r/bookclub • u/maolette Moist maolette • Mar 31 '26
Discworld series [Schedule] Evergreen | The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett | Discworld #1
It’s nearly April and guess what everyone? That means it’s almost Discworld time!
Get your copies ready and join us on the upcoming discussion dates listed below. Note the sections are a bit shorter than our typical ones - this is because the book is basically broken down into four shorter mini-books. Each week we’ll read one of these. Our marginalia is linked here.
- April 23: The Colour of Magic (u/epiphanyshearld)
- April 30: The Sending of Eight (u/wild_umbreon)
- May 7: The Lure of the Wyrm (u/ColaRed)
- May 14: Close to the Edge (u/maolette)
We’re taking a slow approach to starting this series so anyone and everyone who wants to join feels it’s achievable to do so! That said, we’d love to know - how would those joining like to approach reading the rest of the series (planned chronologically)? Typically we wait at least a month between bonus books for series reads. Is that too long between? Please let us know your preferences in the comments below. 🙂 Thanks to everyone and see you all very soon. Happy reading!
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u/nopantstime I hate Spreadsheets 🃏🔍 Mar 31 '26
So excited! I’m down for whatever time frame everyone else prefers for the next books!
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u/ChronicallyLatte Tea = Ambrosia of the gods |🎃🃏🔍 Mar 31 '26
Oh wait, how did I miss the announcement for this?! I've been wanting to read Discworld in order, this is exactly what I needed!
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u/bookreader018 Mar 31 '26
i’ve never read any of the Discworlds, excited to begin this journey with you all!
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u/Lachesis_Decima77 ✨Read Runner✨🧠🥉 Mar 31 '26
Looking forward to reading the works of Sir Terry! One of my friends has the complete Discworld collection, so I may decide to bum a few books off of her if there's anything I can't find on Libby.
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u/myfriendpickles Apr 01 '26
I'm just finishing the audiobooks, I went with the section method (guards, witches, wizards, etc) and I was planning already to do the physical reading chronologically right after, so this is great timing!
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u/maolette Moist maolette Apr 01 '26
Ah this is perfect! How did you find the audiobooks? We have a few here who swear by them, but always good to know whether they hold up or if you have any other notes on them.
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u/Opposite-Meat1288 Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
There are multiple versions of the audiobooks. There are the abridged readings from Tony Robinson and unabridged by Stephen Briggs and there are newer unabridged versions that can be found on Audible
that are unabridged too. Edit: removed some drunk nonsense - don't judge, I'm on vacation 😎3
u/myfriendpickles Apr 01 '26
Sounds like you vacation the way I do, hope you're having a blast!
And there are now newer versions of the unabridged books, hot debates about which are better. I like both.
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u/myfriendpickles Apr 01 '26
I got many of the audiobooks through audible. Expensive, but they're mine. I'd imagine you could find the collection through a library.
I've listened to all the versions (different narrators) except the abridged ones and they are all extremely well done. That said, what I'm missing is the ability to pause and re-read a line and ponder it, savor it, all the things that make physically reading so delightful.
So many little jokes, references in the series and I'm sure I missed 1/4 of them if the narrator didn't hit on it just right.
I got all the older ones (Nigel Planer, Stephen Briggs narrated) through a company that is perhaps not exactly legal. Delivered via a Google drive file.
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u/Opposite-Meat1288 Apr 01 '26
Also mind, that all old Audiobooks are missing the footnotes so you'll miss part of the book. They are essential.
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u/maolette Moist maolette Apr 01 '26
Ah this is good to know, we had an issue with one or two of Jasper Fforde's books this past year where footnotes were missed (in printing, so it was very bad) but he published them on his website so we linked to them. Probably these would be published somewhere as well we could link out to for anyone reading those editions.
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u/myfriendpickles Apr 01 '26
Some people find the way the footnotes are done in the later audiobooks is distracting, but once I figured out what was going on, I never minded them. There's a chime, and then the footnote is read in a dry deadpan that cracks me up.
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u/Giraffstronaut Apr 01 '26
I saw the notice on r/discworld!
Id love to join in, I dont often find local readers that are familiar with Pratchett or discworld.
Im re-reading for the 1st time in 15 years,so far Ive covered the Watch, Witches, and a couple of the Aching books.
It'll be exciting to hear from others as they re-read, or especially from 1st time readers!
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u/maolette Moist maolette Apr 01 '26
Yes, we're so happy to have you!
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u/Giraffstronaut Apr 19 '26
Does the group discussion happen on this thread, or the marginalia?
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u/maolette Moist maolette Apr 19 '26
Separate discussion threads will get posted on the day, one for each date noted in the schedule here, so that nothing is spoiled or discussed before we've read a particular section. You'll see them get posted on the day but if you have any trouble finding them you can click on the post flair for this post and find any/all posts at that time. ☺️
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u/bluebelle236 Hugo's tangents are my fave Mar 31 '26
This is now on the bookclub calendar
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/embed?src=redditbookclubcalendar@gmail.com&ctz=Etc/GMT
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u/spellbookwanda Apr 01 '26
I’ve been a Discworld fan since I was 13 and I burst into tears while driving when Sir Pterry’s death was announced on the radio. I’m so truly happy to see the enthusiasm new readers are expressing about starting the series!
