Yeah, I'm actually not sure if the turtle should be visible to the albatross. I can always just stick in a rough outline model and see if it's visible from the camera position Fortunately, the Mapp includes a scale, so I can measure the radius of the Disc and build my model to the right size
I was thinking the other day about the series as a whole and was wondering: if you guys wanted to introduce someone to the Discworld series, where would you suggest they start?
Personally I'd definitely not say the Colour of Magic, and would probably go with Guards! Guards!
Hmm, argh, yeah Guards Guards is a good one, i'd probably go with that one but I love the city watch series. But Small Gods, Good Omens and Mort might be good shouts as well.
Hmm, tricky. I actually read the Bromeliad Trilogy first, which introduced me to the writing style, then moved onto The Colour of Magic from there. (I have a real thing about reading stuff "in order".)
The Amazing Maurice is good too, or, as you said, Guard! Guards! I think that's the point at which the DW really starts to take shape, although it does then mean that people have less of an incentive to read the early books.
I would say ease them into Reaper Man and accustom them to the suernatural themes, then send them to read a watch novel, wizard novel then a Tiffany Aching novel and finally a witch novel.
Guards! Guards! Is an excellent starter methinks. It's a fantastic book and nicely spoofed from most traditional fantasies too, so a great starter IMO.
My fiancee's first* was Hogfather. She supports it.
*In interest of full disclosure, her *actual* first Discworld was Thud!, which she bought at random from our college bookstore. It was ... not a good introduction for her. Also, she may have read Good Omens before Hogfather, being a big Neil Gaiman fan.
The city watch/Sam Vimes books are east to get into and really fun to follow, so probably a good start. Maybe the Moist Lipwig books (Going Postal and Making Money) fit this easy to get into category as well?
My best bets for this: Wyrd Sisters, Guards! Guards!, Reaper Man, Amazing Maurice, Going Postal.
I started with Equal Rites myself. But it really depends on the person about to read the books, right? I was a girl, and magic/fantasy always had a strong pull, so I LOVED the Granny Weatherwax books immediately. The Tiffany Aching series might be a good start there too. If the person is more into murder/mystery then any of the Sam Vimes books. If the person goes around and TALKS LIKE THIS, then definitely Reaper Man! If you are looking for a more generalized introduction, then Maurice or Postal would be good.
Going postal is an awesome book, but I'm not sure it would have the same impact to someone unfamiliar with established disc ideas like the clacks, y'know?
I thought about that after I posted.... Some books that are more recent, for example Going Postal, would be full of worldly items (the clacks!) and events that need a little bit more history built up behind it.
Maybe a book from the Century of the Fruitbat? What Century are we in now, the Anchovy?
Just been informed by Shabobble that The Long Earth came out last week... I didn't know about that! Last I heard was the concept at the DWCon 2 years ago. Anyone got it yet?
I'll be adding it to my Wish List, except they currently don't do electronic content as gifts. Which I don't see what the problem is - they know the buyer is buying it for my account, they know there's a Kindle attached to my account and they know my e-mail address to tell me that someone's bought me a book... not difficult to engineer LOL
I never looked at it that way... but then, I sickened myself of Doctor Who when I was about 12, watching entire seasons in a day during a summer holiday. (For reference, I'm now 28)
It may be purchased at the weekend... there was also apparently a Royal Institute video discussing the science surrounding multi-universe theory.... richannel.org/collections/2012/terry-pratch... I've heard rumblings all last week about the pre-launch stuff (a flashmob in London last thursday) There should be piccies around somewhere... www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/2611526-the...
I'm a few chapters into The Long Earth. Fascinating concept, but still too early to draw any conclusions. Every now and then I hit a sentence, a phrase, etc. and said, "Yeah, that was written by Pterry."
Fortunately, the Mapp includes a scale, so I can measure the radius of the Disc and build my model to the right size 
