I came late to Terry Pratchett's work but have been assiduously working to remedy that oversight.
For me, the best introduction to his work is the Tiffany Aching series which I've read now several times over.
But then I got the audio books. I listen to books mostly at night, usually for 30 to 45 minutes, after which time I'm generally asleep. So I prefer a book I'm already familiar with and, after romping through the collected works of P.G. Wodehouse and enjoying Gaiman's Ananzi Boys yet again, I decided to give the Tiffany stories a go.
There are two versions--one with a 'full cast' and one performed by Stephen Briggs. Having experienced a few full cast books that were too busy with sound--horse hooves, dinnerware clanking, etc.-- I opted for the single narrator.
And he is excellent! His characters sound different from one another; he does a hilarious turn as Anagramma, a know-it-all teenage witch; and the Scots accents of the Nac Mac Feegals are wonderful!
As is always the case, I pay much better attention to listening as opposed to reading (I'm bad to skim) and the stories are almost new to me in the hearing.
There is so much to love about these books--wit and an amazing amount of wisdom. Don't dismiss them as YA--this octogenarian ( omg, I am an octogenarian!) loves them, and wishes she were Granny Weatherwax. I also see a lot of Josie in Tiffany herself--and am eager for her to discover the books. I don't think she's quite ready yet, but have hopes . . .
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