Wow ... some people just don't get it. In fact, those who have commented on this page about Pratchett probably would make fine targets for characters in his next book. Sure the plot-lines are somewhat formulaic ... because he takes tales you know well and uses them as the girder for the satire he writes (often about the tales, themselves, or more likely about the content and the mythology surrounding said tales). Even the worst Pratchett is better and more thoughtful than 90% of all popular fiction. There's non-fiction, too (three books discuss the science and math of discworld with a mathematician and a scientist); there's a series of children's books computer game whizzes; there's a junior high book about the pied-piper starring a con-artist cat; there's the trilogy of a witch coming of age that reflects coming-of-age everywhere; and then there is the book he wrote with Neil Gaiman called Good Omens, about the Apocalypse and the mistaken identity of the antichrist. Gimme a break. You don't have to read everything he has ever written, but the man has genius, humor, insight and the skill to crank out spot-on satires with every effort.