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Nation | 
 enlarge | Author: Terry Pratchett
Publisher: Audiobooks
Category: Book
Buy New: $18.34
New (10) from $18.34
Rating:  76 reviews
Sales Rank: 382036
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Reading Level: All Ages
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.7 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 1846576946
EAN: 9781846576942
ASIN: 1846576946
Publication Date: October 7, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new Book, ALL days Low Price !
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Product Description
Finding himself alone on a desert island when everything and everyone he knows and loved has been washed away in a huge storm, Mau is the last surviving member of his nation. He's also completely alone - or so he thinks until he finds the ghost girl. She has no toes, wears strange lacy trousers like the grandfather bird and gives him a stick which can make fire. Daphne, sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, almost immediately regrets trying to shoot the native boy. Thank goodness the powder was wet and the gun only produced a spark. She's certain her father, distant cousin of the Royal family, will come and rescue her but it seems, for now, all she has for company is the boy and the foul-mouthed ship's parrot. As it happens, they are not alone for long. Other survivors start to arrive to take refuge on the island they all call the Nation and then raiders accompanied by murderous mutineers from the Sweet Judy. Together, Mau and Daphne discover some remarkable things - including how to milk a pig and why spitting in beer is a good thing - and start to forge a new Nation. As can be expected from Terry Pratchett, the master story-teller, this new children's novel is both witty and wise, encompassing themes of death and nationhood, while being extremely funny. Mau's ancestors have something to teach us all. Mau just wishes they would shut up about it and let him get on with saving everyone's lives!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 71 more reviews...
 A Huge Story Told In Small Words January 1, 2009
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
We meet Mau on Boy's Island, fulfilling the rituals that will make him a fully fledged man of the Nation, a small community on a island in the "Mothering Sunday" island chain--one speck of land amid other specks in a vast ocean. Just as Mau casts off the canoe he has built himself to return to the Nation, the great tsunami comes, and wipes out his world. When he reaches home, it is no longer there. Although there was high ground that could have sheltered the people had they taken refuge there, they did not know the wave was coming. In fact, the entire Nation had gathered on the low sloping beach to await Mau's return. He will never have his feast or get the tattoos that show he has completed his journey into manhood. His first task is to gather the dead, to give them burial at sea so the wild pigs will not eat the corpses.
With this astounding opening, Terry Pratchett launches his latest Young Adult fantasy. He has never been a writer to talk down to children and all of his books for young people have tackled the truly large questions: who and where is God? Why do bad things happen to good people? What is the meaning of life? Pratchett is a wise man, to catch intelligent readers at this stage. Later on in life questions like "how will I pay the rent?" tend to swallow everything else. If you are a fan of Pratchett's Discworld, you will enjoy this book set on a round world much like our own. Pratchett's trademark humor is playfully in evidence.
But this is a larger story than Pratchett has tackled before and many adults may flinch from it and try to keep it out of the hands of children. In a deceptively simple and transcendent style, Pratchett tells of how Mau is angry at God and his ancestors for not warning the Nation and how he and Daphne, a young British castaway, succor the other refugees that wash up on their beach and so lay the foundations of a new Nation. This is enrapturing, inspirational fantasy--but it cuts to the bone as it asks questions that cannot be answered. This is not escapist fantasy by any means, but while one is reading it one is rapt away to Robinson Crusoe's island.
There is no bad language that a parent could object to. There is no smidgen of sex, although there is romance to wring the hardest heart. There is only necessary opposition to violence. Warning: this book contains large and grand ideas that will start a person thinking. Mau and Daphne confront incredible grief and defy incredible odds in their own world, and they just might change how you look at your own.
 Five stars for young adults December 30, 2008
There are plenty of thorough reviews here, so I'll just add my two cents' worth that I found "Nation" to be some of Pratchett's best craftsmanship as a writer and a very satisfying read. The only reason I did not give it five stars is that I'm a bit too far away from my teen years (quite a bit, actually) to buy into the some of the characterizations and situations that perhaps were a bit too idealized for my tastes. I think it should be a hit with teenagers; although here in the USA, if the religious right find out about it they'll probably want to boycott it, as it asks the hard questions about religion that no religion ever truly answers while it implies the possibility of non-Judeo/Christian gods and spritualities (or did the characters just imagine them?).
What a lovely book December 27, 2008
This was a wonderful book. Very thought provoking with enough humor to be enjoyable. Not the laugh til you cry type, as I consider discworld to be, but well written, unique and marvelous. I don't think I would classify it as young adult. I see no reason why it wouldn't be enjoyable to all ages.
 Pratchett fans will recognize "Strata" herein December 26, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Strongly recommend for young adults.
Pratchett fans, wait for the less-expensive paperback.
Being a 20+ year fan of Pratchett's writing, I enjoyed "Nation" but recognized a lot of his earlier sci-fi work being recycled from "Strata" etc. Perhaps this confused me or spoilt the scenery, but with the recycling and some rather pat characterizations (the other-Islanders, the nefarious sailors) it was a bit of a let-down at hardcover prices.
I love Pratchett's work - I've met the man and really like him too - but this book, hmmm. It's very hard to give a middling review to such a brilliant writer and what is a solid young-adult SF work, but I really can't justify much better than 3 stars. Sorry Terry :(
One of the Best Books I've Ever Read December 22, 2008
Pratchett's "Nation" is one of the very best books I've ever read. I don't know who put the "young adult" label on it (or why they did so), but I see no reason for any such "limitation" on its intended audience. In all senses, this is a deep, engrossing, well-written, emotionally satisfying, and intellectually stimulating book. As far as I can see, everyone can read it without compromise. For Pratchett fans, be aware that this book is completely unrelated to his Discworld series and sits in its own little corner of the universe. I rate it at an Excellent 5 stars out of 5.
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