New Book - Unseen Academicals!

ozt9vdujny3srf

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unseen-Academicals-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0385609345/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255289755&sr=8-1

So who has read it? Any good?


time to put some shock paddles on this forum!

JIZZLORD

reading it at the moment

Nevyn

I can't believe it's about soccer, I will have to read something which is soccer related.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zppx684ET0

Sarxos

So far (I'm 2/3 through) it's brilliant. The new characters are great. Dr. Hix is brilliant. The story-telling is right up there with Thud and Night Watch.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

picked it up earlier this afternoon, only a hundred or so pages in but i'm really enjoying it. I think i'm going to head into the shed in the back yard to dig through my boxes for discworld books. I need some vimes and i need it now. Tomorrow might do.

Mark Hamill

Finshed it a few days ago, loved it, great story and great characters. Can you guess what my favourite part was ?

johnnyskeleton

1/3 of the way through.

It's enjoyable, but so far the plot hasn't really kicked in (i.e. in similar books such as moving pictures the plot gets going in the first 50 pages or so).

Funnier than some of the more recent ones, but with the same level of characterisation that made going postal and the like more interesting.

Asiaprod

Mark Hamill wrote: »

Finshed it a few days ago, loved it, great story and great characters. Can you guess what my favourite part was ?

I just love that LV quote in your sig MH:D
Waiting for my copy to arrive.

BlitzKrieg

just finished it there before the weekend.

I have to admit I was disapointed. It started off really strong, wizards/vetinari mashup with a selection of new interesting characters.

But it floundered 2/3rds of the way through. There were far too many plotlines that didnt feel like the reached a satisfactory conclusion and the main plot involving Nutt overshadowed everything, including the football.

The story of Nutt is very entertaining and interesting, but it demanded too much space compared to the other stories, it would have worked well if it was the main plot with a established backdrop rather then being the main plot, plus a whole new dynamic (football)backdrop with the pop in here and there of regulars.

We might have had too many of them lately, but Nutt would have worked better being coupled with a Watch or Moist book rather then the wizards (which is actually nodded at in the book when someone points out new species tend to end up on the watch)

But I degress, there was so much happening that was really interesting, the first super model, the wizardry rivalry, the football and the hooligans, that it almost felt criminal to square them all away in the last 50 or so pages (in most cases they were solved by a literal paragraph)

In the end though, I enjoyed the first chunk of it, and perhaps in a few months when I re read it then it will grow on me much like how Thud and going postal grew on me on 2nd readings.

Though I must say Vimes seems to act different in any book that is not about him, most of them he comes across as an ass (the truth, going postal, making money) or unusually civil (Unseen acdemicals) I could put it down to that we dont read the internal vimes voice during these brief appearances which tends to ground the character.


EDIT:

speaking of characters being different, Nutt's master is the same lady from fifth elephant correct? In fifth elephant she was a very different character, cunningly smart, but appeared very cozy and down to earth. Here she was the opposite, where she seemed alot colder and stuck up and vetinari was the more cunning. It seemed rather odd to me.

mud

I've ordered it and can't wait for it to arrive!

Was just checking out Terry P's top ten books (if you follow the link in the 1st post you can see it) some interesting ones there.

cyberwolf77

Loved it, simply loved it.

Sofiztikated

I'm going to have to say, I'm finding it very hard to get into it. Then again, same happened with Thud, I think I missed the point of that book completely. Whereby I read a synopsis of it, and I was thinking, "Where did that happen!"

I'm not finished it yet, like I said, its just not speaking to me the same was as Going Postal, NightWatch, and a lesser degree Making Money.

Started to feel a bit worried that the P was losing some of his ability as his condition progresses.

Cactus Col

I'm really enjoying Unseen Academicals so far. A few of the discworld novels have seemed a bit too formulaic for my liking. I certainly enjoyed them though.

It took me a bit to get into the new book, but I'm certainly glad I have. Glenda is a great character, I would have hoped to see more of her in future books. The Wizards, who I often find a bit annoying were great fun. Even Rincewind made a great cameo.

