The new Discworld novel, "Unseen Academicals"

I've just finished Terry Pratchett's latest Discworld book, Unseen Academicals, and as usual, found myself wishing that he was one of those authors who wrote 900-page behemoths each time. At a mere 400 pages, it certainly ended too soon.

Obviously I enjoyed it, although I've never met a Discworld book I didn't like. While I don't think it had the gut-grabbing emotion of, say Night Watch (still one of my all time favorites, by Pratchett or anyone), it was a good, thoughtful, book.

As the Discworld series has matured, the stories have had less gag-oriented, laugh-out-loud humor, and a lot more subtlety. The comedy, and the pathos, of the stories has come increasingly from seeing how the Disc parallels our own world. In short Pratchett discusses what our world is by using the Discworld to show us what it isn't.

Unseen Academicals, at least superficially, is about Football (soccer-ish football), but is also about sport in general, crowd psychology, class war and, in no small part, getting older. It centers around a handful of new characters, mostly all young "below stairs" employees of the mighty Unseen University, but also gives some new perspective on a few established characters.

For one, this book uses the viewpoint of Archchancellor Ridcully to a greater degree than anything since Lords and Ladies. It's a surprisingly lucid and observant perspective. Also, we get to see the Patrician (or, as he's recently been officially titled, Tyrant) Havelock Vetinari, act a bit more human (and slightly inebriated, at some point), which is interesting in and of itself. Vetinari has always been a good character, and an admirable one (to whom The Prince would have been a grade-school primer), but not always a very sympathetic one.

Along the way there is a lot about what it means to be human (even if you aren't, technically so), cultural identity and the very, very good metaphor of the Crab Bucket (I won't spoil it for you). It's a good read, and while I can't say it's my favorite of the series, it's a worthy addition to the bookshelf.

Movies: That Potter kid is at it again.

A friend and I caught Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on opening night and I have to say I enjoyed it thoroughly. I figured it was worth a (spoiler free) review for those of you who are thinking of seeing it. Which, really, should be most of you.

First off, if you're going with the kids, use your judgment, there are some genuinely creepy scenes, including the one in the cave full of inferi (zombies) that is shown in the advertisements. Creepy as it may be, though, I think most kids are OK with it, just be prepared to jump out of your seat at least once (trust me, it doesn't help that you know it's coming).

The Potter movies, like the novels, get progressively creepier, darker and more violent as the series progresses, which is appropriate to the story, and Half-Blood Prince is no different. However, another element thread that runs very strongly through this movie is the character's growing interest in... well, each other. There is plenty of awkward, painfully intense teenage romance going on. Younger viewers will relate, while older viewers will... probably relate too, but on some level cringe a bit and think "my god, that used to be me."

Ron gets the worst of it, mostly because he gets what he thinks he wants, and steals the show for pretty much all of the non-combat scenes. Harry and Hermione get their share of the angst though.

The quality of acting is, generally, superb, as it has been in most of the Potter films. Dan Radcliffe does fairly well with what he's given in Harry, although by this point in the series Harry is probably the least interesting character in the story. Rupert Grint really shines as Ron Weasley, the Everyman foil to Harry's Chosen One. The Weasley family in general is brilliantly portrayed (by the way, did Bonnie Wright, aka Ginny, grow about three feet taller between movies?).

The other standout actor is Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood. Luna could easily have been written off as the Jar-Jar Binks of the series, but Rowling's writing and Lynch's portrayal strikes the balance between the flaky comic relief and a genuinely likeable person. You get the feeling you'd like Luna enough in the real world that you'd be willing to ignore, even embrace her eccentricities to be her friend.

The movie moves along at a fast pace, which is both a strength and a weakness. On the one hand, this long (150 minute) film just about flies by, with great action shots and plenty of adventure. But when things aren't blowing up, it feels like a lot has been left out. If you haven't read the book, you may have to struggle a bit to figure out the whys and hows of some plot developments.

Now, of course, we have to wait for the next installment of the series, which is scheduled for late next year, followed by the final movie in 2011 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is being split into two movies. First, it's a really big book, second, if you were Warner, would you want to let go of Harry Potter any sooner than absolutely necessary?), which brings me to my one other minor quibble: can we get these kids out of school before the actors start having kids of their own?