Favourite bit of Unseen Academicals (may contain spoilers)

[poohcarrot]

And I would say I would love a Watch book with the Medusa woman as a main character ...

That'd be a bit silly coz everytime she looked at the troll, she'd turn them into stone!

[Sjoerd3000]

Welcome to the forum bob.sather

[nobbylessobligay]

i still havent finished it but i'm nearing the end...
i almost freaked when i heard the dean left, but then as i kept on reading well now i think its great that the dean is archancelering else where (sorry about my spelling) their rivalry is just halarios my favorite part the mention of the empty two seats with the impresion of the deans butt,, it was ssoooo sad and funny XDDD
it's nice to know that they've found a good use for rincewind, if i had a rincewind working for me i'd dress him in strange outfits and chase him through the corridors too
glenda's awsome too, tp makes the best girl characters

[Danny B]

I loved the whole book in general. I think this easily my favourite non-Watch/Witch DW novel, so far.

Probably my favourite sequences were (of course) "Aho! The Megapode.", since it made me laugh uproariously. Also, the gradual realisation of Trev Likely that continuing to run with the crowd he was in would eventually drag him down and probably ending up in the Tanty or dead in an alley. It's something that strikes a personal note with me, since it mirrors my own youth, in certain respects (Alas, The Beautiful Game wasn't my own route out. Oh, how I wish it had been.).

Everything about Glenda's development as a person was superbly crafted. In Interesting Times, Terry mentioned the "Whips in their heads", being the true indignity inflicted on the Agatean people. As someone from the tail end of the last generation to whom the term "Working class" actually meant something besides "Not rich enough to afford a really big telly", the awakening of Glenda was beautifully realised. The "Crab Bucket" still holds true for many people who are my age (30) or older, even today.

The climactic football match was brilliantly written as well. I've played a bit of Sunday league football and can tell you that it's every bit as chaotic, brutal and bone crunching as the Academical's first game. Right down to the part about anyone who stands out as being exceptionally talented getting nobbled.

Not being from a discriminated against minority, I can't comment too deeply on Mister Nutt's search for Worth. As someone from the outside looking in, it certainly looks like the kind of complex someone from that situation would acquire.

It was also wonderful seeing Ponder's subtle enjoyment of the mistakes Adrian Turnipseed was making in the building of PEX, littered throughout the book. I enjoyed that immensely. Almost as much as Lord Vetinari's detached reaction to being completely arseholed after the banquet.

[Lady Vetinari]

And I would say I would love a Watch book with the Medusa woman as a main character ...

That'd be a bit silly coz everytime she looked at the troll, she'd turn them into stone!

She wears sunglasses ... besides all trolls have to do is vegetate in heat for that!

[chris.ph]

wouldnt the medusa look turn a troll into a fleshie

[poohcarrot]

I believe UA is the first TP book with a gay character (correct me if I'm wrong). The joke about rowing made me laugh.

[Tonyblack]

I believe UA is the first TP book with a gay character (correct me if I'm wrong). The joke about rowing made me laugh.

There a whole bunch of comments about 'back passages' in the book as well.

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

wouldnt the medusa look turn a troll into a fleshie

Good point, I shall ponder it. I am off to deal with the paintball field and get our customers happy and settled in. Money, money, money, money.... MONEY. Woot love dem mid week games!

[Quark]

I really liked the way Ponder had assumed the un-official position of running the university . The football match at the end (And Mr De Worde's written commentary) was probably my favourite bit. Nutt is an excellent character.

[mgw 42]

Pretty much enjoyed it all, but specially pepe, and the part where he gave Andy Schank the half lemon

[lyn]

Does anyone know whether "bledlow" is a real (but obscure) word or a word that TP has coined? It sounds too English not to be real, somehow. (If there's a joke in it, please tell me.)

I just recently read Interesting Times again and in it TP mentions the bledlows and in a footnote says they are a University Porter.

[theoldlibrarian]

Ork!ork!ork! I love the analogy that the "fierce,evil" ork is just a little old soccer coach.

[sheilaj]

I liked the Orc ... didn't I make that clear? Besides, I find Tolkien a bit lazy as a writer - he lumps everyone into one basket ... I believe in Redemption ... and ol Nutt is a wonderful example of a Leopard changing his shorts !

And I would say I would love a Watch book with the Medusa woman as a main character ...

sorry but I think that the point of the story (or one of) is that orcs by nature don't have shorts. The unpleasant humans who made them forced them into the rather unpleasant shorts that people think of as Orc.

Too many good bits in the book to list (as usual)

[sheilaj]

I believe UA is the first TP book with a gay character (correct me if I'm wrong). The joke about rowing made me laugh.

Do the "ladies" of the "Galah" who Rincewind meet in Fourecks count?