Book Review: Discworld Novels

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I really, really, enjoy the Discworld books.

I started to read the Discworld series a couple of years ago, and they have been my fallback books ever since. There's a whole debate going on in the Discworld community about the optimal reading order, as there are many cross-references and touch points of the otherwise distinct story lines. I am reading them in chronological order.

I am reading the books in English, for two reasons.

• First, it's the original language and the humour in Discworld book is very subtle and often literal. I once tried to listen to the German audiobook of the first novel, and it was awful.

• Second, at some point in my youth, after having read hundreds of books (one Christmas my mom literally got me around 30 books and I read most of them within a few months), I decided to add a new element to reading by switching to English as my main language. This would add a novel effect and result in another positive side effect - improving my English.

I have to say though, it is really difficult as a non-native speaker to grasp all the wit, humour and story-telling Pratchett has put into the books.

Oftentimes, you can tell that "oh, this section is supposed to be funny" or "this sentence has at least 3 puns in it", but you can't exactly tell why! The quite advanced and uncommon vocabulary contributes to this difficulty. But see, it also contribute to your vocabulary 🤓

At the end, the joy and excitement I get from reading the books are totally worth it! If you like cynical & clever fantasy that gets bizarre and absurd at times while always being funny, you will love the Discworld novels.