemption", if you catch my meaning, in last human hit a nerve with me. I always felt it was a better bookend to the series and a more satisfying end to a personal story arc. on top of that i never liked how the highly emotional beat at the end of book two was treated in the begining of backwards. i get why, but it never set right with me.

[Ridcully]

I'll definitely give some of the other mentioned authors/books a try, but for me DW is unsurpassed. I never tier of reading the books over and over again - which in my world, is a very good sign.
Thanks for the tips!

[Majblast]

Um, no. There are many other books or book series that I think can lay claim to being better than Discworld books. HOWEVER, if dropped alone on a desert island I was given the choice of only ONE author's books to keep me company, I would choose Sir Terry Pratchett's. They are really that good, rather lengthy in their entirety, and the humor would do me some good.

Also, if rescued by aliens who might ask me about humanity, I really think I could describe the lengh and breadth of all of Western Civilization's history and all it's moral, religious, psychological,philosophical, political, economic, and mythlogical thought using my own education and the Discworld series as a crib sheet. And a large chunk of the same for Eastern and other civilization's as well. Really if you look at the books it's pretty much all there-some of it writ boldy and other bits like the shadows in Plato's cave. Provided I wasn't pressed to describe the relevancy of Nobby I'd do OK.

But for the love of God, please don't ever compare the Discworld series to some garbage with sparkly vampires.