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Unseen Academicals: A Discworld Novel

Unseen Academicals: A Discworld NovelAuthor: Terry Pratchett
Publisher: Doubleday
Category: Book

List Price: £18.99
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New (35) Used (19) Collectible (14) from £2.27

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars reviews
Sales Rank: 4,605

Media: Hardcover
Edition: Reprint
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 5.9 x 1.5

ISBN: 0385609345
EAN: 9780385609340
ASIN: 0385609345

Publication Date: October 1, 2009
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Features:
  • New
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Also Available In:

  • Mass Market Paperback - Unseen Academicals: A Discworld Novel
  • Audio CD - Unseen Academicals
  • Mass Market Paperback - Unseen Academicals (Discworld)
  • Kindle Edition - Unseen Academicals
  • Audio Download - Unseen Academicals: Discworld #32 (Unabridged)
  • Preloaded Digital Audio Player - Unseen Academicals [With Earbuds]
  • Audio Download - Unseen Academicals: Discworld, Book 32
  • Audio CD - Unseen Academicals
  • Audio Cassette - Unseen Academicals
  • Audio CD - Unseen Academicals
  • Kindle Edition - Unseen Academicals (Discworld)
  • Hardcover - Unseen Academicals: Limited Collectors Edition
  • Audio CD - Unseen Academicals
  • Hardcover - Unseen Academicals (Discworld)
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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
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 going 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.

Customer Reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 ...33Next »



5 out of 5 stars Excellent as (almost) Always   October 3, 2009
Mr. Michael Heron
176 out of 180 found this review helpful

I was a little bit apprehensive about the idea of Unseen Academicals. I couldn't see how even a writer as gifted as Terry Pratchett could make football something true to the spirit of Discworld. Happily, the book manages to meld the strange worlds together in an energising and entertaining whole. I wasn't sure I was going to like it when it arrived, but as usualy Terry Pratchett delivers something much more than we have any right to expect.

Some parts of the book are an unusual departure in terms of the theme of the book - not so much inconsistent but as part of a continual evolution of the character of Ankh-Morpork and its various inhabitants. More so than any other Discworld book, I got the feeling from this novel that things are genuinely changing in the world. People are moving on and growing up, sometimes with surprising results. It genuinely feels like the book moves the continuing story of the Discworld on a few years.

I don't want to say too much about the plot itself, but it manages to avoid that which I had feared - the 'gimmick of the episode' style thing so common to the later stages of popular franchises. It's never the case that the football element is crowbarred in - it emerges rather nicely from the usual serendipitious circumstances that we come to expect. That's especially welcome, because not being a fan of football myself, the whole theme of the book is somewhat alien to me. However, really it's not about football - it's about the people, the mythology, and the spirit of the game. In the same way that the West Wing is not a show about politics, and House is not a show about medicine, this isn't a book about football. Football is just the vehicle used to deliver some important lessons about the nature of community and belonging.

It's a wonderful book, and a very worthy addition to the Discworld canon. Thanks, Terry!




5 out of 5 stars The best and funniest Discworld novel in a while   October 6, 2009
Blackhorse47 (Moray, Scotland)
24 out of 25 found this review helpful

This new addition to the adult Discworld series is the most enjoyable since, for me anyhow, The Hogfather, and much more entertaining than I expected it to be at this stage in the series. The recent books have been light on laughs with the stories not being all that riveting either. Happily this is not the case with a book about football, although as it turns out, it's about a lot of things other than football.

As someone who has no interest in 'foot-the-ball' the set up for the plot didn't fill me with excitement: the wizards of Unseen University must win Discworld's murderous version of the game using the proper non-magic rules in order to continue to enjoy their slothful lives. But rapidly it becomes clear that knowledge of the game isn't required to enjoy the story. This isn't a satire on modern day football, but more a satire on lots of aspects of our lives such as celebrity culture, fashion, education... Ankh-Morpork has also changed a lot, certainly since the early books. This has been going on for a while as the satirical element to the series grows, but the feeling that the town has moved on is noticeable and makes the direction of future stories interesting.

This story is in essence a parody of that perennial favourite, the no-hope team winning a game against all the odds aided by a washed-out coach who used to be big once... But as this is Discworld, story logic subverts everything and is mingled in with several other perennial favourite stories such as Romeo and Juliet. But what makes the book is the characters. The problem with recent books is that new main characters, such as Moist in Going Postal, were so uninteresting they had to be livened up with appearances from old favourites like Vetinari. This time the tale gets the balance right by adding in few good new ones while keeping old favourites in cameo roles and larger roles. So the Luggage, Rincewind, and The Librarian are back, along with Death, Vimes of the Watch and many more. But they are not just there to cheer up the fans as the new ones such as the sardonic Glenda, the seemingly naïve Juliet, and the brilliantly enigmatic Mr Nutt are already strong enough to carry the story.

