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Unseen Academicals: A Discworld Novel [Hardcover]

Terry Pratchett
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (225 customer reviews)
RRP: £18.99
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Book Description

1 Oct 2009

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 the 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 (and no one knows anything much about Mr Nutt, not even Mr Nutt, which worries him, too). As the match approaches, four lives are entangled and changed for ever.

Because the thing about football - the important thing about football - is that it is not just about football.

Here we go! Here we go! Here we go!


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Unseen Academicals: A Discworld Novel + Snuff: (Discworld Novel 39) (Discworld Novels)
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Doubleday; First edition (1 Oct 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385609345
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385609340
  • Product Dimensions: 15.9 x 3.2 x 24.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (225 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 25,381 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

This is the 37th in a body of work so vast that it has spawned its own concordance, yet the quality remains as high as ever and the laughs as plentiful...Like all the Discworld novels, Unseen Academicals rewards a second reading. As ever it is peppered with allusions, from Keats to the Lewinsky affair, but, like Wodehouse, Pratchett wears his learning lightly and the pleasure of rereading is in teasing them out. (Peter Inham Telegraph 2009-10-10)

Mention comic fantasy and Terry Pratchett is the first name that comes to mind...behind the fantasy Terry Pratchett looks at very real contemporary issues and scores many goals. This isn't just football, it's Discworld football. Or, to borrow another phrase, it's about life, the Universe, and everything. (The Times 2009-10-10)

The subject matter is football, with a dash of Romeo and Juliet thown in...exactly what's needed to cheer us all up in the autumnal gloom. Terry has lost none of his ability to raise a laugh...I'll wager there are a few more books in him yet. (Daily Express)

We doubt whether Pratchett gives a fig about 22 men kicking a bag of wind,but he's ever fascinated by people,our vagaries, our vanities and our triumphs. And, when all's said and done, football is all about us, wherever we sit in society. In case you hadn't already guessed, the man of the match award goes, not for the first time, to Sir Terry Pratchett. (SFX)

Satirical, historical, fantastical and irresistible. (Daily Mail)

Book Description

Football comes to the Discworld! And the thing about football - the important thing about football - is that it is not just about football.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
200 of 207 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent as (almost) Always 3 Oct 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Three lions (and an ape) 24 April 2011
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I probably fall in a third camp that neither loved nor hated this novel but enjoyed it as a generic Discworld story that ticks all the usual boxes with some memorable new characters to boot.
The Unseen University crew are some of Pratchett's most memorable creations, but I thought that the majority were underused here, apart from Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully about whom we learn a little more. Rincewind and his brilliant walking chest were largely absent from the action, but the eternally put-upon Ponder Stibbons and bolshy (ex) Dean are given plenty to do.
The story is a straightforward TP satire on society and the way it treats those seen to be different, and is a thoroughly enjoyable read; it just doesn't take the Discworld series anywhere new.
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60 of 66 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Unseen Academicals 11 Oct 2009
Format:Hardcover
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.
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57 of 64 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Back of the net for Mr Pratchett! 1 Oct 2009
By N. Brett TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
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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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Come on, read it if you're hard enough!
As usual, Pratchett's work is laced with wit and a occasional moments of emotional thuggery, catching you unaware and then casually rifling through your heart for memories that you... Read more
Published 1 month ago by M Poole
5.0 out of 5 stars As good as ever.
Clever and imaginative book. Terry does foot the ball so well. And a misunderstood orc. I commend this one to anyone, even if they are not used to pratchett, as the story stands... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Simon
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Classic
Great book by TP - really enjoyable (and now I have to type more words so that Amazon will let me submit!)
Published 2 months ago by Julian
4.0 out of 5 stars Football as seen from the turtle
Another TP masterpiece!
Nutt, the invincible is a "worthy" character showing all how er should conduct ourselves in this world ;)
Published 2 months ago by Martin Parr
3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not brilliant
I've read all of the Discworld novels & the last few have been worth a read but not totally brilliant. Same with this one. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Nicky Norwood
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
I love all Pratchett's books, and this one is just as amusing as earler Discworld stories, goon on yer, Terry!
Published 3 months ago by krischris
5.0 out of 5 stars Terry Pratchett at his best
Not being very fond of football I was a bit uncertain about this one; nevertheless, being a big Pratchett fan, I thought I'd give it a try and wasn't disappointed. Read more
Published 3 months ago by julie c nasralla
5.0 out of 5 stars academicals
once again he has out done himself and I will tell all my friends to read his books they always keep me enthralled
Published 4 months ago by ELIZABETH ANNE DAVIES
5.0 out of 5 stars Pies and prejudice
This is one of my favourites of Pratchett's fantastic novels, if you love Discworld please don't hesitate in buying it!
Published 4 months ago by jenny w.
5.0 out of 5 stars Another outstanding Pratchett
Yet again Pratchett entwines the lives of his characters ingeniously, while poking fun at so much of our life on the spherical earth. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mrs. Anna Foote
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