The Bromeliad Trilogy: Truckers, Diggers, and Wings [Hardcover]

Terry Pratchett (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: The Bromeliad Trilogy

In a world whose seasons are defined by Christmas sales and Spring Fashions, hundreds of tiny nomes live in the corners and crannies of a human-run department store. They have made their homes beneath the floorboards for generations and no longer remember -- or even believe in -- life beyond the Store walls.

Until the day a small band of nomes arrives at the Store from the Outside. Led by a young nome named Masklin, the Outsiders carry a mysterious black box (called the Thing), and they deliver devastating news: In twenty-one days, the Store will be destroyed.

Now all the nomes must learn to work together, and they must learn to think -- and to think BIG.

Part satire, part parable, and part adventure story par excellence, master storyteller Terry Pratchett’s engaging trilogy traces the nomes’ flight and search for safety, a search that leads them to discover their own astonishing origins and takes them beyond their wildest dreams.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Pratchett gives his cast plenty of personality and fuels the plot with nonstop comedy.” (Kirkus Reviews )

“A wry tongue-in-cheek fantasy…which unhesitatingly lampoons the ingrained habits and complacent attitudes found in any society.” (ALA Booklist )

“Terry Pratchett has created a wild adventure, a fable, a fantasy, an elegant satire.”– Lloyd Alexander (Lloyd Alexander )

“Witty, funny, wise and altogether delightful.” (Locus )

“Fascinating and funny.” (The Horn Book )

“A delicious, rewarding, wry and antic fable.”—Harlan Ellison“A rollicking good story.” (Kirkus Reviews )

About the Author

Terry Pratchett is one of the world’s most popular authors. His acclaimed novels have sold more than 75 million copies worldwide. In January 2009, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Pratchett a Knight Bachelor in recognition of his “services to literature.” Sir Terry lives in England.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 edition (September 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060094931
• ISBN-13: 978-0060094935
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Terry Pratchett sold his first story when he was fifteen, which earned him enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter. His first novel, a humorous fantasy entitled The Carpet People, appeared in 1971 from the publisher Colin Smythe. Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, in 1983. In 1987 he turned to writing full time, and has not looked back since. To date there are a total of 36 books in the Discworld series, of which four (so far) are written for children. The first of these children's books, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal. A non-Discworld book, Good Omens, his 1990 collaboration with Neil Gaiman, has been a longtime bestseller, and was reissued in hardcover by William Morrow in early 2006 (it is also available as a mass market paperback (Harper Torch, 2006) and trade paperback (Harper Paperbacks, 2006). Terry's latest book, Nation, a non-Discworld standalone YA novel was published in October of 2008 and was an instant New York Times and London Times bestseller. Regarded as one of the most significant contemporary English-language satirists, Pratchett has won numerous literary awards, was named an Officer of the British Empire "for services to literature" in 1998, and has received four honorary doctorates from the Universities of Warwick, Portsmouth, Bath, and Bristol. His acclaimed novels have sold more than 55 million copies (give or take a few million) and have been translated into 36 languages. Terry Pratchett lives in England with his family, and spends too much time at his word processor.  Some of Terry's accolades include: The Carnegie Medal, Locus Awards, the Mythopoetic Award, ALA Notable Books for Children, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Book Sense 76 Pick, Prometheus Award and the British Fantasy Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious trilogy, November 7, 2003

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bromeliad Trilogy: Truckers, Diggers, and Wings (Hardcover)

Terry Pratchett reached prominence with the hit Discworld series. Since that series has a flat planet on the back of a turtle, it stands to reason that Pratchett can make almost any unlikely plot work. In this case, he mixes scifi and fantasy with a healthy dose of satire in the Bromeliad Trilogy.

In "Truckers," a small band of tiny nomes, led by the desperate Masklin, have nearly been killed off by the rough life on city streets. But then they find themselves in the vast Store (also called Arnold Bros, est. 1905) where there are even more nomes -- nomes who think that Outside is a legend. But they're about to have a rude awakning -- in less than a month, the store will be demolished. And if the nomes don't get away quickly, they'll be wiped out too.

"Diggers" picks up the tale of the nomes after they escape the doomed Store. They take up resident in an abandoned quarry and start to make new lives there. But when the quarry is set to be reopened, a new, long-term plan must be made -- they must get the Thing (a little talking black box) back to the ship that brought them to Earth in the first place!

