Dear Terry Pratchett,
It is entirely unfair that every book of yours I read increases my estimation for you. At some point, you will no longer be able to live up to my expectations, and on that day I am probably going to cry.
Sincerely, Cait, who is thinking about getting a hermit crab tattoo.


I kind of don't want to talk about the plot, because: "Native boy and English girl survive tsunami, build empire of survivors and create a nation of science!" does not convey how awesome it all is.

Guys, thi More...

Philip Pullman is known, perhaps infamously, for His Dark Materials trilogy, which has been attacked because of Pullman's atheist beliefs as well as the endorsement of atheism that book represents. Pullman isn't the only writer to have been attacked due to his view on religion, and I doubt that he will be the last one. Of course, he will undoubtedly be attacked this year because of his new book about Jesus and his buddy Christ.

I find it strange that there was barely a peep about the books until More...

I suppose that after twenty-five years of writing DiscWorld novels, Terry Pratchett has earned the right to do something a bit different. And different is precisely what he does with his latest novel, "Nation."

"Nation" is a story set in a parallel universe to ours, but it's not the world of DiscWorld. (Though it could someday be, I suppose, though I hope Pratchett resists the temptation to "tie together" all his universes).

Mau is a young boy, sent on a quest to become a man by his tribe. Daphne More...

Disclaimer: I'm about to wax poetic in a totally corny way. Just warning you!

I am, and have been for years, of the opinion that Pratchett is the best writer there is. He continually serves up pitch perfect depictions of spectacular characters who are both wonderfully inventive, and at the same time purposefully normal. And in every book, hidden in the hilarity, and the side splitting satire, is a perfect pearl of truth about human nature. I remember when I first found one. It was the slender and More...

This is a book that I found myself calling wonderful from the very beginning and immediately knowing it would be a favorite. It's one I'd recommend to nearly anyone. Be sure to buy a copy when it comes out in October of 2008.

This alternate history takes place in a time when the redcoats were plopping down flags on islands without asking the permission of the natives. Most authors fail to give such natives equal or superior intellectual status with their European contemporaries. Instead, such peo More...

In the aftermath of a tsunami, an island nation rebuilds itself on the shoulders of a single native boy and a shipwrecked English girl.

The language about discovering ideas and the inter-relationship between science and history, between knowing and wondering, behind invention and self-reliance is marvelous.

Terry Pratchett's perspective about people recovering from disaster is thoughtful:

"The most important thing was that time had passed, pouring thousands of soothing seconds across the island. P More...

The premise is simple - a devastating tidal wave brings two young people of widely disparate cultures together on a tropical island. The resulting story is anything but simple; packed with vast and universal themes, mixed with humor and peopled with vivid characters. This has to be Pratchett’s best. Like all his stories, the humor and the inventive quirkiness makes for a delightful read yet this is a story that also thoughtfully explores an array of fascinating themes ranging from faith, free wi More...

This is YA so I won't give it an official review, but man is it top notch stuff. Faith and desert islands. Foul-mouthed parrots and science. It's a little like Swiss Family Robinson, a little like Casablanca, and a little like nothing I've read before. Grand great stuff.

I am a huge fan of Pratchett's children's fiction--I think Johnny and the Dead is one of the all time great children's books, and I'm sorry it's not more widely known. Nation is the latest, and it's a stand alone, not set in the Discworld, but on a South Pacific-ish island in an alternate version of our own world. It's about faith and love and family and community and race (similar themes to the film Australia, which I saw the day after I read Nation and to Octavian Nothing in that regard) and w More...

I'm not the world's biggest Terry Pratchett fan. I've tried getting into Diskworld on no less than 4 occasions, and have always stumbled by about book 4. BUT, the bride insisted I give NATION a shot because it's a stand alone, and hell, when the bride insists, the wise man listens.

So this was a pretty great book. It feels like it could have done with a *tiny* bit more... I don't know what. 'Polish' is the wrong word. I don't know what the right word is. But I read somewhere that the idea for NAT More...

Terry Pratchett is very angry.

At first glance, it looks like Pratchett has combined the descriptions from Simon Winchester's Krakatoa and the Indonesian tsunami with the central question of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel (i.e. why do the Europeans have all the stuff and pacific islanders don't).

But that's the surface, in this case much of the plot. The deep part is a look at the process of grieving. It isn't the simple seven steps. Our main character Mau (I kept reading it as Man at fi More...

Just this moment I realised that it may be time to start thinking about Terry Pratchett's legacy. I've been reading his Discworld novels since 1990 (wow...) and I can't pretend that all of them are great books, no matter how many times they make me laugh. Nation could be his legacy. It captures his humor and his insight into the human spirit - a very hopeful outlook - that reminded me strongly of Small Gods, my favorite of his books. If he can make you care about the characters in 300 pages, and More...

Nation isn’t set in the Discworld universe, which is a bit of a departure for the author.

Mau is a young boy/man, who was on his way back to his tiny island after his coming-of-age trial and discovers his Nation - everyone - has been swept away by a huge tidal wave. Daphne is a young girl on her way to meet up with her father who has become governor of some outlying colony. Her ship was caught in the same wave, deposited on Mau’s island, and she is the only survivor.

