Unseen Academicals
category: fantasy, humour, author:Terry Pratchett
book 37 of Discworldoriginal copyright 2009
read in December 2011
Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10: really quite good
Actually, there are more new characters than old. At least, more story built around the new characters. Which is good. For a while, Discworld seemed to be in a bit of a slump, with familiar characters -- admittedly in new adventures -- but acting largely as expected.
Going Postal was an earlier return to form... Well, a return to a new start, with many new characters... Anyway... Going Postal has been made into a movie. Perhaps (I think to myself) because Going Postal has a story which can stand alone.
Unseen Academicals can also stand alone.
Yes, there are several well known wizards of Unseen University. Ridcully's character has become somewhat more realistic, Ponder Stibbons has developed his career and the Dean has changed jobs. Rincewind has a cameo role -- in his usual put-upon style -- but he is now accepted as a regular staff member of UU. The wizards have more depth to their characters.
The non-academic staff of UU has also made an appearance. Many of these characters are new. (To me, anyway. Perhaps they did appear in books that I have not yet read?) These newly-revealed people -- plus a few from outside UU -- play the key roles in Academicals.
The writing style has also changed.
I complained about the hopeless loser role of Rincewind in The Colour of Magic. Now the characters are strong... almost super strong. Nutt the dribbler (see below) is -- to not give too much away -- more than he seems. As he develops his self-confidence, he becomes almost unstoppable... Perhaps even unstoppable, forget the "almost".
Other characters also assert themselves. Which adds up to a totally unbelievable story which is all, perfectly... believable. Believable, that is, given the inherent magic of a world which rides on the backs of elephants which stand on a rather large turtle.
So the characters assert themselves. Far more than in earlier books. The magic is more visible. Even if it is restricted in order to avoid full-on magic wars. And the social commentary is more direct.
The social commentary is hard and direct. Which is fine because it does not in any way detract from the entertainment. In Monstrous Regiment (from memory; I read it long before I began these reviews) the satire is slathered on with a trowel. Hammered home with a sledge hammer. This is not a problem with Academicals.
The satire is strong but not intrusive. The message that everyone deserves to be treated fairly is... well... perhaps slathered on a bit thickly. Yet it does not detract from the fun of the story.
And the societal activity which is the target of this book? It's football... Or soccer, to some.
Which brings me back to Nutt the dribbler.
How do you get those wax candles with the spooky shapes of dribbled wax down the side? You hire a candle dribbler, of course! Which links nicely -- perhaps subtly -- I almost missed it :-) -- to the theme of the book. Which is soccer.
An excellent book in an excellent series. With no-one cast as a hopeless loser. Unless he really deserves it...
| These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting.
For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com. |
| PissWeakly: the Index |
No comments:
Post a Comment