It took me till I was 30 to finally read a Pratchett, not through any good reason other than I just never got around to it, though at school all my pals tended to rave about them. I did have an inkling what the discworld was about though, and was going to read them backwards (the series not books!) as I splashed out on Unseen Academicals last year which I thoroughly enjoyed. I then found a tattered old copy of Colour of Magic in a second hand book store about a month ago which kind of threw off the whole backwards plan, which I read about a fortnight ago, and so it was still quite fresh in my mind, quite handy that this was the first book chosen.  What struck me most was the difference in style, or at least severity of narrative, between the first book and Unseen.

The Colour of Magic seems to explode with many ideas and surrealism which, even prepared as I was, I could see how it may throw off a few readers and at times I struggled to keep pace with what on discworld was going on (The bizarre plane moment sticks to mind). Having said that I soldiered on and found it a very enjoyable read, Im certainly going to move on to the Light Fantastic.

I would definitely recommend reading one of the later books first, if only because it appears his storytelling skills have developed (well based on UA anyway) offering a smoother read whilst taking nothing away from the comedy going on, and I think this definitely helped when reading Colour as I had a better understanding of the universe he had created. I like to think of CoM as a pilot, brim full of ideas and setting the tone and setting for the series to follow. We are essentially given a tour of the disc from one of its major cities, to the very rim, and the various parodies on the fantasy genre which goes on within.  

Characterwise I found  Rincewind an enjoyable coward, torn as he was with protecting Twoflower to save his own skin, and simply saving his own skin.

His style reminds me a lot of Douglas Adams, which is no bad thing.  Overall I found the book an interesting read, and Id definitely say to thems that only managed the first chapter to stick with it as it does reward patience.

As this forum tends not to observe the laws of time or physics I think an every Friday book club may be a bit ambitious, though certainly kicking off a book every so often and setting a discussion period about a week later is a great idea, and I’ll happily chip in from time to time.

Bookwise I’ll probably read just about anything, and it may be worth throwing in a classic now and then since most of them you can find online for free these days, or very cheaply in shops anyway.

  Pratchett is far and away my favorite author (based amount of books read/reread). As a diehard fan I feel that he doesn't really hit his stride until about the 5th or 6th book. He's clearly still forming the Discworld in his head as he wrote the early novels and many things change/evolve as the series progresses.

  Had it been my call as to which book to start with I probably would've went with 'Guards,Guards', which is the start of the books centered on the City Watch. The great thing about the Discworld books is that you can start anywhere in the series. Pratchett tends to recap certain things in his amusing little footnotes, much like a comic book. So knowledge of the preceding books is nice but unnecessary for the later ones.

  All in all CoM, while enjoyable, comes off as clunky and hesitant compared with later novels. 

  Chicka, try again darlin. Pratchett is highly addictive once you've been immersed.

  I would also like to purpose 'Kracken' by China Mieville as our next read. I'm only 40 or so pages in and am completely hooked. Great writer....

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Kill Whitey.

The Colour of Magic was not the first Discoworld book I read, but it is, I think, one of the best starts of a fantasy series I've ever read.  Pratchett is easy to read without being simple and has plotlines that intrigue the mind without being confusing.  In CoM he really paints the Discworld as an open world and he uses that to his advantage throughout this book and the series.  I lovehow in all the places Rincewind and Twoflower travel he gives just enough geography for you to make a mental connection but leaves it vague enough for your own imagination to do what it wants.

It's his irreverent way of handling everything that really hooks me.  He's never outright insulting anything, but points out flaws in facets of the real world in a humorous way that most people can't really do without coming across as snide or pushing an agenda.  While I would agree with AA that this is not as good as the following books in the series, the characters are still solid and the plot is pretty sound.

Discworld is not for everyone, but perhaps this wasn't the best for you to start with, Chicka.  I think a few of the stand-alones he wrote later on, such as Monstrous Regiment or Going Postal would be better.  The world is established, and, as AA said, he's found his stride as an author so they're much better reads.

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It was such a waste of everyone’s time and money that even the Tokyo stadium’s rape robots apologized– something they were programmed specifically never to do.

I normally try to give a book a chance (I slowly plodded my way through William Thackeray's Vanity Fair because I loved the movie and assumed the book would be just as good... FAIL), but I just couldn't do it. Like Chicka, I had issues right from the beginning.

Sorry I can't contribute more! As for next-book (or next-next book) suggestions, I'm the queen of chick-lit. Once we all decide that's the genre, I've got tons of suggestions. I also would like to throw in any of the Dexter novels, or Robin Cook's "Abduction".

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Okay, Lindsay, are you forgetting that I was a professional twice over - an analyst and a therapist. The world's first analrapist.

Thank you for that analysis, HC. I think I liked it better than some of the summaries I read, and I know I liked it better than the book itself.

I think I agree that a book a week is too ambitious. Maybe one a month? That's how many other book clubs are set up, I'm told.

So next week I'll announce a new book, I guess since we can just ignore the thread, discussion can begin whenever someone finishes the book.

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Mediocrity at its most average.

Cormac McCarthy's The Road? It's brutally beautiful.

I've read it already, but I'm due for a reread.

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Chicken Feather Bed Bugs Bunny Hop Sing Out Side Street Walker Texas Ranger Cookie Dough Boy Wonder Years

Looking forward to meeting China Mievielle at an event in May. I have several of his books but haven't read one yet, just bought them based on friend's recommendations. I'm ashamed to admit that I thought that China was female until I saw his picture