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You know the sort of plot where there's something the narrator isn't telling us, because if he told us too soon there'd be no plot, but he can't actually come up with a very good reason not to tell us?
Unseen Academicals is fairly mediocre, as Discworld novels go. There's magic in it (though some of the best bits come after magic is literally removed from it), there are cameos by all your favourite characters (though they come across more as checking boxes), there are some very nice (but rather preachy) sentiments about tolerance and intolerance, mob mentality, and the like. And when it's good, it's often quite good; fans of Vetinari and Ridcully, especially, should have a lot of fun. But it's also a fairly unfocused novel, padded with half-mumbled character exposition, using Romeo & Juliet and various lads' football comics as crutches to keep the story doing anything …
You know the sort of plot where there's something the narrator isn't telling us, because if he told us too soon there'd be no plot, but he can't actually come up with a very good reason not to tell us?
Unseen Academicals is fairly mediocre, as Discworld novels go. There's magic in it (though some of the best bits come after magic is literally removed from it), there are cameos by all your favourite characters (though they come across more as checking boxes), there are some very nice (but rather preachy) sentiments about tolerance and intolerance, mob mentality, and the like. And when it's good, it's often quite good; fans of Vetinari and Ridcully, especially, should have a lot of fun. But it's also a fairly unfocused novel, padded with half-mumbled character exposition, using Romeo & Juliet and various lads' football comics as crutches to keep the story doing anything until Pratchett gets to where he really wants to go. When he does get there, it's all very serviceable, and for any other author it would be a solid novel; but I expect more of Pratchett.