I’m not sure I’d go that far, but Willikins was definitely not the same character in Snuff, even compared to Sergeant Willikins in Jingo.
I’ve never been a big sports fan or followed any teams, but when I read UA, for the first time I emotionally understood why people do care so much for their teams. It was worth the read for that moment when the lights came on for me. It’s not a favorite by any means, but it’s better than Eric or Pyramids.
Agreed…and he was best as a background character, not as one of the main ones. WAY too much Willikins.
And then there was Colon, who seemed to be interjected in the story unneccesarily. That jar of soul of tears (I forgot what it was called exactly) had me anxious to know the conclusion and it was practically a throwaway bit.
It was one of the first times I was not very interested in any of the main characters and far more interested in the goblins. And I love Young Sam but boy howdy did I get sick of poop.
Also, I really thought the Summoning Dark had fled in the previous Vimes book.
And yes, the boat journey was far too long and boring.
Vimes’ story is essentially wrapped up. He has a wife, a child, a happy home life, and remains a damn good copper. He needs to gently fade into the background now. We’ll always know he’s there, and he can make cameos, but he no longer needs books directly about him.
I’m glad it’s fine by you, it being my thread and all. 
I also liked Moving pictures. I returned Unseen Academicals to the library today.
I have mixed feelings about it. He goes from being comic relief to an actual character. It’s not consistent with the earlier Willikins, as Bosstone pointed out, certainly not the one from Jingo. Can’t see the new Willikins traipsing off to fight for the honour of Ankh-Morpork.
Overall, I’d rank Snuff somewhere in the middle of the discworld books.
Yes, I think Snuff was intended as the end of his story.
Well, I didn’t think you’d mind, given that you’d already decided to stop reading it. 
This thread is a great demonstration of YMMV. Best book ever, worse book ever, meh, funny, boring…
I’ve always divided Discworld fans in Rincewindists, who read for the jokes, and Vimesists, who read for the message. I know that’s a bit simplistic, but that’s how it seems to me. Most of the people I’ve come across online are firm Vimesists.
Me, I’m a Rincewindist. Eric and Pyramids are among my five favorite Discworld books. It’s not that I don’t appreciate a deep theme, it’s just that if a book is mostly jokes I’m totally fine with that.
So asking people if *Unseen Academicals * is good or bad is going to give you a lot of different answers.
Sorry to break your simplistic ordering.
I hate Rincewind, barely tolerate Vimes. I prefer the Susan/Death and “tech” books. And even those 2 categories frequently don’t intersect. And yet another demarcation are the Witches hater/lovers. E.g., there are people who love Wizards and hate Witches.
It’s just not that simple.
So, for me PTerry’s last great book was Going Postal. With Making Money a nice enough book. Then nothing worth reading.
Unseen isn’t as bad as Snuff. But it just sort of sits there.
I read Rincewind-style too! I loved Pyramids, too, and I do love the Rincewind books. Me, I can’t (usually) stand Susan Sto Helit. Man, is she full of herself! I only liked Hogfather and that’s because she is not the only main character. And I’m not that fond of the witches either.
I don’t think you can divide it that easily.
I freakin loved Going Postal - it rocked all the way to my favorite book of his, ever.
I love every Discworld book. Pratchett has never disappointed me, since I read CoM in High School. *UA *and Snuff are both excellent books - I just finished rereading UA and am now rereading Snuff.
Really? Never? There isn’t an author (or a director, or an actor, or anybody) in the whole world I can say that about. Not even my most favoritest.
Yes, never. I like some of his books less than others but I love even those. And I’m including Carpet People, Dark Side of the Sun and The Unadulterated Cat in that lot.
De gustibus. China Miéville and Iain M. Banks are others I could name. I’d almost say Alan Moore but then I’ve not read all his comics for independents.
I’d almost say Neil Gaiman but Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? sucked donkey balls.
Agreed 100%…but I find flaws in everybody, at some point. That’s not to say their good stuff doesn’t move me and wow me, but no one gets my complete adoration. 
I’m glad someone else feels that way about Susan. She needs a Nanny Ogg to take the wind out of her sails at regular intervals. The Death of Rats helps, but he’s not around all the time.
See, for me Nanny Ogg and the rest of the witches are Pterry’s high point, followed very closely by Vimes (up until Night Watch.) I like Susan and really can’t stand Rincewind at all.
The witches barely exist for me. I read the Wizards, Death/Susan, and the Night Watch books mainly.
Since this thread is about Unseen Academicals, I’ll spoiler this:
I think Unseen Academicals can also be seen as a wrap-up of the university, just as Snuff wraps up Vimes. Rincewind is back at the university and been given a position, and I got the sense from the book that nothing’s going to drag him away from it yet. IIRC, Stibbons finally got the acknowledgement (if not respect) that he richly deserves for basically running the whole damn university. I wouldn’t be surprised if UU as described in UA is their Happily Ever After state.
I found that part amusing and endearing. But then I keep saying that when I retire I’ll write Science With Shit. So I’d expect others’ mileages to vary.
I must admit, personally I find it weird …no, wyrd … that people line up in these camps. For me, the stuff that makes the Witches good, is the same stuff that makes the Watch good, is the same stuff that makes Rincewind good, is the same stuff that makes Johnny Maxwell good. I can’t grok liking, say, Granny Weatherwax and not liking Vimes, I really can’t.
And I cannot at all grok liking everything an author writes! I adore Asimov, but I don’t like everything he wrote. Arthur Clarke wrote some stinkers. Tolkien wrote a great yarn but needed to lay off the food porn, man. And Lewis went a little heavy on the religion in his Malacandra series.
Yet all great authors. Everyone has flaws, and writes flawed at times. I don’t like when people get too full of themselves and too pompous, which is why Susan Sto Helit doesn’t appeal to me. Out of the witches trilogy I was most like Magrat, the “wet hen”, and possibly have grown up into something similar to Nanny Ogg in temperament anyway. I like Granny…but sometimes she needs someone to slap her down.
Rincewind is brilliant, but the wizards are better as secondary characters. By themselves they are the very definition of windbags.
Vimes and Carrot are far and away my favorite characters. I like them both because both of them are not arrogant or pompous in the least.
The characters and their quirks don’t interest me as much. Don’t know what to tell you.
The difference between bad Pratchett and good Pratchett is like the difference between good sex and bad sex.
Bad sex is still pretty good and it’s better than going without.
De Gustibus again! Interesting sideline - I, in fact, have a mental scale of how well someone writes about food, that factors a tiny bit into how much I like their work. So Tolkien rates a smidgeon higher for me because of the inclusion of food and eating in his work. Gaiman & Pratchett, too.
I think the difference is that I don’t have to identify in the slightest with the main character, or necessarily like them at all, to like a book. In the case of Banks and Miéville, liking the protagonist is the exception rather than the rule, even.
Although having said that, I do like almost all Pratchett’s main characters - eventually. Moist, for instance, only grew on me halfway through GP, and it took until nearly the end of TT for me to like William De Worde - but Susan I loved from the get-go. She’s arrogant because people are so damn stupid, and I agree with her 100%.