I'm excited about finishing the book.

LenaClaire

My brother gave it to me for Christmas and I loved it! It got a tiny bit boggy in the middle but ended up great. Lots of new fun characters and the same old cast as well.

ozt9vdujny3srf

Got it for christmas and just started reading, haven't read this thread to avoid spoilers!

100 Pages in and its good so far!

micosavo

Being an avid Terry Pratchett fan, I was waiting for this book to come out for over a year...

While he had gotten back to his best in Thud (one of my faves), this book felt strange. It really did feel like someone else was writing the book, and not just physically. I knew that someone else was writing the book for him, but with his words, before I picked it up and it didn't bother me.

But clearly, in the opening passages I saw there were words used that did not sync with his style. Its not often that I have to go to a dictionary to pick out words and with Terry Pratchett it never happened before. It just didn't feel like him.

In saying that, once I had adjusted to this new style of writing, the book flowed along nicely, and at a good pace.

Not a great book, but a good one.

The_Minister

Not a favorite by any means, but still worth reading, and a good laugh.

Loved the orc.

LadyJedi

Loved it, Nut is great character and was waiting with bated breath for the explosion

fizzlefi

I liked this book, and it was good to see that TP had stopped writing in chapters for it. Out of his newer books, though, I think the Moist ones have to be my favourites.

I've just finished this book and found it to be a bit of a let-down too. I got this for Christmas and whereas i'm normally hooked to the point of forsaking TV/Movies/Social life in order to read a TP book, it took me about 10 nights reading before sleeping to trawl through this one.

I felt a mild horror at the fact that I got to near the last 50 pages and found that the game was only about to begin. It all ended rather abruptly and with a poor tying of the loose ends.

I feel it would have been more enjoyable if the detail had been focused on the big game and surrounding stories than in the build-up to the event.

IMO it's a good book, not a great one.

iUseVi

A great read, but all about the excellent characters rather than the plot for me. The football part is an obvious background that Pratchett is only using to hook the characters onto, and the actual "match" was quite disappointing in a way.

But I didn't mind, overall still a good read and like others I really loved the Nutt character.

And the abundance of popular culture references and other nested layers that of course Pratchett always brings to the table. The "Fair Lady" one has to be one of the crudest but it still made me laugh.

angelll

I did like it but does anyone else think it needs a follow up? There were loads of loose ends but maybe they will be mentioned in the future... I did love nutts inspirational speeches..v good!

Gaspode

I really enjoyed this book - so much going on. Good new characters that have a book in each of them!

pixelburp

I picked this up as a paperback the other day & working my way through it. I'm about 4/5s of the way through & it seems like an increase in form from Pratchett.

I think the wizards of Unseen University are one of Pratchett's stronger creations & you can certainly get the sense he enjoys writing their dialogue - particularly the Mustrum / Ponder stuff. Most of the laugh-out-loud material comes from their mouths & it's great to see them front and centre again, I was getting a bit tired of the Watch novels (which were making Ankh Morpork seem very small), that series was getting very samey. Maybe what makes this one all the more enjoyable is that it's not about solving / foiling a murder, or saving civilisation / the city. Nothing is at stake & it's just about a bunch of Wizards getting to grips with football.

Mind you, it's a bit weird reading about Rincewind popping in and out as a cameo - good to see he's safe and sound though, I figured he'd make a great winger

All the new characters are great additions too; Dr. Hix from UU, and the 4 main characters from UU's basements - Nutt, Glenda, Trev & Juliet are a fun little family unit.

petebricquette

I wasn't blown away by it as a book. The story was pretty good but in my head I'm comparing everything to Night Watch so any of the newer stuff seems weaker IMO. Nutt is a really great character and presumably he'll end up in the City Watch as some kind of intelligence officer. I can't really put my finger on it but I felt pretty dissatisfied at the end.

Sofiztikated

I just realised I haven't finished this book. Its under my bed, gathering bedroom dust. Must dig it out and (start it again and) finish it.