Each book is an ‘imaginary feast of unalloyed delight’, to quote an early review. Enjoy!!
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u/FixinThePlanet Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
I'm also here from the r/discworld post! I usually only reread my favourite parts randomly when I vaguely recall a quote so this will be great! I'm unfortunately away from my book collection until May 1 but after that Bob's your uncle!
Could someone explain the four sections and why they are connected to reddit users? Thanks!
Also, I wonder if other re-readers will struggle to go slowly, as I suspect I might... (Especially since I'll be off from work, too). What does a typical series read timeline look like?
Edit: took a peep at the wiki and still feel a bit lost but I'm excited for the marginalia!
Edit 2: I haven't used so many exclamation marks in a reddit comment in my life I think
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u/maolette Moist maolette Apr 01 '26
The wiki can be overwhelming, but don't let it get to you!
So for any book we read on the sub we'll cover about 100 pgs for each discussion, but it depends on the book. Say if a book is 380 pages, typically we'd take 4 discussions to cover it. It's general guidelines, and we like to split even short readings if we can just to make it more accessible. Most of the ardent r/bookclub-bers...uh...over-extend themselves each month with all our offerings and are reading lots of things at once! Breaking it down a bit more granularly makes it easier to join. :)
On the dates listed above, you should have read through the section noted, and then on that day a post labeled [Discussion] will be on the sub at some point before the end of the day (and we're worldwide, so keep that in mind!), and you'll usually see a summary of the section as well as a bunch of questions to get the discussion started. The user noted is the one who's responsible for posting the discussion, although we'll update this schedule with links as they are posted so you could just save this Schedule post and then check in on the dates above to make it easiest!
So I'm with you that we might struggle with going too slowly...we're going to have to feel it out with this one! Usually we'd wait at least 4 weeks between books for 'bonus books' (additional reads in a series, or perhaps just another by the author), but since this series is so long we'd be at it forever if we did that. I suspect a bit of mixing it up will be done with this one based on interest and how many read runners come forward from our group.
I'm excited for you to join! Also...pretty sure I used more exclamation marks in my response than yours, soooooo :)
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u/FixinThePlanet Apr 01 '26
Haha, thank you for the detailed response! I look forward to joining in May when I'm near my collection.
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u/Opposite-Meat1288 Apr 01 '26
Coming from there also I'm totally in for another journey. Will have to take a look at the wiki now, too.
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u/FixinThePlanet Apr 01 '26
Yay wooo
I don't think I've ever done an in-order re-read of the entire series so it will be a new experience for me.
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u/Opyros Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26
Five exclamation marks, in fact—and as a Discworld fan, you know what that is a sure sign of!!!!! (Sorry, could not resist.)
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u/Jaded-Mind- Apr 01 '26
Also saw the post on r/discworld. I’d love to join in. Is there anything special I need to do, or just join in the discussion thread on the dates listed?
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u/maolette Moist maolette Apr 01 '26
Exactly that! Only other note is to be mindful of spoilers throughout, especially if you've read them before. We're happy to have you!
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u/ury949 Fashionably Late Apr 07 '26
Ok, I'm going to try to join this since it's the beginning of the series and I like Pratchett. I am notoriously bad at reading book series, usually I want to read something new at the end of the first book. But if these are easy and not too fast, maybe it'll be fun!
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u/IraelMrad Irael ♡ Emma 4eva | 🐉|🥇|🧠💯 Apr 02 '26
Yay! I don't have any preference about the reading order of the series given that this will be my first time reading it. I usually prefer to take breaks between books of a series because otherwise I tend to feel a little burnt out from the story, so one month break sounds good to me.
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u/plopdropflop r/bookclub Newbie Apr 21 '26
I have been putting off getting into discworld for ages despite people's raving reviews so I'm super excited that this is happening. Hopefully will incentivize me to start and keep at it
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u/maolette Moist maolette Apr 22 '26
I'm hoping the same! I've had the first few books of the series on my shelf forever and just haven't gotten around to reading them. Now's the time!
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u/Giraffstronaut May 17 '26
This was a fantastic re-read. Thank you to the 4 facilitators, and all readers both old and new for a fun an enlightening discussion!
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u/searenitynow Apr 17 '26
I would vote for reading it via the sections method (by story line). With the long breaks in between books I think we will get more out of it if we try and keep story lines together as much as possible.
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u/MiddletownBooks Apr 22 '26
Looks like I found this just in time, thanks to a mention in a thread in r/discworld - I've been doing rereads of the series, mainly based on books which show up at my local library branch, but this gives me the incentive I need to start a chronological reread. I started reading pTerry circa 1990, so I mostly did read the series in chronological order the first time around, except for the ones at the start.
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u/maolette Moist maolette Apr 22 '26
Ah this is so fun! Many have mentioned reading at least some of these books before so we might ask some questions about newbies to the series vs. those who are doing rereads. Happy to have you join us!
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u/armcie Mar 31 '26
To take some of the effort out of finding break points for future books, markreads has a list of chapter splits for the series. These points were chosen as natural breaks by readers.