A Review by Rev. David Boulton

I suppose it was only a matter of time. Having satirized just about everything else, from Shakespeare (‘Wyrd Sisters’) to Hollywood (‘Moving Pictures’) and the nature of ancient quarrels (‘Thud’), Terry Pratchett turns his satirical attention to football and its devoted followers in this the thirty-seventh in his phenomenally funny and insightful series of Discworld novels.

 Football comes to Ankh-Morpork, and with it football teams, football crowds, football fans and football hooligans. The wizards of Unseen University form a team – the ‘Unseen Academicals’ of the title. Along with football, Terry Pratchett also has a good-natured jibe at the world of fashion and impossibly beautiful fashion models. Oh, and there’s a goblin thrown in for good measure.

 A book to be relished, this, like all the books in the remarkable saga of the Discworld. All the more because, as everyone now knows, the author has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and his army of loyal fans must be wondering if each new book will be his last. I have to report that so far, thank the Lord, there is no indication of deterioration in the standard of Mr Pratchett’s writing. The humour and the observation are as funny and as sharp as ever, and the prose as masterful. ‘Unseen Academicals’ was my much anticipated Christmas treat, a present from my daughter, and I rationed the reading of it to make it last as long as possible.