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Nation | 
 enlarge | Author: Terry Pratchett
Publisher: HarperCollins
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $10.00
You Save: $6.99 (41%)
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Rating:  65 reviews
Sales Rank: 440
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.4
ISBN: 0061433012
EAN: 9780061433016
ASIN: 0061433012
Publication Date: October 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The sea has taken everything. Mau is the only one left after a giant wave sweeps his island village away. But when much is taken, something is returned, and somewhere in the jungle Daphne—a girl from the other side of the globe—is the sole survivor of a ship destroyed by the same wave. Together the two confront the aftermath of catastrophe. Drawn by the smoke of Mau and Daphne's sheltering fire, other refugees slowly arrive: children without parents, mothers without babies, husbands without wives—all of them hungry and all of them frightened. As Mau and Daphne struggle to keep the small band safe and fed, they defy ancestral spirits, challenge death himself, and uncover a long-hidden secret that literally turns the world upside down. . . . Internationally revered storyteller Terry Pratchett presents a breathtaking adventure of survival and discovery, and of the courage required to forge new beliefs.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 60 more reviews...
 While certainly appealing to his legions of existing devotees, NATION should help broaden Pratchett's fan base significantly November 18, 2008
Teenreads.com (New York, NY)
I was fortunate enough to discover Terry Pratchett's books about young witch-in-training Tiffany Aching a few years back. Since then, I've been recommending these titles --- and the rest of his stellar Discworld novels --- to friends and family, young and old alike. Pratchett is sometimes dismissed as only a humorist, an author of light fantasy that, while offering plenty of comedic social satire, doesn't have much backbone. I would beg to differ with that characterization of the Discworld series, which has as much heart as it does humor.
But, with the publication of NATION, a stand-alone novel that is not part of the Discworld oeuvre, Pratchett should silence those criticisms once and for all. NATION is at once adventurous and contemplative, playful and philosophical, and it should appeal to long-time devotees of the author and new fans alike.
NATION is not set in Discworld but rather in a world that bears a great deal of resemblance to our own in the mid-19th century. There are a few differences in history and geography, but cultural issues such as scientific investigation, the rights of women, and the role and responsibility of the monarchy and religion will certainly be familiar to any student of the Victorian period, even if Pratchett takes some delightful liberties with the historical record.
Ermintrude is the teenage daughter of the Governor of Port Mercia, who had been 139th in line for the throne of England. That is, until a bout of influenza wipes out everyone between him and the throne. The only problem? The presumptive king is thousands of miles away, governing one of the dozens of tiny tropical islands that dot the Southern Pelagic Ocean and contribute to the nation's extensive empire. His daughter is also at sea, on a ship called the Sweet Judy with an unscrupulous crew, eager to join her father. Neither one of them has any idea of the myriad ways in which their fortunes are about to change.
Ermintrude's fortune changes dramatically indeed, when a killer tsunami runs the Sweet Judy aground on a tiny island. Ermintrude is the only survivor of the shipwreck and, as she soon discovers, is one of only two people left alive on the devastated island. The other is Mau, a teenage boy who was in the process of successfully passing his manhood ceremony when the tsunami destroyed his entire Nation. Now Mau is confused about his place in the world. If he has left his boy's soul behind but not yet been given a man's soul, does that make him a human? A demon? Or something else entirely?
Mau and Ermintrude (who quickly takes this opportunity to rename herself Daphne instead of her given name, which she has always hated) don't have too much time to consider these philosophical details. There are hundreds of dead to be buried at sea, shelters to be made, fires to be built, new languages and customs to be learned, and, soon, as dozens of desperate refugees from other islands arrive at the Nation seeking support, other people's problems to which to attend.
Daphne, who has lived her whole life under the thumb of her martinet grandmother, soon discovers she has a passion for doctoring, a talent for making beer, and an appreciation for walking around in the tropical climate in just her petticoat and pantaloons. Mau, who continues to question his soul's worth and his own place in a warlike culture, grows into a capable, confident and kind chief of this new Nation. Together, Daphne and Mau develop a new civilization --- and learn truths about Mau's people's history that may change views of science, culture and religion forever.
NATION may be more philosophically dense and less broadly comic than most of Pratchett's Discworld novels. There's plenty of adventure to be had, though --- with shipwrecks, cannibals, murders and even a hidden sacred burial ground. While certainly appealing to his legions of existing devotees, NATION should help broaden his fan base significantly. It raises some of the most fundamental moral and ethical questions that humans have always struggled with, and then turns them on their head in ways surprising, thought provoking and, finally, eminently satisfying.
--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl
Does Not Disappoint! November 18, 2008
Christine & Ethan Rose (Austin, TX USA)
With "Nation," Terry Pratchett has once again defended his reputation for excellence and humor in stories of social and literary significance. To be honest, as his books are cranked out with significant prolificity (yes I made that word up), they have grown in social significance while the humor has become more subtle. In "Nation," Mr. Pratchett explores the myths of cultures in a coming of age story. Pratchett's stories are always worth reading and this one does not disappoint.
Terry Pratchett...a small god November 15, 2008
Julee A. Veljanovski (Adelaide, South Australia)
Having read Terry Pratchett's whole catalogue of work after happening on the illustrated "Eric" many years back I never cease to be amazed at his wordsmanship and ability to paint the human condition so gently but piercingly. "Nation" is no exception. It is both gentle, quitely amusing and metaphysically raging and if it is, as some have suggested, based on his own current condition which has thrust his own mortality into his sights, then more accolades to him that he is still one of the most civilized voices on the island. The book is very readable and ponderable...i'm sure the Librarian would give it pride of place in the library should it fall into that world.
wonderful November 14, 2008
Maya Rose (Houston, TX)
This is much different than other Pratchett books, but I loved it anyway. We got it from the library but now we are going to buy it -- it was really provocative and inspiring. I'm not sure I agree with all of the conclusions Mau does, but it feels important to think about all these questions.
***Not sure what age I'd recommend this for. Certainly not before 7th grade. It is written simply but the subject matter is so dense. Great for a read-aloud for couples or parents/teens.
***I have been reading light fluffy novels, and this one came as a shock -- it starts so grimly. Hang in there through the first 50 pages or so, because it's worth it!
Nation November 12, 2008
R. Mannion (Fairfield California)
This author was diagnosed with early onset Alschimer's this year. I don't know when he wrote this book, but it is a message of hope to all that read it. I suspect some help with this novel since his wife is named as co-suthor, but also because there are only 2 of Prattchett's usual footnotes.
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