Terry Pratchett
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 41
Average rating: 4.5 of 5
When a world turns upside-down 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.
This is a work of fiction, by Terry Pratchett, that is basically two, converging, coming-of-age stories, set in an alternate history of Earth, back in the days of three-masted sailing ships and the British Empire in its colonial heyday.
One of the core characters is Ermintrude, who prefers to be called Daphne. Daphne is 139th in the line of succession to the throne of England. Her mother died in childbirth, and Daphne is haunted by the memories of that sad time. Her father, who is, of course, 138th in the line of succession to the throne of England, has become Governor of a British colony in the South Pacific, leaving Daphne to be raised by a stern, overbearing, grandmother with very rigid ideas of what is proper. However, Daphne's father sends for her, and she sets sail for the long sea voyage to join her father. Shortly after Daphne leaves England, a terrible plague of Russian influenza hits Europe, taking an awful toil on the population, including the British monarchy. Daphne is a very bright, inquisitive girl, who loves science, of which her father approves, but her grandmother saw this as extremely un-ladylike and not befitting a girl who is 139th in the line of succession to the throne of England.
Mau is the other main character in Nation. He is a boy, on the verge of manhood, who is lifelong resident of a South Pacific island. According to the customs of his culture, the older men take him to another island and leave him there, alone, with the task of surviving and finding his way back, across miles of open ocean, within thirty days. If he succeeds, the entire tribe will celebrate Mau's newfound adult status, and he can begin seeking a wife. If he fails to return in thirty days, the elders will bring him back, if he has even survived, but Mau will never gain full adult status in the tribe, and cannot marry. Mau is a strong, bright, resourceful boy, and is well on his way home, in an outrigger canoe he built, when . . .
Disaster strikes! A volcanic island in the South Pacific, close on to degree of Krakatoa, causing an enormous tsunami. The tidal wave has a major impact on this story, as Mau survives, but the entire population of his home island is wiped off the face of the Earth. Meanwhile, the ship carrying Daphne is wrecked --- onto Mau's island --- leaving only Daphne surviving. Here, our two coming-of-age stories converge, and develops in a well-crafted, and very unexpected, manner. This is not the movie The Blue Lagoon (Special Edition) all over again, but something much more sophisticated and interesting.
Cultural issues are an important factor in this book, as Daphne's extremely proper, British upbringing collides with a reality that does not fit it, while Mau is left stripped of his people, his customs, and his culture. He was just about to become a man, but did not know everything he needs to found a new tribe --- a new Nation. As stragglers, from other islands, wander into the story, they are all lost, and our two protagonists are the most resourceful and the strongest of the bunch, with "the cream rising to the top." British colonialism also takes a hit in this story, as it is not viewed kindly. And, if all the disasters and upheavals were not enough, Daphne and Mau make an archaeological discovery, on Mau's island, that will shake the scientific and cultural worlds, across the globe, in a way that even a new Krakatoa and the plague could not.
Character development is key strength to this novel. By the end of the story, I felt that I knew, and liked, many of the characters. Daphne is a truly admirable young woman, who is quite worthy of the unexpected status she inherits, at the end of the book. Mau gives us the epitome of adolescent angst, mixed with the alienation of the culturally displaced and the existential rage of a young man who feels that his gods have not just abandoned him, but have betrayed him.
The book ends with a truly powerful epilogue, of the what-came-afterward type. I think that the reader would have to be pretty cold-hearted to not shed a tear or two, while reading it.
Everything I have said thus far has been pretty positive, but this book is not without its flaws. The beginning is somewhat muddied and abrupt, leaving the reader floundering for a while. I could not figure out how the Daphne and Mau story-lines could connect. Plus, there is the issue of the ages of the two protagonists. It took quite a while for it to be clear that Daphne was actually fourteen, not nine years old. Mau's age is never clearly stated, but I am pretty sure he is also about fourteen or fifteen.
There is a structural issue with this book, as the flow is uneven. It generally moves well, but it occasionally gets a bit lost, or off track. I recently read that Mr. Pratchett, a veteran writer of many books, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, and I wonder if that could play a part in this small flaw in the book. However, the minor meandering does not significantly hurt the book and, if I ever get Alzheimer's, I hope that I will be able to write this well.
Before Nation, the only Pratchett story that I had read was a short story called The Sea Fishes and the Little Fishes, which is a well-crafted blend of fantasy, humor, folklore, and witchcraft set in his Discworld universe. I might read more of his books now.
-- Chris McCallister, author of Coming Full Circle
Editorial Review:
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.
