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50 in '10: #8
Title: Unseen Academicals
Author: Terry Pratchett
Length: 400 pages
Newest entry in the Discworld universe: Pratchett versus football. Or, for us Americans, soccer. This is an okay book. It was hard getting started until about page 37. Page 37 was when I met Glenda, who is now my favorite Discworld character ever. And given that she's up against the likes of Rincewind, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Susan Sto Helit, that's an impressive feat. Glenda would, in fact, make a fantastic witch. But the beauty of her character is that she doesn't need to be a witch or have any powers to do what needs doing, yet at the same time she's so flawed and real. I hearts her muchly, I do.
Now, part of why I may have trouble with this book overall is that I'm not really familiar with the "footie" or "football hooligans" subculture in Britain that it's based on. Part of it may also be that Pratchett's juggling so many characters and threads and for a change not handling them as deftly as they require. Part of it also is that he's putting characters in just as cameos. Rincewind I buy, given that it's Unseen University-based, but Sgt. Angua and C.M.O.T. Dibbler and Sam Vimes and (of course) Death all just seemed to be there for gratuity's sake. Though I did like Vimes' appearance for how it ties this book into the timeline of Thud!. What I did also really like about this book, was its glimpse into the upstairs/downstairs workings of Unseen University, and also into social rules of class and how and why they actually work. I did like Vetinari's role; he seems here to be more content to let his city rule itself... with the occasional push in the direction he desires. Unfortunately, the end of the book felt unfinished to me. Things didn't get tied up.
So... recommended if you've read the rest of Discworld, with the understanding it's not as good as a lot of the others.
Author: Terry Pratchett
Length: 400 pages
Newest entry in the Discworld universe: Pratchett versus football. Or, for us Americans, soccer. This is an okay book. It was hard getting started until about page 37. Page 37 was when I met Glenda, who is now my favorite Discworld character ever. And given that she's up against the likes of Rincewind, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Susan Sto Helit, that's an impressive feat. Glenda would, in fact, make a fantastic witch. But the beauty of her character is that she doesn't need to be a witch or have any powers to do what needs doing, yet at the same time she's so flawed and real. I hearts her muchly, I do.
Now, part of why I may have trouble with this book overall is that I'm not really familiar with the "footie" or "football hooligans" subculture in Britain that it's based on. Part of it may also be that Pratchett's juggling so many characters and threads and for a change not handling them as deftly as they require. Part of it also is that he's putting characters in just as cameos. Rincewind I buy, given that it's Unseen University-based, but Sgt. Angua and C.M.O.T. Dibbler and Sam Vimes and (of course) Death all just seemed to be there for gratuity's sake. Though I did like Vimes' appearance for how it ties this book into the timeline of Thud!. What I did also really like about this book, was its glimpse into the upstairs/downstairs workings of Unseen University, and also into social rules of class and how and why they actually work. I did like Vetinari's role; he seems here to be more content to let his city rule itself... with the occasional push in the direction he desires. Unfortunately, the end of the book felt unfinished to me. Things didn't get tied up.
So... recommended if you've read the rest of Discworld, with the understanding it's not as good as a lot of the others.