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Terry Pratchett

Nation Paperback – January 1, 2009

by Terry Pratchett (Author)

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When a giant wave destroys his village, Mau is the only one left. Daphne—a traveler from the other side of the globe—is the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Separated by language and customs, the two are united by catastrophe. Slowly, they are joined by other refugees. And as they struggle to protect the small band, Mau and Daphne defy ancestral spirits, challenge death himself, and uncover a long-hidden secret that literally turns the world upside down.

Print length

367 pages
Language

English
Publisher

HarperCollins
Publication date

January 1, 2009
Grade level

8 - 9
Reading age

13 years and up
Dimensions

8 x 5.25 x 0.94 inches
ISBN-10

0061433039
ISBN-13

978-0061433030
Lexile measure

NC790L
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“A wonderful story, by turns harrowing and triumphant.” — New York Times Book Review

“Pratchett’s examination of questions about religious belief, the nature of culture and what it means to be human [...] is a terrific, thought-provoking book.” — Washington Post Book World

“A searching exploration of good and evil, fate and free will, both as broad and as deep as anything this brilliant author has produced so far. ” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Neatly balancing the somber and the wildly humorous in a riveting tale of discovery, Pratchett shows himself at the height of his powers.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“It is hard to imagine a reader who won’t feel welcomed into this nation.” — Horn Book (starred review)

“Quirky wit and broad vision make this a fascinating survival story on many levels.” — Booklist (starred review)

“A rich and thought-provoking read.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“A classic survival tale that offers laughs and much to mull over, this is a wonderfully entertaining novel.” (starred review) — KLIATT

About the Author

Sir Terry Pratchett was the internationally bestselling author of more than thirty books, including his phenomenally successful Discworld series. His young adult novel, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal, and Where's My Cow?, his Discworld book for “readers of all ages,” was a New York Times bestseller. His novels have sold more than seventy five million (give or take a few million) copies worldwide. Named an Officer of the British Empire “for services to literature,” Pratchett lived in England. He died in 2015 at the age of sixty-six.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins; Reprint edition (January 1, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 367 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061433039
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061433030
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ NC790L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 - 9
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 5.25 x 0.94 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #111,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #132 in Teen & Young Adult Humorous Fiction
- #294 in Teen & Young Adult Coming of Age Fantasy
- #740 in Teen & Young Adult Fantasy Action & Adventure

Customer Reviews:
1,503 ratings

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Terry Pratchett

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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 lived in England with his family, and spent 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

5 star		78%
4 star		16%
3 star		5%
2 star		1%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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maudiehorse

Excellent book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 1, 2022

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Absolutely wonderful book. I've read all his books and will read them again.

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Miz Ellen

A Huge Story Told In Small Words

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 1, 2009

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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.

6 people found this helpful

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Kodiak Girl

Nation is a wonderful story!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 1, 2021

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I was at first surprised by the seriousness of the first part of Nation, unusual for a Terry Pratchett book, and I didn't know if I would enjoy it. But because it is a Terry Pratchett book I decided to keep reading, and I'm so glad I did! This story is exceptionally good, and there is humor to be found at some points in the story. The story itself is nothing like I've ever read before, Nation is a book about despair, hope, honor, love and so much more when the Nation is almost destroyed by a great wave. Mao, who returns to the Nation after a quest to prove his manhood, a tradition and rite of passage, is not in the Nation when the wave hits, and his return to home and what he finds waiting for him are almost too much to bear. This is just the beginning of Nation, but by now I am absolutely hooked on Mao's life, his hopes for the future, and slowly, the rebirth of the Nation. I'm so glad I read it. There are important, but not preachy, lessons to learn hidden in this gem of a book.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Pei Y. Lim

Finally a Terry Pratchett book that leaves me with a heavy heart (in a good way, I think)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 13, 2009

Verified Purchase

How should I start my review after racing through the pages in one night and finally falling asleep profoundly disturbed?

First, I must confess that this review is about first impressions, and I fully intend to re-read the book again for further insights. Having been a fan of Terry Pratchett and his novels, Discworld or otherwise, for some years now, I am at the same time surprised, appalled and in awe when reading this.

