Discworld
#1244.19 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 41 books Status Complete 1983–2015 Reading commitment High Terry Pratchett Last reviewed 2026-08-06
Overview
Discworld is Sir Terry Pratchett's comic-fantasy universe, set on a flat disc carried by four elephants standing on the great turtle A'Tuin. Across 41 novels (1983-2015) the series evolved from parody of fantasy conventions into wide-ranging satire of politics, religion, industry and modern life, largely through its recurring arcs: the wizards, Death, the witches, the City Watch, Moist von Lipwig and Tiffany Aching. Pratchett's books have sold over 100 million copies in 43 languages. He died in March 2015; The Shepherd's Crown was published posthumously that August; the whole family of arcs is treated as a single universe entry. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents won the 2001 Carnegie Medal, the UK's top prize for children's writing and Pratchett's first major literary award, while I Shall Wear Midnight won the Andre Norton Award in 2011; individual volumes also collected five Locus Awards, and Pratchett himself received the World Fantasy Award's Life Achievement honor in 2010, cementing Discworld's standing as one of the most decorated comic-fantasy sequences in the genre's history.
Comic fantasy · For All ages
Core Canon: Reading Order (41 works) counts toward ranking
Rincewind / Wizards Terry Pratchett
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Colour of Magic | 1983 | core | 3.99 (433,077 ratings) |
 | The Light Fantastic | 1986 | core | 4.01 (173,941 ratings) |
 | Sourcery | 1988 | core | 3.92 (113,999 ratings) |
 | Eric | 1990 | core | 3.80 (84,068 ratings) |
 | Interesting Times | 1994 | core | 4.15 (61,504 ratings) |
 | The Last Continent | 1998 | core | 4.00 (63,413 ratings) |
 | The Last Hero; Illustrated novel-length story (ill. Paul Kidby), counted as the 27th Discworld novel; registered Core. | 2001 | core | 4.18 (40,539 ratings) |
 | Unseen Academicals | 2009 | core | 4.02 (60,121 ratings) |
Sub-series grouping per Wikipedia arc articles; schemes vary between sources.
Death Terry Pratchett
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Mort | 1987 | core | 4.24 (280,564 ratings) |
 | Reaper Man | 1991 | core | 4.28 (116,327 ratings) |
 | Soul Music | 1994 | core | 4.06 (89,236 ratings) |
 | Hogfather | 1996 | core | 4.26 (107,042 ratings) |
 | Thief of Time | 2001 | core | 4.28 (79,485 ratings) |
Witches Terry Pratchett
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Equal Rites | 1987 | core | 4.07 (205,940 ratings) |
 | Wyrd Sisters | 1988 | core | 4.16 (135,476 ratings) |
 | Witches Abroad | 1991 | core | 4.26 (100,735 ratings) |
 | Lords and Ladies | 1992 | core | 4.22 (88,004 ratings) |
 | Maskerade | 1995 | core | 4.14 (70,850 ratings) |
 | Carpe Jugulum | 1998 | core | 4.20 (69,515 ratings) |
City Watch Terry Pratchett
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Guards! Guards! | 1989 | core | 4.34 (245,297 ratings) |
 | Men at Arms | 1993 | core | 4.42 (116,631 ratings) |
 | Feet of Clay | 1996 | core | 4.33 (96,045 ratings) |
 | Jingo | 1997 | core | 4.19 (75,799 ratings) |
 | The Fifth Elephant | 1999 | core | 4.32 (81,714 ratings) |
 | Night Watch | 2002 | core | 4.50 (121,350 ratings) |
 | Thud! | 2005 | core | 4.36 (81,094 ratings) |
 | Snuff | 2011 | core | 4.20 (64,873 ratings) |
Industrial Revolution / Moist von Lipwig Terry Pratchett
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Going Postal | 2004 | core | 4.42 (139,398 ratings) |
 | Making Money | 2007 | core | 4.27 (79,800 ratings) |
 | Raising Steam | 2013 | core | 4.03 (46,196 ratings) |
Tiffany Aching Terry Pratchett
| Work | Year | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Wee Free Men | 2003 | core | 4.30 (123,188 ratings) |
 | A Hat Full of Sky | 2004 | core | 4.33 (81,803 ratings) |
 | Wintersmith | 2006 | core | 4.25 (69,272 ratings) |
 | I Shall Wear Midnight | 2010 | core | 4.37 (61,880 ratings) |
 | The Shepherd's Crown; Published posthumously, August 2015. | 2015 | core | 4.38 (35,267 ratings) |
YA sequence; counts fully as Discworld novels.
Pyramids (1989) core · 3.92 (97,253 ratings)
Moving Pictures (1990) core · 3.97 (90,970 ratings)
Small Gods (1992) core · 4.32 (137,454 ratings)
The Truth (2000) core · 4.41 (25,847 ratings)
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (2001) core · 4.08 (53,999 ratings); First Discworld novel written for children; Carnegie Medal 2001.
Monstrous Regiment (2003) core · 4.27 (86,853 ratings)
Library: Expanded Canon, companions & reference (15 works)
Troll Bridge (1992) ; Anthology After the King (written 1991 per L-Space); collected in A Blink of the Screen (2012).
Theatre of Cruelty (1993) ; W. H. Smith Bookcase magazine; City Watch. Collected in A Blink of the Screen (2012).
The Sea and Little Fishes (1998) ; Legends anthology; Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. Collected in A Blink of the Screen (2012).
Death and What Comes Next (2002) ; Written for the TimeHunt website. Year uncertain: 2002 (Wikipedia) vs 2004 (L-Space); 2002 registered provisionally.- A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices (2005) ; Times Higher Education Supplement. Collected in A Blink of the Screen (2012).
A Blink of the Screen: Collected Short Fiction (2012) ; First volume of Pratchett's collected short fiction; includes the Discworld stories above.
The Science of Discworld (1999) ; Hybrid: Discworld wizards narrative interleaved with real-science chapters (with Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen).
The Science of Discworld II: The Globe (2002) ; Same hybrid format.
The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch (2005) ; Same hybrid format.
The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day (2013) ; Same hybrid format.
Turtle Recall: The Discworld Companion ... So Far (2012) lore reference; 4th edition of The Discworld Companion (with Stephen Briggs; editions 1994/1997/2003/2012; The Ultimate Discworld Companion 2021).
The Streets of Ankh-Morpork (1993) companion; Map/atlas product (with Stephen Briggs).
The Discworld Mapp (1995) companion; Map product (with Stephen Briggs).
Nanny Ogg's Cookbook (1999) companion; In-universe humour/recipe book.
The World of Poo (2012) ; Real publication of the in-universe children's book Young Sam reads in Snuff (ill. Peter Dennis).
Excluded (non-narrative ephemera): Discworld diaries, quizbooks, later atlas products, listed in the research record, not registered individually.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Discworld? Discworld's Core Canon is 41 books, plus 15 more in the wider Library/Expanded material.
- What is the reading order for Discworld? Publication order, starting with The Colour of Magic. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Discworld finished? Complete (1983–2015).
- How much reading does Discworld take? High reading commitment (estimated from 41 Core Canon books · ~14,199 pages).
- How is Discworld ranked? #124 in this site's official ranking, based on 4,385,819 reader ratings across 41 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #124?
Ranked #124 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.19 across 41 core books.
- Backed by 4.4M reader ratings.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.80 to 4.50.
- 0.01 behind #123, The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 41 books · Complete · 4.4M ratings · Ranks #124 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running comic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (41 Core Canon books)
- The Colour of Magic (1983)
- The Light Fantastic (1986)
- Equal Rites (1987)
- Mort (1987)
- Sourcery (1988)
- Wyrd Sisters (1988)
- Guards! Guards! (1989)
- Pyramids (1989)
- Eric (1990)
- Moving Pictures (1990)
- Reaper Man (1991)
- Witches Abroad (1991)
- Lords and Ladies (1992)
- Small Gods (1992)
- Men at Arms (1993)
- Interesting Times (1994)
- Soul Music (1994)
- Maskerade (1995)
- Feet of Clay (1996)
- Hogfather (1996)
- Jingo (1997)
- Carpe Jugulum (1998)
- The Last Continent (1998)
- The Fifth Elephant (1999)
- The Truth (2000)
- The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (2001)
- The Last Hero (2001)
- Thief of Time (2001)
- Night Watch (2002)
- Monstrous Regiment (2003)
- The Wee Free Men (2003)
- A Hat Full of Sky (2004)
- Going Postal (2004)
- Thud! (2005)
- Wintersmith (2006)
- Making Money (2007)
- Unseen Academicals (2009)
- I Shall Wear Midnight (2010)
- Snuff (2011)
- Raising Steam (2013)
- The Shepherd's Crown (2015)
Honours (verified)
- World Fantasy Award, Life Achievement, 2010: Terry Pratchett
- Knight Bachelor "for services to literature", 2009; OBE 1998
- Locus Awards: Making Money (2008) + four Tiffany Aching books (2004, 2005, 2007, 2016); Prometheus Award 2003 (Night Watch); BSFA 1989 (Pyramids)
- Sales: 100+ million copies in 43 languages (as of 2023)
- Carnegie Medal, 2001: won: The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
- Locus Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2008: won: Making Money
- Locus Award (Best Young Adult Book), 2004: won: The Wee Free Men
- Locus Award (Best Young Adult Book), 2005: won: A Hat Full of Sky
- Locus Award (Best Young Adult Book), 2007: won: Wintersmith
- Locus Award (Best Young Adult Book), 2016: won: The Shepherd's Crown
- Prometheus Award (Best Novel), 2003: won: Night Watch
- BSFA Award (Best Novel), 1989: won: Pyramids
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Discworld and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Moomins Comic fantasy / Cozy fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 4.24
- Zamonia Comic fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Ongoing · Medium commitment · 4.29
- Dragaera Sword & sorcery / Comic fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.12
- The Once and Future King Mythic fantasy / Comic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.06
Official resources
- Terry Pratchett Books: official reading order
- L-Space Web: bibliography
- Discworld Emporium: reading order
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.19 across 4,385,819 ratings on 41 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Discworld is a single universe accepted 2026-08-03
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Terry Pratchett Books, official website Tier 1
- L-Space Web (Discworld & Pratchett Wiki) Tier 2
- Wikipedia (English) Tier 2
- Discworld Emporium Tier 2
- https://www.sfadb.com/Terry_Pratchett
Last reviewed: 2026-08-06
Rule: All 41 novels are core, including The Last Hero (illustrated but novel-length, counted as the 27th novel by standard bibliographies) and the YA titles (The Amazing Maurice won the 2001 Carnegie Medal).