Unseen Academicals, Book Review
UK’s best-selling author Terry Pratchett’s latest novel Unseen Academicals (2009) is a parody on the cultural phenomenon of European football (soccer) and everything that surrounds it. As such, it may be better understood and enjoyed by Europeans than Americans; in particular since football hooliganism, a distinctly UK phenomenon, plays a central role in the story.
But this novel is really about a much wider array of human follies and foibles than just football; most of which are universal, American as much as European. Other themes in the book include goblins and orcs, pies of every conceivable (and inconceivable) variety; as well as fashion supermodels and their excessive adulation by the public.
In the hallmark Terry Pratchett tradition, things on the Discworld are just like in our own world, only hilariously exaggerated. Instead of cheerleaders, the Discworld has naiads dancing on the sidelines, and in the place of our tail-gate markets, there are cart-tail vendors.
The main character in the book is the goblin-turned-orc Mr. Nutt, who is one of only a dozen or so surviving orcs on Discworld. In a display of philanthropy, two of the world’s most powerful despotic rulers decide to take Nutt on as a project, to help not only him but his entire persecuted race.
It bears mentioning that the two leaders in question, Lord Vetinari and Lady Margolotta have been at this before. Their previous projects have included rock trolls, werewolves, golems, and vampires, all of which they assisted in becoming integrated and accepted members of human society.
As part of his process of merging into human society, Mr. Nutt has been assigned by Lady Margolotta to accumulate ‘worth.’ A task which he goes at with no restraints and in the process makes many friends and allies. Nutt’s co-worker Trev Likely stops at nothing to save his life when it’s in peril. And in the night kitchen of the Unseen University where he works, Nutt finds a romantic interest in Miss Glenda Sugarbean, supreme creator of the crusty onion pie and other gourmet delicacies.
By impressing his superiors at Unseen University with his knowledge and knack for strategic thinking, Mr. Nutt eventually gets placed in charge of coaching the school’s new football team. And then one thing leads to another.
Unseen Academicals is a parody not only on European football (soccer) but also on food (especially pies), clothes and modeling, and the perplexing nature or human beings. So if you don’t wear clothes or eat food, then this book may not amuse you. But if you do, it will most assuredly provide you with barrels of laughs.
Mrs. Hellman resides in Western North Carolina with her spouse and three sons. A copywriter by profession, she writes book reviews as a hobby. Visit her web-site The Light Fantastic, where you can order Unseen Academicals and all the other 36 novels in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.