The Colour of Magic
1983
Inept wizard Rincewind and tourist Twoflower flee across the Disc on a misadventure.
Discworld Reading Order
Terry PratchettComplete41 books
Full shelf in publication order below: all 41 Discworld books, from The Colour of Magic (1983) to The Shepherd's Crown (2015). New readers usually pick a path rather than starting at book one. Do not start with The Colour of Magic; start with Guards! Guards! or Mort.
Updated August 2026
Ways to read Discworld
Pick a path. The first one works for most people.
Publication Order
Equal Rites
1987
A girl inherits wizard powers in a tradition that forbids female wizards.
Mort
1987
Mort becomes Death's apprentice and learns the costs of meddling with mortality.
The Last Continent
1998
Rincewind searches for Fourecks while wizards are stranded in time.
The Fifth Elephant
1999
Vimes travels to Überwald for a royal wedding and a stolen artifact.
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
2001
A talking cat and rats con a town until they face a real threat.
Unseen Academicals
2009
Wizard football arrives at Unseen University with murderous stakes.
I Shall Wear Midnight
2010
Tiffany becomes the witch of the Chalk as fear of witches spreads.
The Shepherd's Crown
2015
Tiffany faces elves and inheritance as Granny Weatherwax's era ends.
Before you start
Discworld is Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy on a flat world riding four elephants on a giant turtle. Forty-one novels between 1983 and 2015, clustered around Rincewind, the Witches, Death, the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, Moist von Lipwig, Tiffany Aching, and a stack of standalones. Most books work on their own; they get richer once you know the recurring faces.
Publication order of all forty-one main novels is below. Skip the Science of Discworld non-fiction collaborations for now: those are optional extras, not the novels. You can read straight through from the start, but a lot of people have a better time picking a sub-series and riding that lane first.
Do not start with The Colour of Magic. It is early Pratchett finding his feet, and it is not representative. Guards! Guards!, Mort, or Wyrd Sisters are the usual "you'll actually stick with this" on-ramps (see the paths below by taste). Once you like a cast, follow them; cross-over between threads is light until you want it.
Alternate Reading Paths
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Discworld books are there?
Forty-one main novels. The non-fiction companions are separate.
Where should I start with Discworld?
Not The Colour of Magic. Guards! Guards! for Watch/crime satire, Mort for Death, Wyrd Sisters for the witches. Pick the vibe you want.
Is The Amazing Maurice standalone?
Yes. Same world, no required homework from the other books.
What about Moist or Going Postal?
Fine first Discworld novel if you want heist energy.
Are the Tiffany books only for kids?
Marketed YA; adults read them. Tone matures across the five.
