Nation

I love Terry Pratchett books.

With that out of the way, this book is really a joy to read. It's a slightly different angle for Pratchett (this world is round, for example), and the types of characters he uses and the human themes he touches on come together to give us perhaps more genuine hope for humanity than the normal satire he produces. The main archetypes are still there, from the unsure yet clever, capable, practical and well-meaning young people to the old, mysterious, and magical women to the uncouth animal to interactive death. He deals with these characters and their lives in a way that seems more mature and more serious than anything else of his I've read, even though the book is supposedly aimed at (and is appropriate for) young adults. Themes include coming-of-age, grieving, the nature of belief, questioning how things got this way, considering how things might be different, tricks of life, caring for others, sorting out the voices in one's head, dealing with evil, doing what must be done, finding alternate solutions, and how it all comes back around in the end. It is quick and wonderful to read, and I'd highly recommend it.

SPOILERS BELOW

~ There is childbirth, but it is not graphic
~ There is no sexual behavior
~ There is death and murder
~ There are questions about religion
~ There is a lot of throwing up, mostly by birds
~ There is alcohol, and alcohol jokes
~ You will learn a few things about science
~ The language is tame, with the exception of a few British curses
~ I think that's it. Enjoy!!!

I dont know how this book got by everyone without being pulled and thrown away. I have a feeling it was noticed and marked as a reject because on the top of the book someone took a black marker and drew a line across the top of every page. That wasnt my main gripe though. The first 40 pages were sticking out a quarter inch to half an inch from the rest of the book. When I looked closer I seen that the pages had come apart from the binding. I would have returned it but I have better things to do with my time an I didnt feel I deserved to be punished for their mistake(I hope it was a mistake).

This will not prevent me from buying my books through them however I have lost my confidence in their quality control.

ohh.....and the story was good but its in such bad shape I cant share it with anyone else.

I'm not particularly into stories about colonialism or imperialism. Far, far too frequently one gets exactly the same stories, but the cast of characters is from some new locale more exotic than what came before. Usually there's a native population and some invaders from somewhere else with a huge feeling of entitlement attached to them with a choice of the following: the One Good Invader who helps the natives (or goes native) and sometimes succeeds at it (also called the white messiah depending on outcome); the Nasty Embodiment of Imperialism, which should be self explanatory; the Imperial Moderate, who wants to get business done in the most profitable way possible and isn't always a villain; the Plucky Native who functions as instructor for the One Good Invader and the Imperial Moderate and may or may not also serve as a romantic interest. I'm pretty sure one can watch any movie concerning imperialism or colonialism and find all these tropes.

That being said, Nation by Terry Pratchett managed to not use any of them. Indeed, as soon as I thought I was starting to see one of the archetypes come up, something would happen to turn it into something else much more fascinating.

Rather than starting with an island with natives on it, the main story starts with a tsunami wiping out most of the island's population, except for Mau. A great deal of detail ensues about his mourning for his people and being adrift in a place both familiar and strange to him (and to us, since it is a alternate universe story). He finds the sailing ship Sweet Judy and the only survivor of the wreck, Daphne (or Ermintrude), a white girl (or "trouserman" to use the book's terminology). More survivors follow, Mau becomes the de facto chief and a very existentially conflicted one at that. Daphne learns all the practical things that a woman of the Nation should know but a "lady" shouldn't.

The first part of the book is a really awesome look at Mau's grief and as more people arrive on the island, he moves past it more and more. Daphne's comes in little flashbacks set between busy spells, things that occurred long ago for her, but she never had the opportunity to move past them. Many of the side characters also illustrate other aspects of mourning.

It's a very interesting balance between relatively light prose and very serious material. This narrative style continues throughout the book and it lent reality and credence to the scenes focusing more on the metaphysical and the spiritual. The pacing of it flowed in little side eddies and currents, but always returned to the main flow of the story and added more to it.

Before you begin "So how is this different from the gobbledegook you were ranting about earlier? *harrumph*" Well, Daphne might have some of the aspects of the One Good Invader... but Mau has some of the same traits himself (such as hearing the voices of the ancestors). None of the characters are clearly cut as any of the stereotypes I mentioned. All of them second guess themselves and/or change their minds on more than one occasion. It results in a story about people more than ideology.