All right, the comic bits won't make you drop the book while you laugh out loud; they tend to just generate wry smiles or a knowing nod as another facet of life you've never considered before gets considered from a new, twisted angle. But as with Pratchett's best books I often found myself re-reading the last few paragraphs just so I could enjoy again a great set-up or a well-delivered turn of phrase. And as I haven't done that for a while, that means this is one of the better Discworld books. Oh, and all the best for the future Sir Terry.


4 out of 5 stars Unseen Academicals   October 11, 2009
Brian Lelas (Dublin, Ireland)
44 out of 48 found this review helpful

Terry Pratchett's recent form has been criticised by many. "Nation" divided fans. "Making Money" couldn't live up to the standard set by "Going Postal" a few years before, much like "Wintersmith" with the two previous Tiffany Aching novels. But one thing was clear about these books, it was that Pratchett, even when slightly off the top form we have cme to expect from him, can still win awards for his books and is usually leagues ahead of the competition.

"Unseen Academicals" on the other hand, is utterly joyful to read. On the outside it seems like a book about football, but as the quote on the back quite aptly points out, "The important thing about football is that it isn't about football." What we have here is a novel about the uncontrollable culture of football and the broad range of football zealots, from the lovers of the game and the men with the skills to the angry old women shouting "kick 'im in da nutz!" and violent hooligans that dominate the Shove.

But wrapped even more deeply is a realisation that Pratchett was actually warning us with that back cover quote. It really isn't about football. The sub-plot, surrounding Mister Nutt, an intelligent and incredibly polite goblin, and his Unseen University colleagues, Glenda the Night Kitchen cook, her assistant Juliet and candle dribbler, Trev Likely. This sub-plot, however, takes up at least 60% of the book, so to call it so would be an injustice. And further so, because it is a wonderful tale of romance, adversity and acceptance. Pratchett has created something quite special with the character of Mister Nutt, who will be a favourite of fans for years to come.

The laughs are more frequent than "Making Money" and the novels of the last few years, with the Wizards, Archchancellor Ridcully in particular, and his ever present number two, Ponder Stibbons, always nearby when something is making you laugh out loud. Only Pratchett has the ability to bring such a clever wit to the level of blurt-out embarrass yourself in public laughter, and you'll experience this many times while reading "Unseen Academicals." Fans of Rincewind, be aware that he has only a cameo appearance in this book and is by no means the main character. But you will not be disappointed, because Ridcully, Nutt, Vetinari and Glenda will be more than enough to keep you entertained.

"Unseen Academicals", while not one of the overall best in the Discworld series, like "Night Watch" or "Mort", is certainly in the second tier of greats and is the best Pratchett for many years, and when the final whistle blows, you'll be wishing for more!


3 out of 5 stars world's gone football crazy!   July 8, 2010
Mrs. Lisa J. Lomas
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Now I'm a huge Terry Pratchett Diskworld fan I have to admit, but still this only gets 3 stars from me. Why you ask? well frankly its very, very slow to build up, not at all like the usual Pratchett method of throwing you into the deep end of the laughter pool. To be honest, I very nearly didn't bother finishing it, but then he began to get to grips with his plot and the satyrical view of football began to shine. All in all i would say its ok, but the plot and characters are far too splintered up until the final third of the book. I may read it again in a couple of years but its no Hogfather, Night Watch or other of the greats. Sorry Terry, thats the truth.


4 out of 5 stars Back of the net for Mr Pratchett!   October 1, 2009
N. Brett (Wiltshire, England)
55 out of 64 found this review helpful

Mr Pratchett has used many of his novels to give a comic fantasy twist to many subjects ranging from Banking, movie making to newspapers. Here he turns his hand to blending football into the Discworld.

I have been with the Discworld novels since the very beginning, way before the author turned into a phenomenon and then an official National Treasure. Recently his much discussed illness has perhaps made us appreciate his genius even more. Now, a slight confession, although I was there from the start, I kind of lost my way about Hogfather - maybe it was my age or my tastes changed, but suddenly the books weren't doing it for me and since Hogfather I have only been dipping in and out of the occasional one.

But I love football and was keen to see how Terry Pratchett would morph the beautiful game into a Discworld version! And would the classic humour and clever writing be there as I remembered it from the days of avid reading. In short, yes.

In essence, the wizards of the Unseen University have to win a football match. And they are not allowed to use magic. So they resort to bringing in some players all of whom, in typical Pratchett fashion, are not quite what they seem. But although there are many amusing digs at the football culture, football and the challenge match are just the framework in which the author places interesting characters and very funny interplay. And there comes a point where you realise that actually this book might be about something that is nothing to do with football!

It's astonishing that an author who is suffering with a serious illness can still produce such high quality stuff. The word genius was never more appropriate.


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