Book Review: Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
I have been a discworld fan since I read my first one some 15 years ago. Terry Pratchett is one of the maybe a handful of writers of which I keep on rereading the books, some even for the 5th time. I keep on discovering new jokes and references. For those not familiar with Terry Pratchett’s work, his books contain lots of references to contemporary society, economy, politics, computer networks, Shakespeare, the press, religion, movies, TV-series, Taoism, … While rereading his work, you sometimes discover new references.
Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
Unseen Academicals
Football has come to the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork — not the old fashioned, grubby pushing and shoving, but the new, fast football with pointy hats for goalposts and balls that go gloing when you drop them. 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 a 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, who no one knows much about. As the match approaches, four lives are entangled and changed forever.
Because the thing about football – the important thing about football – is that it is not just about football. (Text was taken from the cover)
Review
How does Unseen Academicals compare to the other discworld novels? Well, for a discworld novel it’s below average. I would rate most discworld novels 9 or 10 on a scale of 10 and this one only deserves an 8/10 or 4 stars. However, a book with a 4 star rating is still a very good book.
The quality of the book is uneven. The first half is wittier and better worked out than the second half, which feels a bit like a rush job. There are several plots that go nowhere. The second half is also darker than the first half.
It’s a typical Pratchett book in the way he takes on issues in contemporary society (self-worth, xenophobia, power games, football, idolization). He is still a master of sarcasm and parody, and one of the funniest and wittiest authors around, but this book sparkles a bit less. Some people think that Alzheimer’s disease is starting to affect his writings, but I don’t want to go there. This book still shows his genius, but especially the second half could have used some more fine-tuning and editing.
I also expected a greater role for Rincewind, but he might have well been no part of this story at all. There are 3 well-known discworld protagonists that gain a lot of depth in this novel, but that will only appeal to and be noticed by experienced discworld readers.
Conclusion
Rating: 8/10 or 
Has this book worth? Yes, it sure does.
Is it a good book to start reading the discworld series? No, The Colour of Magic, Small Gods, Pyramids, The Wee Free Men, Going Postal … are better suited for this.
I am looking forward to the next discworld novels Raising Taxes and I shall Wear Midnight.
| Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. |
