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Terry Pratchett where should my daughter start


Ser Scot A Ellison

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She can start at the beginning (The Colour of Magic); the first one is somewhat odd but it is not bad at all and one might find it less odd if one starts there as opposed to going back from "Guards! Guards!" or another more "mature" one.

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13? The Tiffany Aching series, beginning with The Wee Free Men. This is aimed at younger readers, though I still enjoy the series a lot even now. There are 5 books in that series I believe.

Without knowing much about your friends daughter it's hard to make any other suggestions. Personally I enjoy "The Witches" series, which begins with Equal Rites I believe. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are well worth the read (both appear in Tiffany Aching series too as it happens)

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There's also his older more juvenile orientated stuff -  the Carpet People (little people live in a carpet)  the Bromeliad trilogy (little people live in a department store) and the Johnny Maxwell trilogy (12 year old boy in north of england has mysterious and fantastical adventures).  Might be a bit young for a 13 year old, perhaps.

Then there's Nation (islander and shipwrecked girl create a new society).  That's probably the most praised of his YA books but it was already in his more preachy period.  The older stuff is more fun.

And there's Dodger (pickpocket in early victorian period, featuring many great men and women of the age).  Haven't read that one.

And remember that all scenes in the Tiffany Aching books featuring The Nac Mac Feegle must be read aloud in a Glaswegian accent for maximum enjoyment.

 

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On 17/07/2016 at 8:51 AM, Slick Mongoose said:

It doesn't really matter.... but i'd suggest equal rites personally.

 

I usually caution against Equal Rites because while it's not a bad book individually, it's kind of a shite introduction to Discworld- a lot of the ideas he plays with are ignored thereafter until he finally brings them back, slightly unconvincingly imo, in the later Tiffany books, and Granny isn't really the same character she becomes  later on. So while it might be worth reading it at some point during the Tiffany series so you know what's going on when all that comes back (although it's not crucial), I'd definitely recommend the Tiffany books first.

Nation is a good place to start, though. I'd disagree with john above that it was in 'his preachy period' - it's really the opposite of preachy, it covers a lot of the same subjects as his much earlier, for-grownups, Small Gods but whereas that tells you outright what Pratchett thinks the answers are, Nation just asks a bunch of questions and leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions. It's a fantastic book,  imo.


 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 16/07/2016 at 10:09 PM, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

She picked up Nation and decided to start there.

Everyone, thank you.

Great decision and I'd recommend borrowing it yourself afterwards - his best work; actually one of my favourite books of any author. At 13 she'll may miss a reasonable amount - I'd call it a YA friendly adult book, rather than a YA book.

Go to Wee Free Men or Equal Rites next IMO. Both particularly good for a 13 year old girl; AKA both with female central protagonists; and both perfectly age appropriate.

 

I usually recommend starting Discworld at Equal Rites anyway TBH - none of the first 3 are particularly representative of the rest of his work; but you can see more of it in ER; and the introduction doesn't really need to be representative; especially for an early teen.

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23 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

Great decision and I'd recommend borrowing it yourself afterwards - his best work; actually one of my favourite books of any author.

Seconded. Pratchett might be best known for Discworld, and Good Omens might be his most well-regarded book, but to my mind Nation is his best work.

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