I’ve lost track of how many Discworld novels have flowed from the pen of the incomparable Terry Pratchett, thirty or so I believe.  This is the latest madcap adventure from the world that so resembles ours yet is nothing like it.  Having brought gnomes, newspapers and the post office to his creation, Pratchett now tackles football.  It is a compelling mystery wrapped in exciting adventure wrapped in effortless parody wrapped in genius.  As with all Pratchett’s work it is a joy to read and hard to put down but I would advise new readers to start a bit further back in the series in order to fully appreciate the cameo appearances of established characters here.

Comparison: Christopher Fowler, Tom Holt, Jasper Fforde.

Synopsis

Football has come to the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork. And now the wizards of Unseen University must win a football match, without using magic, so they're in the mood for trying everything else. The prospect of the Big Match draws in a street urchin with a wonderful talent for kicking a tin can, a maker of jolly good pies, a dim but beautiful young woman, who might just turn out to be the greatest fashion model there has ever been, and the mysterious Mr Nutt (and no one knows anything much about Mr Nutt, not even Mr Nutt, which worries him, too). As the match approaches, four lives are entangled and changed for ever. Because the thing about football - the important thing about football - is that it is not just about football. Here we go! Here we go! Here we go!

About the Author

Sir Terry Pratchett is one of the most popular authors writing today. He lives behind a keyboard in Wiltshire and says he 'doesn't want to get a life, because it feels as though he's trying to lead three already'. He was appointed OBE in 1998 and in 2009 was knighted for his services to literature. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Discworld series and his trilogy for young readers, The Bromeliad, is scheduled to be adapted into a spectacular animated movie. His first Discworld novel for children, THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS, was awarded the 2001 Carnegie Medal. In December 2007 he announced that he had been diagnosed with Posterior Cortical Atrophy, a rare variant of Alzheimer's disease. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation