Review Summaries

• Readers respond well to the idea of rebuilding community after catastrophe and to the novel’s fable-like scope. Some value the mix of humor and danger, while others are struck by its mythic quality.

Reviews

• Lots of ideas, good main characters, rushed plot

  As the title indicates. I found both main characters to be very sympathetic, especially in the first two thirds of the book, which is when they are beginning to deal with the situation they find themselves in. It was at this stage that I appreciated the themes of the book the most, particularly as expressed through Mau, who is the one that really had to reflect on things the most. The older priest also had a couple of good moments. Personally I felt that the book lost its way a bit once the plot kicked in. I greatly preferred it as an exploration of two people finding their feet in drastically altered circumstances, dealing with the practical and mental/spiritual consequences of sudden, complete upheaval. Escapades with pirates and cannibals lacked much drama and seemed like elements that had escaped from some other book.

• Jaw-dropping

  One of the funny things about Terry Pratchett is how easy it is to take him for granted. It's probably a truism to say that he hasn't really written a truly bad book. It could be levelled at him, however, that during middle-period Discworld books like Jingo , he was running on autopilot to some degree. All that changed around the period of The Truth and Thief of Time , where suddenly he seemed to find another gear entirely, which has given us wonderful Discworld novels such as Night Watch and the sublime Going Postal , not to mention the series of related Discworld stories starring Tiffany Aching and the Nac Mac Feegle. Nation is a product of this later, and ongoing, period, but it is something of a departure. It isn't even a Discworld novel. Instead, it appears to take place in our own world, or some parallel version of it, with a distinctly mid-Victorian feel. The root of the story is The Wave and how it is seen from the viewpoint of both Mau and Ermin...sorry, Daphne (don't worry, it gets explained later in the book). Mau is the sole survivor of The Nation, returning from the ritual exile that begins each boy's initiation into manhood to find his whole society has been wiped out by The Wave. At the same time, the ship in which Daphne is travelling, the Sweet Judy, is wrecked upon the same island during the same [literally] cataclysmic storm. Apart from just trying to stay alive in the first place, Mau also seems to have to contend with the voices of The Grandfathers calling out to him; actually, ordering him around might be nearer the mark. Survival in these conditions isn't easy, from finding something to start a fire to worrying about the predations of the Raiders. And then there's the Ghost Girl, who wears trousers and carries the portable roof. How do you keep The Nation alive from there? Against the odds, Mau, the Ghost Girl and the others who gradually begin to arrive seem to start making a good fist of it. But there are still enormous obstacles in the way... Nation is a book overflowing with ideas and, in the end, is one of a more humanist inclination. That is not to say that it is not a spiritual book: quite the opposite. Spirituality is talked about an awful lot, as is the need to be curious and to ask questions about the world around you. Indeed, along the way, the reader gets a more than adequate (and cunningly insinuated) grounding in the workings of scientific method. There is also no cliched happy ending, just a real one, with a rather nice epilogue as it happens; it's nice not to have a cop-out. For me the standout part of the book is its beginning, and the aftermath of The Wave. Rarely has Pratchett written so powerfully, or indeed so bleakly. There is real emotional force and sadness in his description of Mau's return to his destroyed village home. This is the starting point for another of the book's wider themes: the change from childhood to adulthood, from innocence to knowledge: adolescence. Here, Nation reminded me a great deal of Philip Pullman's his Dark Materials (particularly The Amber Spyglass ). Indeed, like HDM, I would say that Nation isn't a "children's" book at all, just a book that both children and young adults would enjoy reading. As one would expect from TP, none of this is done in a pompous or po-faced way. He rather has the habit of sidling big ideas like these into his books under cover of gags. After all this time, it's fairly safe to say he hasn't lost his touch. I'd even go as far as to say that, especially because of its beginning, this may be the finest thing he has written (and this, remember, is the author who was responsible, with Neil Gaiman, for the wondrous Good Omens ). Given his track record that is saying something, but I think it may be true. Unreservedly recommended.

• The best book I have ever read

  I love books of all kinds but I am a touch picky about how I like them to be written. I don't like authors who simply use language as a means of telling a story; I like authors who use language as a medium. I think that language should be to books like clay is to sculpture. I believe that the author should use language in unique ways to create images and perspectives and ideas that are more than the sum of their parts. I have long been in love with Terry Pratchett's use of language. Since reading my first DiscWorld book many years ago, I have known that he was not a mere writer but an artist of language. This book is no exception to his amazing artistry of language. The nation raises deep philosophical questions and ideas through the the use of language art and an amazingly well crafted plot. It is science fiction, but it uses the genre to really make you think about the real life struggle between science and religion among other things. It is the first book I have read that I was voracious about. As I said, I love books, but never have I wanted to read to the exclusion of all else and this was the book that made that happen. This is the first book that I have truly been in love with and I would recommend it to anyone. It is beautiful, thought provoking, well developed and unexpected; all without being over-inflated or obtuse. OH, and, don't let the "young adult" label fool you--I was 34 when I picked this up. I could absolutely see this making sense and being relevant to a young adult, but it's got plenty of substance, artistry and thought for adults as well. I think my friend, who I recently gave a copy of this to, summed it up quite well when he said "It's the mark of a good book or movie when one finishes feeling smarter."

• Obra maestra

  Uno de los mejores, si no el mejor, libro de uno de los más grandes genios de los últimos tiempos.

• This book made me cry

  I don't understand why people call this a children book. It is not. It is deep, it touches some deep psychological aspects such as loneliness, desperation, loss, denial and then walks you towards stubbornness, hope, friendship, sense of belonging and even a bit of love, at the same time keeping you on the ground. It is an amazing book, and has been an astonishing experience for me. I highly recommend this book. If i can maybe decrease a quarter of a star, it would be I half expected the entire book to end in a similar note how it begun. Maybe fortunately, it did not. I won't give more details for fear of spoilers. Read it.

• Different but good

  A bit of a different vibe for Pratchett but very good

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