It is the story of two peopl More...

I think this is an incredible book; I've never read anything like it. It's probably the best book I've read in the last year! Pratchett deftly manages to be profound, thoughtful, sad, and laugh-out-loud funny all in the same story. At the end of a prolific writing career, this is the last book he will write due to Alzheimers. It seems to me to be a brilliant finale. Wonderful characters and hilarious moments are juxtaposed with an ongoing, underlying discussion of religion and belief in many for More...

I file this under fantasy because it IS. And maybe slightly Sci-Fi as well since it does deal with "science" and is set in a parallel universe. In reality, it is a fantasy set in an alternative world in an alternative history. (Reminded me of Jonathan Strange a bit.)

It was not a book that I was compelled to read in a couple of sittings but it was a book that I definitely savored -- for its thinking (Author's Note: This book contains some [thinking]. Whether you try it at home is up to you.) and More...

Very different from his other works. Less flippant and much more thoughtful, but still with quite a bit of humor. The underlying questions about faith and religion were from a very different viewpoint, and quite interesting.

In a way, I would like to see more about the world where this took place. Either one of the two disasters could have huge effects, but taken together they would be devastating.

Pratchett takes on imperialism, religion, women, men and fate.

He does it well, and with greater grace than I can explain without spoilers. Just read it because I told you so, okay?

As much as I try to keep an author's personal life separate from his or her work, I can't deny that Pratchett himself was in my head while I read Nation. The book's themes of loss and grief -- the good kind and the self-destructive kind -- and history and memory just wound themselves around my brain until I was basically visualizing it as Pratchett's own grieving process in book form. That made it a little heavy for me; perhaps a little heavier than it should have been. After all, this is Terry More...

Really enjoyed this book - its a somewhat more thoughtful departure from the tongue-in-cheek style of the Discworld series but still presented with Terry Pratchett's unique storytelling voice (and he does still manage a decent number of puns and silly moments anyway :)

Nation is a story of an island-dwelling boy whose entire village gets wiped out due to a tidal wave, and the girl he meets when her ship is wrecked in the same wave. They cannot communicate successfully at first as they are both fr More...

So this is the latest book by Mr Pratchett and the first published since he went public with the fact that he has a rare early-onset form of Alzheimer's disease. That doesn't really have much to do with the book, I just think it's interesting to note that he is still a great author and I hope to h*ll he continues writing up until he can't anymore.
As for the book...This is, in fact, NOT a Discworld book. Nope. There is a San Francisco and a Boston and not one mention of wizards, luggage, or even More...

A really good book about death and belief. As the author is a humanist (and feminist, if you will), it's about belief in people, in yourself.

What seems to start out like a typical "native legends" story of course has the Pratchett twist, and even though I worried that he's now reevaluating faith, it's a sure sign of a good book when I don't check to see how many pages I have left, but am delighted that I'm only 11 pages in - oh no, already 50 pages in - etc.
Though today the outset of the story r More...

Nation is a hard one to review--it's quite different than anything else I've read of Terry Pratchett (and I've read a lot!), and it's one of those rare young adult novels that ask the readers to think about serious topics rather than just telling a silly, fun story. As Pratchett is aging, it really seems like his stories are taking a much more brooding and serious tone, with only hints of his wit and sarcasm throughout.

The characters are all very interesting and complex, especially the two centr More...

This book tells the story of a small nation in the supposed South Pacific that is destroyed by a large tidal wave and is rebuilt by a boy who is no longer a boy but not yet a man, Mau, and a young girl who is heir to the British throne whose ship crashed on his island. While overall focusing on the general theme of what is a "Nation" Terry Pratchett also deconstructs themes of religion, belief, death, survival and science, but more particularly, what if we have it backwards, and the world is rea More...

This is not a Diskworld novel. I thought I would miss the Diskworld and all my favorite characters, but I didn’t, not for a minute.

This is a more serious novel. The language is even a little more formal. Pratchett drew me right into the story and I fell in love with the characters. Mau was so strong and brave and vulnerable. Erminturde/Daphne was kind and somewhat silly at first, trying to “maintain standards,” but then you find out that she has been trained in ‘the scientific theory,” and is ac More...

I would add this book to my list of books which could inform somebody's morals (really I'm thinking specifically of my sons). Mau is a character who does the right thing in a world gone mad, and he makes a difference for his corner of the world. The book had Terry Pratchett's signature humor. I always enjoy his wise observations on how our world works/doesn't work hidden away in his fantasy novels. I hope Ian reads this one if I leave it lying about.

I really enjoyed this book and I can see why it was on the list for the Printz Awards for teens. It's more than a great survival story although it is that. It's more than a great adventure and a story about tolerance as well. There were small elements of sci/fi and romance, but they fit in nice with the story. I loved the characters and the plot and even how it ended. Great book!

What an enjoyable book! Mau is the only islander left after the Big Wave hits...then he discovers a "ghost girl" is also on the island with him. Soon, others arrive. Mau questions who he is--and what his previous Nation was--in this coming-of-age story that questions faith and belief. I was especially amused by the unexpected humor in the book! It's a book you definitely will want to discuss with someone.