#thanks for asking about disky world!!! 🐢 🐘 🌎 love thinkin about them books

[moistvonlipwig]

top 5 Discworld books?

Great question! And a very difficult one. :) I haven't re-read any Discworld books in a hot minute, so this is largely going off memory:

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

I think Pratchett's YA books were actually more consistently strong than his adult books -- the Tiffany Aching series is of course great, but so is The Amazing Maurice, and it also has a special place in my heart because it's the first Discworld book I ever read, at age 9. I think Maurice is one of the great fictional cats of all time (along with such magnificent beasts as Behemoth from The Master and Margarita, Chester from Bunnicula, and Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes), and I love the rats, especially Dangerous Beans. It's also a Story About Stories, and I do love a good Story About Stories.

The Wee Free Men

I don't know if The Wee Free Men is the best Tiffany Aching book -- I think you could make a strong case for any of the first four -- but I really love the arc Tiffany goes through in it, so it's probably my favorite one. Tiffany is one of the best-written 9-year-old girls in all of fiction ("Patronizing is a long word. Zoology is really quite short."), and I especially how love she grapples with Granny Aching's death and legacy in this book.

Night Watch

From my understanding Night Watch is generally regarded as the best City Watch book and I have to say I think it's well-earned. It's a really fascinating meditation on police, authoritarianism, and revolution, and the time travel aspect is very well-done. Also, I love Baby Vetinari and his embarrassing Aunt Bobbi who orchestrates political assassinations.

Hogfather

The premise of this one alone (Death steps in for Pig!Santa) is enough to warrant high marks. This is a great Death book and I think this is also Susan at her best. I also have fondness for the film adaptation although, like so many film adaptations, it's not as good as the book.

Small Gods

One of Pratchett's most incisive satires, which also makes a case for the value of kindness, vulnerability, and even weakness. It's also extremely funny. Om and Brutha are a great duo and Vorbis is a great villain. And the ending is very moving. The book's most serious flaw is its complete and total lack of female characters, but it says something about the quality of the novel that I am largely willing to forgive it for that.

And, as a bonus, I have to mention my favorite short story:

The Sea and Little Fishes

Granny Weatherwax is probably Pratchett's best character, even if Death is his most iconic, and although the Witches books (especially Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, and Carpe Jugulum) do an incredible job exploring her character, this short story is the quintessential Granny Weatherwax. I always get chills near the end of the story when Nanny Ogg admits she became a witch to get boys and asks what Granny Weatherwax became a witch to get and she says, "Even." What a character.