The story has a framing device that most of the royal family of England has been wiped out due to a virulent disease and they have to go find the next surviving fifth cousin twice removed (or something like that) and periodically it pops up to remind you that it's there. Such sidetracks were mercifully short and quite frequently funny in some fashion. Although it does come around to get the reader's attention at the end of the tale (which one would expect to go stereotypical). Yet the story flirts with the concept of colonialism instead... right before giving the tired overbearing cliche a wedgie. It was completely unexpected but happily so. I had a good laugh and a great swath of satisfaction upon finding it.

I'm actually rather embarrassed at how long Nation sat on my bookshelf without me picking it up. It was wonderful, sad, mystical and great. I keep thinking of more little details that I loved, like the mythology of the narrative and the wonderful attention to the characters' insecurities. I will simply say that I loved it.'

In his young adult novel Nation, British fantasy author Terry Pratchett explores coming of age when laws and social structures cease to exist. A Tsunami in the fictional Pelagic Ocean strands a native boy, Mau, and shipwrecks on the same island a girl named Erminitrude from someplace akin to Mid-Victorian England. Surrounded by death and destruction, Mau and Erminitrude overcome their fear and distrust of each other and work together to save themselves and other survivors and misfits who arrive on the island in the wake of the great wave.

Mau assumes the position of chief, not through force or manipulation, but purely through service. He sacrifices his own well-being for the good of the weakest individuals within the group and courageously defends his new tiny Nation against pirates and cannibals. Erminitrude changes her name to Daphne and begins to appreciate the nobility of those she once dismissed as "uncivilized" and recognizes the savagery of some supposedly civilized people.

The novel is rich with allusions and a humor that appeals to teens and adults alike. There are some mystical/fantasy elements and an occasional scene with mild profanity or nearly profane slang. The book begins with the native creation myth of Mau's people, including an introduction to the ancestral gods of life and death. Through the myth, the reader gains exceptional insight into Mau's thoughts and motives and the gift of examining traditional western values and ideas from a different point of view.

The first chapter feels slightly confusing until the worlds of Erminitrude and Mau converge on the island. From that point forward, Nation builds momentum by blending high-seas adventure with thoughtful contemplation. Overall, Pratchett offers an enchanting tale of self-discovery and triumph of the human spirit.

Laurie A. Gray
Reprinted from the Christian Library Journal (Vol. XIII, No. 1, April 2009); used with permission.

Magic realism collides with both suspense and hilarity as Pratchett tells the coming-of-age story of both a Polynesian (sorta) boy and an English girl in an alternative universe. What appears to be the end of the world is really the beginning, those who appear civilized are not, in a story full of inversions and irony. The characters appeal to one's soul, while the jokes appeal to one's funny bone.

I had previously read one of Pratchett's Discworld books, which I found confusing to the extreme, so I'd avoided this author for a while. Happily, I picked up NATION. Once I did, it was a struggle to put it down! The only thing I didn't like about the story was the end, which didn't seem to match the rest of the book in content or tone.

Highly recommended for readers 12 and up.

This is a great story, though a little different from other Terry Pratchett stories.

It is a story about the clash of cultures, pointing out inconsistencies in them, as usual. But the zany throwaway humor is not there; every joke seems to have a point. You hope like mad that the protagonists get it together, and in my case that I could kidnap one of them and take them away where I could make them happy!

Well, despite the soft-pedaling of the humor (described as "side-splitting" by some reviewers of [[ASIN:0060890339 Wintersmith (Discworld)]]), this is a better-written book than most of Terry Pratchett's, and that's saying a lot. There are flaws, certainly, but very, very few. (I heard on the grapevine that this was a relatively early work that was dusted off because the publishers felt that Sir Terry ought to get as many books off his chest as he could in the time he had.)

Go ahead; buy multiple copies of this one, and give it to all your friends!

Arch

I first read Nation on a flight home, not the best place to laugh you self silly with a lot of tourists watching. This is one of those Pratchett masterpieces's that needs to be read at least twice. Similar books are Thud, Going Postal, the entire Night Watch series, Making Money and many more of his brilliant books.
I wont spoil the plot but it has so many story lines that are brilliantly interwoven you will almost wet yourself laughing.

cheers