After the initial pages, I was surprised at the subdued tone of the writing, a departure from the exuberant and irreverant style unique to his Discworld novels. Granted the subject matter - two youngsters stranded on an island after a catastrophe that wiped out all surrounding peoples, is not to be taken lightly, I was increasingly appalled. The touches of "fantasy" (SPOILER ALERT!) when Mau and Daphne communicated with the ancestral spirits and gods (SPOILER END!) did nothing to hide the brutal, honest realism. Did it shock me? Yes. Did I feel taken in by a cheap writer's trick? Emphatically, no. Nothing in this book is there just for its shock value. Instead, I feel a strong storyteller-reader relationship with Terry Pratchett; crazily or not, I feel like he's telling me this important story in the gentlest, kindest way possible. He has always entertained me with the madcap world that is Discworld, but now he has an important message for me, and he's not gonna shy away from it or dress it up with glibly told jokes. That was when the awe kicked in. As if I did not respect him as an author enough, this sealed the deal.

My first read left me contemplative with a heavy heart, but grateful for all that I have in my unconsequential life. Do not be led to believe from my review that Nation is a depressing book! It's an uplifting book of massive courage and heart as our beloved protagonists, defying their youth and inexperience, forged......well, a Nation......because it gave them a purpose to live instead of give in to despair (and death), and because it was the right thing to do by the refugees who have came to depend on them. Truly the last reviewer was right, there's a lot to think about. And to feel about.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Mike Roach.

The best book I have read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 13, 2019

Verified Purchase

I take a star off every 5 star review I have ever given. This simply the best of books, the best of Terry Pratchett. What a loss to literature that he died so early.

This is a marvellous story and a thought provoking one too, full of typical Terry ideas and proposals. I cried a little at the end.

Five stars, every one of them a five star in itself.

14 people found this helpful

R

Outstanding and wise exploration of human nature

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 25, 2021

Verified Purchase

Pratchett believed this to be his magnum opus, and, despite the cherished section of my heart which I reserve for all of his Discworld books that I have read and re-read, I am inclined to agree with Sir Terry. There is pain and agony written in between each line of this novel. There is anger, directed at a world, and any deity who may have had a hand in making it, which contains so much mindless and unnecessary suffering of the innocent. But there is also hope contained in every line, and in between the lines as well. There is hope that, despite the way the world can be, there are people in our lives who sustain us, who we sustain, and who give meaning to our lives. Each day the world becomes a little more perfect as a consequence of our actions towards others and ourselves. There are sadists and Evil people in the world, but there are those who face them bravely, and sometimes they succeed. Life is full of good things, too, and Terry masterfully, albeit wistfully, reminds us of the wonderful and splendid moments of life we too often forget.

Oh, and the book is pretty good. You should give it a read.

3 people found this helpful

Maria

Nation

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 1, 2017

Verified Purchase

I've read many of the Disc World books but this is the first Pratchett stand alone book I've read. It is based in a small island which is devastated by a huge wave.
If you enjoy the way Pratchett uses humour to examine serious issues and mixes fact with fantasy you'll love this read.
People who know these things talk of Pratchett's anger but to me he is an author who finds novel ways to make his readers question why should things be this way.
Imaginative, endearing characters trying to understand disasters, religion, and cultural differences in an entertaining way. I did find the read a little uneven at times but overall a thought provoking and enjoyable read.

12 people found this helpful

Dr. W. S. Affleck

A very different Terry Pratchett

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

If Terry Pratchett means, to you, Discworld then you're in for a surprise. This is a very different book. It's the story of a boy returning from a retreat preparatory to being made a man to find his home island almost destroyed by a tidal wave. He must pick up the pieces aided by the young European girl, survivor of a ship wreck caused by the same wave. Beautiful descriptions of the island and the struggle to bridge the cultural gap. A jolly good read from beginning to end.

2 people found this helpful

A. J. Hawkins

Fun

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 3, 2022

Verified Purchase

While Pratchett created a magnificent fictional realm in the Discworld series, it's nice to see him tackle something different, yet still full of the usual charm. I took a paperback copy with me on a holiday some years ago, and read the entire thing in about a week.

One person found this helpful

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