There is a split in discworld around 'Mort'. The first 2 books are at their core a critique on all the tolkien clone books repeating these same old boring clich

There is a split in discworld around 'Mort'. The first 2 books are at their core a critique on all the tolkien clone books repeating these same old boring cliches. The 3rd is a critique around the lack of gender equiety in fantasy. The 4th book, Mort, is Terry dealing with the fact that he has a successfull series running, so he might as well start writing his own stories. He's not primarily reactionary at this point. This is for me the first 'real' discworld book. In fact, I find the first 3 books a string of stand alone gags if you don't see them as critiques of the genre. Funny but shallow. Small Gods has real depth, but the author still stands at the sidelines. The Truth or Nightwatch are even deeper, and I suspect they are both autobiographic and cathartic on some level.