{"product_id":"unseen-academicals-a-discworld-novel-isbn-9780062335005","title":"Unseen Academicals: A Discworld Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Football, food, fashion and wizards collide in Pratchett’s affectionate satire on the foibles of sports and sports fans. . . . The prose crackles with wit and charm, and the sendups of league football, academic posturing, Romeo and Juliet and cheesy sports dramas are razor sharp and hilarious but never cruel. At its heart, this is an intelligent, cheeky love letter to football, its fans and the unifying power of sports.” —\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFootball (aka soccer) comes to the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork, upending the wizards of Unseen University—and dividing Discworld—in this wonderfully funny novel in Sir Terry Pratchett’s internationally bestselling series.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe wizards at Ankh-Morpork’s Unseen University are renowned for many things—wisdom, magic, teatime—but athletics, not so much. When Lord Vetinari, the city’s benevolent tyrant, strongly suggests to Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully that the university revive its sports program and field a football team composed of faculty, students, and staff—or lose the funding that pays for their nine daily meals—the wizards of UU find themselves in a quandary. First, they have to understand what makes foot-the-ball so popular with Ankh-Morporkians. Then they have to learn how to play it—and win—without using magic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOf course, the thing about football is that it is never just about football.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Discworld novels can be read in any order but \u003cem\u003eUnseen Academicals\u003c\/em\u003e is the seventh and final book in the Wizards collection (and 37th Discworld book). The other books in the Wizards collection include:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Color of Magic\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Light Fantastic\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eSourcery\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eEric\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eInteresting Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Last Continent\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e | \u003cp\u003eThe wizards at Ankh-Morpork's Unseen University are renowned for many things—wisdom, magic, and their love of teatime—but athletics is most assuredly not on the list. So when Lord Vetinari, the city's benevolent tyrant, strongly suggests to Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully that the university revive an erstwhile tradition and once again put forth a football team composed of faculty, students, and staff—or lose the funding that pays for their nine daily meals—the wizards of UU find themselves in a quandary. To begin with, they have to figure out what it is that makes this sport of foot-the-ball so popular with Ankh-Morporkians of all ages and social strata. Then they have to learn how to play it. Oh, and on top of that, they must win a football match \u003cem\u003ewithout\u003c\/em\u003e using magic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd the thing about football—the most important thing about football— is that it is never just about football.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Typically outlandish fun . . . [a] polished, supremely confident performance . . . Like the best of its predecessors, MAKING MONEY balances satire, knockabout farce and close observation of human -- and non-human -- foibles with impressive dexterity and deceptive ease. The result is another ingenious entertainment from the preeminent comic fantasist of our time.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Surprisingly meaningful but never short of hilarious: a monstrous success for Pratchett.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Start with Douglas Adams’s comic science fiction (A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and J.R.R. Tolkien’s alternative worlds, mix in James Ellroy’s gritty realism and Jonathan Swift’s unflinching satire and, if you’re lucky, you’ll get something like Terry Pratchett’s THUD!” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Thirty-seven books in and . . . Discworld is still going strong . . . and doing so with undimmed, triumphant exuberance. ” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A triumphant effort.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Independent on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In short, this is as busy and as daft as any other Discworld yarn, which means it is the quintessence of daft. Nobody writes fantasy funnier than Pratchett.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“At its heart, this is an intelligent, cheeky love letter to football, its fans and the unifying power of sports. - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This account of Unseen University’s entry into the world of soccer (or, as they occasionally call it, “foot-the-ball”) pushes past the usual conventions of satire to offer equal parts absurdist philosophy and heartwarming romance....A witty addition to the long-running fantasy series” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Non-stop wit . . . Pratchett is a master of juggling multiple plotlines and multiplying punchlines, and Money is a wondrous farce.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is the 37th in a body of work so vast that it has spawned its own concordance, yet the quality remains as high as ever and the laughs as plentiful. . . . You can’t call what Pratchett does satire--it’s far too good-natured for that--be he has a satirist’s instinct for the absurd and a cartoonist’s eye for the telling detail. . . . Like all the Discworld novels, \u003cem\u003eUnseen Academicals \u003c\/em\u003erewards a second reading. As ever it is peppered with allusions, from Keats to the Lewinsky affair, but, like Wodehouse, Pratchett wears his learning lightly and the pleasure of rereading is in teasing them out.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44887934894309,"sku":"NP9780062335005","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780062335005.jpg?v=1730227773","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/unseen-academicals-a-discworld-novel-isbn-9780062335005","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}