Tag Archives: discworld

Review: “Unseen Academicals” by Terry Pratchett.

“A lot hinges on the fact that, in most circumstances, people are not allowed to hit you with a mallet.”


“Unseen Academicals” by Terry Pratchett

Anyone reading the blog could probably gather that I’m a pretty big Terry Pratchett fan. I think he’s bloody brilliant, and I’m continually convinced that he’s only getting sharper and funnier with each and every book. Unseen Academicals only continues to perpetuate this incredible trend. At its base, Unseen Academicals is a tale about football, but, just like regular football (and all things Pratchett), it’s never just about football. It’s about love, it’s about community, it’s about following rules and breaking them. It’s about the incredible power of the game and the incredible restrictions we put on ourselves and the way we may or may not allow ourselves to be great.

Right from the start, I loved the way Pratchett was twisting the usual conventions of familiar stories in his usual fashion, and there’s a lot more that really impressed me about this particular book. Quite often, the over-arching theme underlying the story is almost too dense, but I never felt as though that aspect was too heavy-handed, as a few of his books have been. And I immediately was drawn into several of the characters. Some of them are older; I was delighted to discover that I’m as entranced by the dynamic between Vetinari and Ridcully as I am by Vetinari and Vimes’ interactions. Some of them are newer, and two of my favorite new Discworldians. Glenda is such a wonderful main character, realistic and relate-able and quite frankly a character we don’t see enough of in fiction (and so cool to see one from a male author, as well). Plus, I’m now convinced that no one can make beautiful, realistic, perfectly flawed relationships like Pratchett can. Though I’m pretty sure no one can ever top Carrot and Angua as my favorite literary couple (though Vimes and Sybil are in the running, too), Pratchett almost made me question their supremacy with coupling in this book. Which I won’t say anything more on, because it’s best to be discovered.

This is definitely Pratchett and Discworld at their best, Ankh-Morporkians shine in this fabulous football fairy tale, and it’s really sparked up my love for the series and these incredible characters.

Books read: 2/100.

The 100 Books Project: Soul Music.

“No one clapped. On the other hand, no one threw anything, either. By Drum standards, this was a hearty welcome.”


“Soul Music” by Terry Pratchett

What happens when you take Death’s teenage grand-daughter and add a little bit of Music with Rocks In?

Pure hilarity, that’s what. Anyone who follows this blog knows that I’m a pretty big fan of Terry Pratchett. Every so often, some of his books hit a little bit, but they’re still enjoyable. More often than not, they’re a really great read. But, every so often, one of his Discworld books just hits all the right notes for me, and Soul Music is one of them. Soul Music managed to do with rock and roll what Moving Pictures failed to do with movies, with its jokes being too obvious and mostly falling flat. Almost every joke in Soul Music sings, which is perhaps a true testament to how music truly moves us all, and is something far greater than we could ever comprehend, as the story suggests. It follow Susan Sto Helit as she attempts to take on the family business when Death goes missing, and Imp y Ceyln from Llamados as he goes to the big city of Ankh-Morpork seeking out music and finds a very special guitar. Their paths cross that Imp’s life becomes devastatingly connected to the strange magic of this ancient instrument harboring a connection to the very thing that could make or break the universe.

Told in the typical Pratchett fashion, which balances light humor with Really Heavy Topics, Soul Music was a blast and, for once, I didn’t feel like the Really Heavy Topic was bordering too much on the Unreachable. It was, a little, I have to admit, but it was easier to swallow than some of his previous attempts to get heavyhanded. esides, any book that has what I’m fairly sure is a reference to They Might Be Giants is instantly propelled into amazing territory on principal alone.

Seriously, the jokes and the puns in Soul Music are easily some of Pratchett’s best. Perhaps it’s because I’m such a fan of music that I appreciate them as much as I did, but there were several loud bleats of laughter that had my cats worried as I read. A good Pratchett book has me grinning lopsidedly in pleased amusement, but a great one makes me laugh out loud consistently throughout the book. Soul Music is one of the latter. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it’s got one of my favorite Discworld endings so far (though it still doesn’t beat the ending to Thud!, not by a long shot).

