Unseen Academicals

August 31, 2009
Football, food, fashion and wizards collide in Pratchett’s 37th Discworld novel (after 2007’s Making Money
), an affectionate satire on the foibles of sports and sports fans. The always out-of-touch wizards at Ankh-Morpork’s Unseen University stand to lose a very big bequest unless they enter a team in a violent but popular street sport competition. As the wizards struggle to learn the game, aided by the university’s hired help, Ankh-Morpork’s ruler schemes to use the competition for his own purposes. Though the book suffers from a few awkward moments (Pratchett’s attempts to discuss racism through the strained relationships of dwarves, humans and goblins fall particularly flat), the prose crackles with wit and charm, and the sendups of league football, academic posturing, Romeo and Juliet
and cheesy sports dramas are razor sharp and hilarious but never cruel. At its heart, this is an intelligent, cheeky love letter to football, its fans and the unifying power of sports.

January 25, 2010
In the magical universe of Discworld, the dithering and very dotty wizards at Unseen University struggle to master the arcane rules of football as they enter a violent street sport competition. The challenges include getting the sedentary and distracted professors to play with some enthusiasm (and without magic), defending themselves against their opponents’ unsportsmanlike behavior, and naturally, to win. It’s not easy to track the multitude of characters, but Stephen Briggs gives each of them a distinctive voice. Briggs has been adapting Pratchett’s novels to the stage since 1991, and the recurring characters are his to command. His performance brings out the best of the satirical humor and Pratchett’s really good bad puns. Fans of Discworld will not be disappointed. A Harper hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 31).