"Feast your eyes on this, lad," he called down, his ground-state bad temper somewhat moderated by this contact with greatness. "One day you might be the ...man to climb this hallowed tallow!" For a moment, Nutt looked like someone trying hard to disguise the expression of a person who seriously hopes that his future holds more than a big candle. Nutt was young and as such did not have reverence for age that is had by, mostly, the aged. But the cheerful not-quite-smile came back. It never went away for long. "Yessir," he said, on the basis that this generally worked." -- Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett This is one of my favorite Discworld novels, and even I'm a little confused as to why. I don't really like sports at all, and this book is sort of a high fantasy football novel. Kind of? Though it does include one of my favorite female fantasy main characters. Glenda Sugarbean is head of the night kitchen at Unseen University, she is canonically plus sized, thorny, overbearing, reads bodice ripper type romance novels, and is so loveable. She has her own storyline in the novel, she is not fridged, she doesn't lose weight during the book, and she gets a soft, gentle romance of her own. Though quick note, this book is not spicy, just so no one's disappointed. This story is Pratchett's very humorous take on the prototypical sport story, but it also includes characters with in depth stories of their own, and a lot of clever social commentary. This is one of the standalone Discworld novels. Though it does reference some past characters, you don't have to have read any of the other books to enjoy it. I highly recommend this book! ❤

Posted by thewintersings at 2023-09-09 17:49:13 UTC