I wasn't sure what to make of this series before I read it. I worried it would be juvenile or zany in a way that might embarrass more than entertain me. I was pleasantly surprised. Terry Prachett doesn't go for the laugh out loud hysterical jokes (in this, the first book of the Discworld series, anyway) but his voice is entertaining and his ideas are funny in a gentle way.

What surprised me most of all was how poorly written this book was and how much I didn't care; just goes to show the power of a likeable voice. That is the real draw to this read. The characters were amusing but not filled out enough to really care about, the plot is all over the place and not particularly clever, but the very present narrator is quickly engaging and fun to read. Everything from the humorous descriptions of setting to the by-the-bye explanations of how Discworld operates are what makes this story worth reading. I don't know if the characters in this novel carry over to the next books in the series and I don't care. That's how likeable Prachett's voice is (and the lesson I could learn most from him as a writer).