Order

Out of Order

Earlier this month, I talked about the happy accident I experienced when I found a fantasy writer’s book shelved in the mystery section, and how – subsequently – the main character in that book became (and remains, as of this posting) my favorite fiction character.

And it has occurred to me, in further thinking about that experience, that not only was the book (sort-of) mis-shelved, and therefore not ‘in order’ in terms of being where it was ‘supposed’ to be (or would normally be) found on the bookstore shelves…

But also that, in reading that book — a book that is a bit past the middle in terms of all the Discworld stories and their publication dates — I was introduced to (and continued reading) a 25+ year series completely out of order.

And honestly, I believe that was to my benefit.

It’s not always best to read (or write) in series.

^my (very strong) opinion^

I think I was first introduced to the concept of reading out-of-order as an elementary school student, when I read C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. Really, the world (Narnia) starts way before The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. It begins with The Magician’s Nephew. But Lewis did not write the beginning until he’d already showed us ‘the middle’ in the first book he published (TL, TW, and TW).

Admittedly, it was a little bit confusing as a kid. Because why was I reading about the voyage of the Dawn Treader if that happened before? And not reading about the beginning of this strange alternate world ahead of reading out a bunch of wartime children’s insertion into it? And just what the heck is going on here, anyway?!

*laugh*

But you know what?

I read all the books.

I liked all the books.

And I still own all the books.

*smile*

So sometimes, if an author goes a bit back-and-forth in time over the course of their publications, it’s a Good Thing.

And, as I discovered with my first Terry Pratchett book, sometimes it’s a good thing to allow yourself to be dropped into the middle of a world and explore any-which-way-you-choose.

Suggested Order

I had a couple questions about the Discworld series and reading order as a result of my Character post, and I’ve also had conversations about the Discworld books with off-blog friends and acquaintances. It’s gotten me thinking about ‘best order’ (or ‘preferred order’) as opposed to ‘order of publication’.

For Pratchett’s books, I’d recommend reading a few books that follow a select character (or group of characters) and then interspersing as you please. Like, if I was going to do it again, I might still start with Thud! but I might also start with Guards! Guards! (which really gives you a feel for Samuel Vimes and is funny as heck), then Night Watch¹ before Thud!

And you might want to read Snuff before you read Unseen Academicals, but if you only read one of the two, read the latter. (Honestly, if you only ever read one book of Pratchett’s, read the latter.)

But don’t — DON’T, please don’t — start reading the Discworld books at the beginning. Just… No.

If I had started with the Rincewind books, I would have never read another sentence from Pratchett unless threatened with grave bodily harm. *laugh* So please do not begin at the beginning.

But I digress.

I’m meant to be discussing out-of-order reading orders.

: focus :

SO

There are the Christie books, yes? But her best work has neither a Poirot nor a Marple in sight. Which means she published 40 or more titles before the very first one *I* read (And Then There Were None) as a teen, and her best twist-and-misdirection (Endless Night) came quite late in her career.

Others…

Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins series can be read in any order; his Leonid McGill books really need to be read in the order they were written.

Lynsay Sands’ Immortal series can be read any-which-way. So can Hannah Howell’s Highland books. Howell’s Wherlocke series (If He’s __________), not so much. It’s best to start at the beginning.

Ahem.

A n y w a y

I went down a little rabbit hole all my own, didn’t I?

*laugh*

SO

Back to the point:

Sometimes it’s best to read books/series out of order.

^THAT is my opinion.^

What is yours?

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¹This book made The Guardian‘s Top 100 List for books published in the first 20 years of the 21st century. To date, Night Watch is the only book on this list that I’ve read.