It's hard for an adult not to read this book and think of all the personal statements Terry Prachett might be making about his own struggles but that aside, it is a grand romp about two heroes we've seen before, the "nobel savage" who of course isn't a savage at all but a thoughtful, philosophical boy/man without a soul (for good reason) and the young girl of privilege who finds herself marooned on "his" island and is soon chewing food for an old woman and sharing language, skills, philosophies, you get the picture. But there's lots of tongue and cheek humor, surprises at many turns, people who just keep coming and an interesting duel that does bring its own suspense. While the secondary characters are just that, I really liked Mau and Daphne and enjoyed sharing every bit of their adventure.