5 Terry Pratchett Books to Read if You Like Good Omens

In 2000, I was visiting a friend across the hall in my dorm. She was engrossed in a computer game and asked me to read a book to her out loud. I picked up The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett at her instructions and read a grandiose sci-fi description of....a turtle with "a brain bigger than a city" who carries four elephants on whose backs rest the Disc of the World.

Three pages and a cosmological sex joke later, I was engrossed in the book. In fact, my friend asked me to stop reading because I was laughing too hard to make the experience enjoyable. She let me borrow the book and its sequel as soon as she had finished it and thus began my appreciation of Britain's greatest modern satirist.

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch is a delightful 1990 collaboration between Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry and the television show that has resulted from Gaiman carrying on the legacy is a marvel.

Here are five books you might enjoy if Aziraphale and Crowley tickled your fancy.

1 Small Gods

Gods play a sometimes large part in Pratchett's writings, sometimes playing board games with the lives of men, sometimes interacting directly with the inhabitants of Discworld.

This book is something of an origin story for a religion that crops up many times. The Great God Om has millions of followers, but, as it turns out, very few believers. As a result, he has been put in the humble form of a one-eyed tortoise who is in constant danger of being used for soup. He calls a prophet (with a very firm "Pssst!") and embarks on a journey to restore his power and usher in a new dispensation. The problem is that his prophet is a timid novice to whom no one listens and Brutha's claims of speaking to God fall on exasperated ears.

You don't have to be religious to find this book hilarious and it is a surprisingly thought-provoking look at what makes us have faith in any power.

2. Witches Abroad

Traveling to the very small kingdom of Lancre, we are introduced to Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax, and Magrat. These three are local witches or at least trying to be. Magrat is interested in female empowerment and is surprised when her fairy godmother next-door neighbor leaves her a wand and a responsibility. She must see to it that a young girl does NOT marry a prince.

Meanwhile, there is a formidable figure working to achieve the opposite. She is obsessed with fairy tales being carried out in the proper manner and according to the established rules. Tyranny by happily-ever-after.

Neither side is helped by the two witches who think they know better than the new fairy godmother or the fact that the wand keeps turning everything into pumpkins. But in terms of things that will never work out quite right even with good intentions, this is a classic.

3. Equal Rites

Quite a lot of Pratchett's stories involve wizards as well as witches and while Harry Potter had Hogwarts, Discworld had the inimitable Unseen University.

In Equal Rites, we learn that there is to be born the eighth son of an eighth son and that means the child will be a wizard. Unfortunately for the status quo, the eighth son is actually a daughter named Eskarina. This oversight is only discovered after a local wizard passes on his staff to his successor.

This is the first appearance of Granny Weatherwax and the book challenges the place of women in a man's world while also discussing the wisdom of self-control where power is concerned.

4. Eric

Speaking of knowledge beyond our ken, Eric is a classic tale of a Faustian bargain. The problem is that our Faust is actually a boy who is "nearly fourteen" and the evil power offering salacious delights is a failed wizard who happened to be in the infernal pit when a demon was called for. (And boy, is THAT a whole other story.

Anyone who has read Pratchett's early works will recognize Rincewind, the wizard who is terrible at most magic, but has an extremely powerful spell in his repertoire. Eric Thursley doesn't know this history and doesn't believe that the occult rites would have sent him a completely useless non-demon. Both are surprised to find that Rincewind can transport them to another place and time with a snap of his fingers.

The story is a wonderful exploration of how unlimited power isn't a great thing. They meet the most beautiful woman in the world once she's settled down and had a few kids. Being the ruler of the world gets complicated when they are captured by a tribe whose most bloodthirsty rituals require the participation of just such a ruler. And don't get me started on immortality.

5. Mort

In another tale of one person against Precedent and Tradition and Common Sense, we have the tale of the kid who went out into the world to find a job and apprenticed himself to Death.

Mort finds upon being spirited away by the personification of finality that things are not as he expected. The fiery steed of doom is called Binky., there is an immortal manservant named Albert, and the boss' adopted daughter Ysabell is quite snarky.

As Mort takes over more of the day-to-day business, he begins to find ways in which the job suits him until he accidentally prevents a crucial assassination and has to scramble to find a way to mitigate the disaster. Meanwhile, Death is exploring the human experience. It's a great exploration of the meaning of life and death, set against the worst summer internship imaginable.