My sons lapped up Terry Pratchett’s comedic, bursting-with-ideas, oddball fantasy novels the moment they were published, so over the years I have read a fair few of his forty-five books. Unseen Academicals is the first Pratchett I’ve read in years, and at first my impatience almost bested me. Every page is packed with witty authorial asides, sometimes even with footnotes, all laced with smartarse ideas and wordplay in the Douglas Adams style; each instance is a mini tour de force, but quickly I came to a terrible conclusion, namely that I didn’t want more pointless erudite brilliance. Indeed I came perilously close to slamming the book shut, never to be reopened. But Pratchett is not the demigod of his subgenre that he is for nothing. The two central characters he introduces early in this picaresque tale of wizards preparing for a soccer match, namely Nutt, the lowly but strangely capable candle dribbler, and Glenda, the humble yet smart cook, quickly reveal themselves to be fully formed and fascinating. Despite all the guff, this is a cleverly crafted drama cum love story, and after my initial hiccup I read it with pleasure. Pratchett’s pacing, after a slow start, is impeccable and his cutesy ending works wonderfully.
No doubt Pratchett is an acquired or perhaps hereditary taste but Unseen Academicals is a fine read. 3 stars.