Soul Music has earned a place among the coveted “favorite” Discworld books…coveted, because it’s just about nearly half of them!

Books read: 21/100.

(And, yes, this is going up way later than my posts typically go up; today has not turned out the way I expected, in that I’ve basically spent all day cleaning the bathroom with the litter box in it and organizing the pantry…weird, strange day).

The 100 Books Project: Moving Pictures.

“‘Not really,’ said Victor. ‘Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job. I bet even people like Cohen the Barbarian get up in the morning thinking, “Oh, no, another day of crushing the jeweled thrones of the world beneath my sandalled feet.”‘”


“Moving Pictures” by Terry Pratchett

An unexpected discovery in the Alchemist’s Guilt. A hermit priest’s death. An interrupted slumber and a thousand elephants. These are the components that bring the far distant Holy Wood to life on Discworld, and the results are, as one would expect, not only what they seem. Moving Pictures is another brilliant Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, easily one of my favorite comedic writers, about a young man named Victor, a star-struck young woman named Ginger, and a talking dog named Gaspode. They are each drawn to the mysterious Holy Wood for different reasons. Holy Wood, the place where dreams come true! Holy Wood, the place where stars are born! Holy Wood, the place where a great magic even more dangerous and unfathomable than anyone could imagine is awakening, stirring, and preparing to emerge…

One of my favorite things about Pratchett’s writing is the nuance he’s able to accomplish. His humor and jokes are often subversive and subtle, clever and underhanded. Most of the jokes and humor in Moving Pictures, however, felt a little too obvious for my tastes. As a matter of fact, the book itself felt that way. A parody of Hollywood and the movie business, the writing is still smart, the satire of such a pop culture entity searing, but it is one of the earlier Discworld novels and I often feel that Pratchett hasn’t quite hit his stride yet with some of them. I was tempted to say that perhaps the problem is that Hollywood is a distinctly American phenom: Pratchett’s British humor might be clashing a little with the outrageous of an American product, but then I recall Witches Abroad, which bring his characters to a very New Orleans setting, and I thought that book was brilliant. So maybe it’s just that Hollywood and the movie business themselves are just so transparent and obvious that any parody of them will reflect that. I just felt that it was surprisingly obvious and blatant for a Pratchett novel.

Other than some uncharacteristic obviousness, Moving Pictures was still a delight, though perhaps not the full tour de force as some of my favorite Discworld tales. There is still an awful lot of clever stuff going on here, some very nice turning of traditional conventions and cliches onto their ears, and two main characters that I found incredible real in the fact that I saw a lot of myself in both of them. They’re not great characters that one is likely to love, but there’s something very refreshing about their authenticity as people. We also get glimpses of other characters I know and enjoy from other books, especially the troll Detritus, who I have always loved in the Watch books. I enjoyed it greatly, though perhaps not as much as some of the other, later books.

Books read: 10/100.

Lastly, I’d like to take a moment to give my gratitude to Stella Marr for following the blog. Thanks for the subscription, and welcome aboard! I know I’m really looking forward to following you and your fascinating story, as well.

Let’s All Go to the Bookstore

I don’t really have much to write about today (a statement that makes part of me want to rebel and cry: “There’s always a lot to write about!”), but my intention is to muse a little bit each day, and so if it’s just a short quip about nothing of substance, so be it. I’m still behind on my Novel for the month, but I finally have a nice weekday off, with no additional obligations except having to go to the bank and hit up the post office.

Part of those errands might be a trip to the bookstore. A coworker of mine has been talking about Hyperion by Dan Simmons and his difficulty getting into it, so I’ve been intending to pick it up and read it with him. He’s the type of person that works best with a little shove, so my tackling it and telling him how far behind he is will motivate him to try to elbow through it. I noticed that Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett is out in paperback now, so I may pick up that as well. I would really love to pick up See No Weevil by Kenyon Morr, because I’m a nerd, but I doubt they’ll have it at the bookstore. Yes, I can order it online, but it’s just not the same!

So, any other recommendations for what I should be reading? When your goal is to read everything you can get your hands on, a little direction toward some good stuff is always helpful!