UNSEEN ACADEMICALS by Terry Pratchett

Unseen Academicals is a 2009 Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. Here, the wizards of Ankh-Morpork’s Unseen University are forced to field a soccer team in order to maintain a rather sizeable bequest, lest they find themselves reduced to an intolerable three meals a day.

Obviously, Unseen Academicals pokes quite a bit of fun at Britain’s soccer culture. But beyond this, it’s similar to a number of recent Discworld novels in that it doesn’t really have, per se, a plot, but rather is about the lives of various relatively disparate characters (mostly new ones this time), and how they interact against the framework of the given social institution, and how they and the novel’s premise tidily intersect toward the end of the story. This is something that Pratchett is quite good at – bringing all his threads together without making things feel contrived.

Within this structure, Pratchett explores a number of themes beyond the masses’ love of sport, notably prejudice, relationship, and following one’s dreams. Pratchett has a knack for subtly incorporating his themes into his novels, although the new character Nutt, with his monologues, makes things a little more overt – this is distinctly un-Pratchett-like heavy-handedness. Pratchett’s general antipathy toward God and religion leaks through on occasion, distractingly.

Pratchett’s turn of phrase is still as clever as ever, and his vocabulary as large. Nearly all his gags work. Unseen Academicals is never laugh-out-loud funny, but it is always entertaining. And it may behoove the reader to keep a German-English dictionary handy.

Unseen Acadmicals isn’t the same league as the greatest of the Discworld novels, but Pratchett certainly knows how to keep the pages turning.

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THE WIT AND WISDOM OF DISCWORLD by Terry Pratchett

Stephen Briggs has compiled a selection of quotes and passages from every Discworld book through Making Money. As Terry Pratchett is known for his clever sentences, puns and jokes, this may seem like a great idea.

Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work. In the context of the Discworld novels, most of these passages are witty and humorous. Piled together here and ripped kicking and screaming from narrative context, it seems overmuch, and many passages end up giving the reader a "you had to be there" kind of feeling. Timing is everything with humor, but here, it's all out the window.

This is not to say there is no value here. Pratchett's cleverisms are certainly worthwhile and enjoyable. However, fans of Discworld are better off sticking with the novels, and those who are new to Discworld won't get it. Nor should they be expected to.

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MAKING MONEY by Terry Pratchett

Making Money is the second Discworld book featuring Moist von Lipwig, the conman-turned-postmaster general from Going Postal. Here he's put in charge of the mint, and so we get a great many adventures in banking.

I am a huge fan of the Discworld novels; I have read them all, and variously enjoyed each of them, although I have not much gotten into the rapidly growing periphery, which includes books on the science, geography and art of Discworld.

This is a typical Discworld book: the plot moves along leisurely while innumerable supporting characters wander in and out of the story as we approach an ending that is partly random and partly predictable. But that's never been a problem with Discworld novels; the plot is secondary to the characters, and all the fun is getting there.

This isn't the greatest Discworld book (I think most of the Vimes-centered ones tend to be the best), perhaps because Moist has the Midas touch where the plot is concerned – everything he does works out conveniently for his success (although perhaps in unexpected ways). Nevertheless the book is entertaining, because Pratchett's writing is good enough to overcome a deficit of plot.

The series is getting close to forty novels, but the charm is still there. Pratchett's writing is clever and amusing, as always, and one can't help but learn a few new words. And the man can still hit you with the most delightful sentences every now and again. Which is good, because Pratchett keeps cranking them out. Carry on, sir.

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WHERE’S MY COW? by Terry Pratchett and Melvyn Grant

Where's My Cow? is a tie-in with Pratchett's Discworld novel Thud!. It is ostensibly a children's book, although the target audience is quite obviously Discworld fans of all ages. This is perfectly in keeping with the burgeoning number of Discworld-related books that have been cranked out lately.

This is not, as might be expected, the version that appears in that book. Instead, Where's My Cow? is about Sam Vimes reading Where's My Cow? to his son, just as he did in Thud!. Mild silliness ensues. The problem is that there isn't really anything here that wasn't also in Thud!.

There have been a lot of complaints about Melvyn Grant's illustrations, mostly about his depiction of Vimes. Well, that's artistic expression for you. There's nothing terrible about the illustrations, even if they aren't great.

Where's My Cow? is really for serious Discworld fans only, most of whom will only be inclined to read it once. If you aren't a Discworld fan, you won't get it.

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