"Wings" is a parallel tale to "Diggers," as Masklin struggles to get the Thing back to their ancient ship. To do that, the Thing says, it needs to go to Florida. Masklin and his friends haven't got the faintest idea where Florida is or how to get there. But to save their tiny race, Masklin will venture into the unknown -- a huge flying truck called a Concorde. But will they be successful in finding the ship?

A civilization of tiny people living in a department store sounds like the dorkier juvenile fantasy stories, but Terry Pratchett's unique spin makes it thoroughly entertaining. He sprinkles the books with Bible-like quotations ("And Arnold Bros (est. 1905) said, Let there be Signs, so that all within shall know the proper running of the Store"), and plenty of humor ("You may be interested to know that we've just broken the sound barrier!" "All right, own up. Who broke it?").

He also provides us with the Thing (a computer), which tends to be a bit more human in outlook than the nomes. While "Wings" has somewhat less tension (because we KNOW what's going to happen), it's fun to see the highly improbable schemes of the nomes being put into action. They're so innocent and pleasant that it's impossible not to root for them.

Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad trilogy isn't as complicated or strange as his other works, but it is immensely funny and very well-written. Recommended for kids and adults alike.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Cutest Trilogy, October 26, 2003

By 

Inspector Gadget "Go Go Gadget Reviews" (On the trail of Doctor Claw) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bromeliad Trilogy: Truckers, Diggers, and Wings (Hardcover)

I've never read any other Terry Pratchett novels apart from these. They don't take place in Pratchett's discworld so it's accessible to anyone not familiar with it (like me).

Truckers is the story is of a huge bunch of Nomes who live in a massive Department Store called Arnold Bros (est 1905). They have lived there so long that they have forgotten what came before. They have no idea how the human world works and their mysterious talking box only gives them the slightest of clues. But they usually misinterpret what it says. For example, the store often has a mammoth sale, even tho there are no mammoths for sale. After receiving the horrible info that the store will be demolished the Nomes hatch a daring plan to escape in one of the delivery vans.

Diggers (a rather Christmassy story) picks up as soon as the Nomes stop their truck and make a new home in an abandoned quarry. But as soon as they settle in word has it that the quarry is to be re-opened (by order). Their talking box speaks of a spaceship orbiting the earth for thousands of years apparently awaiting their return. So some of them take-off for Florida to stowaway on a shuttle launch while the rest plan an escape in an old Digger (jekub).

Wings is not so much a sequel as it is 'what happened elsewhere during Diggers'. It's the most interesting of all three as it has the most story. The Nomes' plan is so far-fetched and impossible that it's so funny to see it actually work. I really like these stories and perhaps some day I'll start reading the discworld series. But this is fine introduction to the writing of Terry Pratchett.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best, better, good, May 10, 2004

By 

bensmomma "bensmomma" (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Bromeliad Trilogy: Truckers, Diggers, and Wings (Hardcover)

Terry Pratchett's early trilogy for young readers, originally published separately as "Truckers," "Diggers," and "Wings," is here reproduced in a single volume. The series features the Nomes, small creatures no more than a few inches high. In "Truckers," a small clan of nomes abandons their harsh outdoor life to move into an aging department store (Arnold Bros. Est. 1905). There they discover an entire metropolis of other nomes-complete with a bizarre class structure and an eccentric religion worshiping the Arnold Bros. as deities-who believe the department store to be the entire universe and deny the existence of the Outside, from which our clan came.

All the nomes must abandon the Store when it is slated for demolition; "Truckers," contains the story of their escape. The second volume, "Diggers", describes their attempt to carve out a life in an abandoned quarry. In the third volume, "Wings," we discover that the nomes' ancestors once lived in outer space, as their leader ventures to Florida's NASA Space Center to learn how to return his people to their origins.

"Truckers" is as funny as anything Pratchett has ever written; the send-up of religion, supporting the theme of believing in what can't be seen, combines with slapstick farce. (At one point the six-inch-high nomes successfully train themselves to drive a human-size truck only to forget to open the garage door before exiting the garage.) "Diggers" is somewhat witty, whereas "Wings" is a lesser effort. This third volume spends most of its time apart from the various characters that make the nome community entertaining reading.

Still, as always, worth the read!