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Unseen Academicals |  | Author: Terry Pratchett
Publisher: Doubleday
Category: Book
List Price: £18.99
Buy New: £9.72
as of 11/3/2010 05:46 UTC details
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Seller: Amazon.co.uk
Rating:  124 reviews
Sales Rank: 414
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
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 124
 A very disappointing TP book... March 1, 2010
A. Kefalas
Take it from somone who has read ALL of Terry Pratchett books: this is probably one of his worst books ever... Its a shame, cause the subject is very very interesting.. Read it only if you got nothing else to read, or if you WANT to still believe that Terry can still produce works of art like Jingo, Hogfather, or Mort...
 Almost up there with his best February 24, 2010
Mr. Jr Ward (London)
I'm a huge Terry Pratchett fan and have been since I saw The Colour of Magic for sale when I was about 11 and bought it because of the cover. I'm not a fan of football however, so I was a bit concerned about this latest offering.
I need not have worried, for as it states on the back: 'The thing about football - the important thing about football -is that it is not just about football.' This book is not just about football. In fact, the only real football match in the book occurs right at the end and by that point you are so wrapped up in the characters, plot, and sub-plot, that you are actually looking forward to the match just to see what happens.
The principle protagonists are a mysterious but highly intelligent goblin called Nutt, a jack-the-lad son of a footballer called Trev Likely, a hot but dim supermodel type called Juliet, a strong willed lady-chef called Glenda, and loads of wizards. Plus an ape.
It turns out that the Unseen University (where the wizards go) must play a game of football every twenty years or they lose a ton of funding from a vaguely eccentric dead benefactor. So that's the plot.
As with most of Pratchett's books, the plot is there to drive the story along but the main thing that keeps you glued to the pages are the numerous sub-plots and characters. Nutt undergoes a change and you learn more about him as he learns himself. Trev promised his mum not to play football but you kind of know he's going to. How will things work out between Trev and Juliet? Is Juliet going to follow her dream of being a model - even if it means wearing a fake beard and pretending to be a female dwarf? And so on. Distinct and unique likeable characters are a forte of Pratchett's and he certainly doesn't disappoint here.
The wizards feature heavily in this book and that is always a good thing. Even if you haven't read a discworld book before you'll like them. If you are a regular reader, you'll know what to expect. Rincewind, the luggage, and the librarian appear too (just as cameos), as you can see on the cover. If you are a fan, you also really get a sense of the city developing - with the clacks, the post, the bank, newspapers and so on. If you aren't, then it really doesn't matter - welcome to Ankh Morpork: a fully realized and living city (clearly based on London).
It's difficult to grade Pratchett's books as, like Douglas Adams, they are in a league of their own (no pun intended here). If you look on Amazon, nearly all his books are 4-5 stars. Which doesn't help if you are new to Pratchett and want to read a better one. This book is great. Not up there with his top 5% perhaps - Guards! Guards!, Mort, Feet of Clay, being some personal favorites - but just below that. Better than most but not the very best. If that helps.
If you are new to Pratchett - enjoy, this book is a treat and you have sooo many more ahead of you. If you're an old hand - just enjoy, this is one of his better ones.
Another great Discworld book February 23, 2010
A. Taylor
I don't understand how some people think this book isn't as good as his others in the Discworld series. Sure, it focuses a lot on some new characters, but that's not a bad thing in my opinion. I couldn't recommend this enough to Pratchett fans, and if you've not read any of the Discworld books before, what are you waiting for?
Not just about football February 14, 2010
E. Shaw (Leeds, England)
Set in Ankh Morpork, mostly in the confines of Unseen University, this episode in the city's illustrious history concerns the newest Candle Knave in the cellars, Nutt. Candle Knaves do not see much daylight since their job involves dripping new candlewax to make the kind of candles a wizard can use, complete with lots of messy runnels. Nutt is not quite human; he is, however, destined for better things, especially when Lord Vetinari decides to transplant the game of foot-the-ball from the streets, where it is played in its age-old savagery and disregard for any rules, to a whole new ball game (sorry) - more akin to football as played by the ancients, though not, thankfully, in the nude, as appeared to be the case going by an ancient vase recently excavated.
Glenda, cook in the Night Kitchen, and her assistant, the beautiful Juliet are involved in the plot through Trev Likely, who can make a tin-can do anything he wants it to do, though he won't play football, because he promised his deceased Mum, who'd had quite enough of it when his Dad died during a match. Trev's nemesis is Andy, fearsome, vicious and stupid, though when the chips are down, not even he can stop this laugh-out-loud novel coming to fitting conclusion (courtesy of final justice meted by the slinky fashionista Pepe). A brilliant tour-de-force in the Disc World pantheon.
Great book! February 12, 2010
A. Ahumada Avila (Spain)
Pure Terry Pratchett. A fun book to read and with a lot of similarities to the "real" history of football.
I do miss stories of the three witches from Lancre though...
Showing reviews 1-5 of 124
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