Gloing!

Unseen Academicals is a Discworld novel in the Wizards sub-series, although the main character is a very well-learned goblin named Mr. Nutt who works as candle-dribbler in the vats of Unseen University. Nutt's best friend is his coworker Trevor Likely (son of football legend Dave Likely) who is expert at tossing an old tin can in the air. Trev is in love with Juliet Stollop, the lovely and soon-to-become-dwarfish-fashion-model assistant of Miss Glenda, the night-kitchen cook, who makes the best pies.

And in the meantime, the wizards discover that according to an old tradition, they are to play a game of football every twenty years (and that means about now) or they will have to reduce their meals to only three a day and only so many cheeseboards too. Only the football that is currently played in the streets of Ankh-Morpork looks more like a mob riot.

The book describes how the Wizards, advised my Nutt, Trev, Glenda, Juliet and Lord Vetinari, set out to write down new and more civilized rules for football, and finally gather the UU team.

I really enjoyed Unseen Academicals as a whole, but especially I found the four main characters very endearing, particularly Mr. Nutt who is always striving to "be worthy" (as he was taught by Her Ladyship in Uberwald) and Miss Glenda, who is very down-to-earth but learns that sometimes, just sometimes, you have to follow your impulses.

9/10