5 Reasons That Make Discworld one of the Best Fantasy Series Ever

Terry Pratchett, the beloved author of the wildly popular Discworld series had enchanted many fantasy fiction fans in his lifetime including myself.

No other fantasy series has been able to capture my attention and imagination the way Discworld has been able to do. In fact it is the only series that I enjoyed from book one to the final book and there were so many of them.

I have often wondered what was it about the series that made me fall in love with fantasy fiction so much. So after a lot of thought, I feel these are the five main reasons why Discworld is one of the best fantasy series ever. Of course I should give a disclaimer that these are my personal opinions and other readers may not feel the same especially considering I haven’t enjoyed every fantasy book that came highly recommended, even the ones winning awards, movie adaptations etc.

1) Fun, humorous, easy reading writing style for all ages.

When I first started reading ‘The Colour of Magic’ – the first book in the Discworld series, I was new to the fantasy genre. I had read three or four books before that but some of them seemed a bit too much for me.

However, when I started reading The Colour of Magic, one thing that struck me was how easy it was to read and breeze through the book.

The books were fun, humorous, witty and without doubt had the ability to entertain readers of all ages. Regardless of whether you are a beginner, an avid fantasy reader, in your teenage years or the young at heart, you will be able to enjoy the Discworld series all the same. A few jokes and subtle parody in the books may go over some younger readers but overall the writing style ensures it is fun for all ages.

It was also quite interesting to see how the author’s writing style evolved with every few books in the series. By the time you reach the Tiffany Aching books, you may feel its being written by another author but the lucid, entertaining and hilarious writing style remains the same.

2) Brilliant Characters

Rincewind, Twoflower, Granny Weatherwax, Death, Tiffany Aching, the Nac Mac Feegle along with several others make some of the most brilliant characters ever in any fantasy series.
You fall in love with each and every character. You have your flawed heroes to inspiring witches. You have barbarians, alien tourists, the orangutan librarian, dryads to the angel of death himself.

Discworld contains some of the most diverse range of fantasy characters you will ever find. Some are relatable, some are inspiring, some you love to hate while others are pure joy to read.

I absolutely adore all the main characters in the Discworld series and it would be so difficult to mention any one of them as the best.

3) Epic Scale

There are 41 novels in the Discworld series. That’s a lot of books.

From 1983 to 2015, fantasy fiction fans were entertained with some of the best books in the genre. Unfortunately the series had to come to an end with the sad passing away of author Terry Pratchett.

The books include crazy adventures, an imaginative world, beautiful story lines and as mentioned above, some of the most brilliant characters you will ever come across.

With 41 novels and a plethora of characters, you can imagine the scale of the series. What is great though at no point of time did the series become overwhelming or tiresome.

Thanks to the superb style of storytelling and inventive world created by the author, Discworld has all the plotlines and type of fantasy creatures fans love about the genre. You have your witches, wizards, angels, Gods, dragons, barbarians, warriors, mages, pixies, trolls, dryads, evil queens, inter-dimensional beings and a massive army of supernatural ‘creatures’ you can think of.

The scale of the entire Discworld series is simply outstanding and at the same time has a familiar, safe and satisfying feeling.

4) Standalone Books

This aspect of the Discworld series is one of the most appreciated facets by fans and fantasy fiction readers.

All the books in the series are standalone and can be read in any order. It is quite an incredible achievement to make 41 books within the same world and with interconnecting characters standalone.

I know people who have just read the Tiffany Aching books. I know others who preferred to start with the stories involving the angel of Death while others have preferred to read the later books involving Rincewind before going back to the first and second books in the series.

As a matter of fact, there are many discussions in various forums regarding who preferred to start where in the series. There are readers looking for recommendations whether to start at book 4, book, 10 or even book 30.

You can pick up any book at any point of time and enjoy the same. However, I need to mention the first two books of the series – The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic is probably the exception to this. You should definitely read The Colour of Magic first as that would put The Light Fantastic in proper perspective. Also the start and end of The Light Fantastic would make much more sense after reading The Colour of Magic.

5) Grand Adventures and Splendid Storylines.

This should probably be the first thing in the list but the superb storylines of each and every book in the series makes it so hard to put down.

All storylines involve grand adventures by the main characters. Also as mentioned above, they are full of wit, have comical elements and gripping narratives for serious readers.

I realize I am too much of a super fan and hence my superlatives will not end for the entire series. Nevertheless, I am convinced all fantasy fiction fans would absolutely love Discworld, enjoy reading the stories and be mesmerized by the characters as much as myself and other fans of the series.

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