This was the first time I've read Terry Pratchett, so I can't compare this book to any of his others (although I DO plan to read some of the others), and I'm sorry about that. I can only comment on this book, which is obviously part of a much, much larger whole.
This one took place in "Discworld", if that means anything to you, and involved the faculty of Ankh-Morpork's Unseen University (all wizards) manning a football team (soccer to us). There really were a few laugh-out-loud lines and the story was interesting enough for me to be engaged for the whole book. It was entertaining enough. But not exceptional. It reminded me a bit of Douglas Adams' ("The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy") style--the way the author pokes fun at our reality as he tells the story within his own alternative reality. There was some cleverness on that score. I'm going to read a few more of Terry Pratchett's books so I can get a bigger picture of his stuff before I draw any hard conclusions for myself. I really did not get a clear picture of Discworld from just this one book. I know it's hard for authors to write stand-alone books once they hit on a successful formula that provides enough ideas for many books. And it's rare to find any series that includes the true stand-alone novels. I'm not sure this is one of them.
It was entertaining enough, though, so that I want to read a few more Pratchetts. It was also fun to read--total fluff but not offensive and pretty clever to boot!
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