Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books have long delighted readers from 10 to 90+ and are very popular with many boys who scorn other fiction. Set on a flat world carried through space on the back of a giant turtle, thes books are packed with humour and an amazing range of characters,many of whom appear in book after book. These recurring characters and
their associated running jokes mean you can easily miss some of the humour if you start with one of the later books in the series. (You may even miss some of the plot if you don’t realise that Death speaks in capital letters.) On the other hand, don’t fall into the trap of thinking you
should start at the beginning as the first two books haven’t got such a strong plot as the later ones.
Most Discworld fans I have spoken to recommend starting with Mort – the story of a young man who takes a job as Death’s apprentice and gets into trouble when he tries to change destiny. Other good starting point are Guards, Guards – the first of the books about Ankh Morpork’s City Watch – and Wyrd Sisters – the first of the books featuring Pratchett’s wonderful trio of witches. (Warning: one of those witches sings a little ditty called “a hedgehog can never be buggered at all” when she has too much to drink, although she never gets past the first couple of lines)
Young readers may prefer to start with The Educated Maurice and his Educated Rodents, which won the Carnegie Medal AThe Wee Free Men – the first book about would-be witch, Tiffany Aching.
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
(Doubleday)
Take a bunch of intelligent rats and a boy with a pipe. Add a streetwise talking cat and you’ve got a great pied piper scam. All goes well until the team arrive in Bad Blintz, a town that already has a bigger rat problem than it can handle, and they meet Malicia, a girl who has trouble telling
fact from fiction. This is Terry Pratchett at his best with skillfully drawn characters whose interaction provides most of the laughs and a strong plot which keeps you turning the pages. You don’t need to have read any of the other Discworld novels before but fans will be delighted to see the Death of Rats in a brief, squeaking part
For confident readers from 8 to 108
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