Nation by Terry Pratchett Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Nation
Book Review: Even Off Discworld, Pratchett Comes Through
Summary: 4 Stars
Book Review: Exellent book by an excellent author
Summary: 5 Stars
I hope this book becomes required reading in High Schools across the country. I can't write enough accolades for this book. It just has to be read.
There is humor, adventure, philosophy, anthropology, religion...all kinds of big issues.
This is a book that makes people think, and I highly recommend it.
Book Review: Fanciful and thought provoking...
Summary: 5 Stars
Book Review: Fantastic!
Summary: 5 Stars
I just finished reading this phenomenal book, and recommend that you read it as well, and probably buy a copy for nieces and nephews this holiday season. I don't know if - due to his illness - this will be Terry Pratchett's last book; I hope there are many, many books to come. If it is, this is certainly a book that a man could proudly end his career with.
As so many of his best books have been, this is a book that uses new characters, in a new place. Surprisingly, these characters and this place are not within the Discworld of many of his other novels, but a set of islands which could remind a person of various islands in the south Pacific (though in an author's note, Pratchett specifically tells us that the islands are somewhere else entirely).
It's a self-contained book that is appropriate for young adults and above that doesn't draw upon any of his past work... not even Death, speaking IN ALL CAPS. If this is your first Pratchett book, don't be worried, you're going to be on completely even footing with people who have been Pratchett followers for years!
Book Review: Finally a Terry Pratchett book that leaves me with a heavy heart (in a good way, I think)
Summary: 5 Stars
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.