I was a Terry Pratchett fan like no other in school. I read them constantly, a string of novels all set in the distinctive Discworld that were funny and well-written using a style of fantasy that was never really used in the same way by anyone else, at least none that I read. I loved them and it formed a great deal of the way that I write today, which may not be a good thing.
Unseen Academicals is the latest in the series, a gift I got for Christmas and I was worried before I started reading it; it was about football in the Discworld universe, something I have always failed to get any interest from and I knew about Mr Pratchett’s condition. He had alzheimers, something that was preventing him from doing his job, slowing down his writing considrably and making him forget vital info. I’d seen it all happen in a documentary many months back and it was sad. The sight of Pratchett during a public reading where, after half an hour, he suddenly coudnt understand anything on the page, his own words, was one of the most distraught images I have ever seen. It was sad and made me doubt the future of his books.
I needn’t have worried though because this is classic Pratchett and continues the line of Discworld books that have ben getting steadily more serious, more politcial and even a little more romantic. This time the politics hover around the subject of football and the new rules being put in place where before-hand there had been no rules.
The wizards of Unseen University are being forced into playing football due to an age-old contract where if they don’t they get their food budgets drastically cut, something that doesn’t fit well with the wizards and when their oppentents are decided as being from an opposing university everything becomes personal and the game that they wanted over as soon as possible is suddenly a game of pride and honour.
Pratchett tries hard but no one has ever made me gain interest any interest in football and this doesn’t succeed either. When the whole subject revolves around the sport it had a habit of making my mind wander and although there are several other characters and thier branching storylines, including the story of an incredibly intelligent Orc that is far more interesting than anything else in the book and shows you the simple power of pratchett’s writing, it’s ultimately just okay. Nothing really comes at me as being special about the novel, nothing sparkles like in previous novels but maybe I’m just viewing it through my feelings for the old stuff, viewing it through rose-tinted spectacles but it is still entertaining.
