The latest entry in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is entitled Unseen Academicals. Anyone familiar with the series will know by the title that this is a wizard-centric entry. This is true, but while the novel as a whole is a wizards novel, the main characters are not in fact wizards, but staff members of the university.
Vetinari has decided to reform football in Ankh-Morpork and uses Ridcully and the wizards as the driving force behind his reforms. This requires the re-formulation of a sports program at the Unseen University. Ponder Stibbons is, of course, saddled with the task of putting these things together. Luckily for Stibbons a relatively unknown and also new staffer at the University is a born tactician.
Unfortunately for Mr. Nutt, the new employee, he is also an Orc. At the start of the novel no one knows this except Vetinari, Lady Margolotta, and Ridcully. The orcs were the battle slaves of an evil Ubervaldian empire, and were reviled and hunted to near extinction. Lady Margolotta has decided to try and reform their image through Mr. Nutt, who is at least as bright as Stibbons.
This novel gives Pratchett two targets to aim his satire and wit at, football hooliganism and racism/stereotypical thinking. As I have noted before Pratchett is in top form whenever he operates with primarily new characters. In this novel this is especially true. Pratchett utilizes his new characters interactions with Vetinari and Ridcully to further his exposition of both of those old characters.
Also these new characters occupy a previously uncharted part of the Ankh-Morpork social hierarchy. Mr. Nutt and his companions Glenda and Trev are working class people outside the Watch. While the social standing of Watch members is probably about the same as these new characters, the Watchmen are held apart because of their status as police officers. Due to this change in point of view the reader gets to view Ankh-Morpork from a slightly new angle.
I would say Unseen Academicals is one of the best entries in the Discworld series. It manages to integrate both old and new characters. Unseen Academicals also effectively ties together disparate groups, the Wizards, the Watch, Vetinari, and the common people of Anhk-Morpork. As is usual with Pratchett novels Unseen Academicals is witty and thought provoking. I give this a 4.5.
