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    Nation
    Nation
    Nation
    Audiobook9 hours

    Nation

    Written by Terry Pratchett

    Narrated by Stephen Briggs

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    New York Times Bestseller * Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize * Winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award * Michael L. Printz Medal honor winner

    From the pen of Sir Terry Pratchett, author of the beloved and bestselling Discworld fantasy series, comes an epic adventure of survival that mixes hope, humor, and humanity.

    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.

    Sir Terry also received a prestigious Printz Honor from the American Library Association for his novel Dodger.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 30, 2008
    ISBN9780061707438
    Nation
    Author

    Terry Pratchett

    Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was the acclaimed creator of the globally revered Discworld series. In all, he authored more than fifty bestselling books, which have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any.

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    Reviews for Nation

    4/5

    1,607 ratings148 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Devotees of Discworld, fans of the Wee Free men - this ain't your book. For someone who brings no baggage to a Pratchett novel, Nation is an oh so earnest tale of a two teenagers from wildly different cultures who bond in the aftermath of disaster and create a new (you guessed it) nation on a semi-mythic tropical island. As it's nearly humorless and relentlessly didactic, I can recommend Nation only to completest Pratchett readers. On the other hand, if you loved The Swiss Family Robinson, have at it. Were it by any other author, I would never have picked it up, but Pratchett is a good storyteller so he held my interest. There are a few typically Terry features, e.g., Death (the island version) speaks in italics while it''s the dead ancestors who are mighty talkative in ALL CAPS. No doubt the bookish kids he's aiming at will probably like it. Me, I'm waiting for the next Tiffany Aching adventure or a reappearance by the Watch or the witches.
    • 3/5
      I've read some Pratchett before, quite a while ago, and don't remember much about it, and of course, I've read Good Omens, the book he wrote with Neil Gaiman. So Nation isn't exactly an introduction to Pratchett for me, but maybe a reintroduction. As far as I can tell it isn't exactly typical of Pratchett, since it stands completely alone.

      I liked it. I didn't get that into it, really, but I was still interested enough to keep turning the pages and finish it in one day -- not quite interested enough to stop me browsing my bookshelves for something else to read alongside it, though. It's set in an alternate universe to this one and there's a lot of world-building and discussion of belief and people's reasons for it, and making a community. And there's a real grief in it, too, and people trying to deal with the grief. The little community, trying to figure out a life from what's left behind after a tidal wave, is interesting. But it never really sparked with me, somehow.

      There are definitely some awesome quotes in it, though. I especially liked the one about being in a Jane Austen novel, except with less clothes. And the King being thoroughly 'daughtered'. I recognise this as a truth: it happens even with me and my dad.
    • 4/5
      Mau is the only one left after his entire village is washed away by a giant wave. The wave also washes up Daphne, who is the only survivor of a shipwreck, and the two of them have to learn to survive on their own and to help rebuild the island once other survivors start arriving.I was hesitant about this because Pratchett is one of those white writers who tries to write about race but doesn't realise how faily he sometimes is about it. And man, I almost set this down for good quite a few times because it seemed like it was heading to a bad place. But in the end, while there were some things that didn't sit right with me (everything European/white is pretty much real/historical, but Mau and his people and that whole part of the world are made up; I could really do without any more cannibal natives in stories, even if they are the badguys and there are plenty of non-cannibal people of color; though the book is anti-colonialist, there is still some "what these people need is a honky" that slips through; etc), I'm glad I stuck with it because he totally turned around what seemed like a major fail.I didn't enjoy this as much as his Discworld stuff, but I did like it a lot and thought Mau and Daphne were great (and I loved that they both got equal pagetime, too, so it wasn't all about the white girl, but it also wasn't all about the boy).
    • 4/5
      Pratchett does not disappoint. So far this book is adorable, funny, and insightful. Does not read like a young adult book, transcends age.This books is fantastic, but the ending is decidedly not fairy tale. Not that it's sad or depressing, it's just that the guy doesn't get the girl. This book makes a point of it's realism, well, sorta. All in all, fabulous.Warnings: It takes a strong critical stance against religion. That might be a problem for some.
    • 4/5
      stutters a bit, but is well read and sounds wonderful
    • 4/5
      Narrated by Stephen Briggs. Although this is aimed at young readers, it's a story that can be enjoyed on different levels whatever your age. For kids, "Nation" is an island adventure. Teen readers will identify with Mau and Daphne's questioning of the values they grew up with. And adults will recognize the conflicts of culture, religion, and colonialism. Narrator Stephen Briggs does a masterful job immersing listeners in this island world and the huge challenges it faces. Cheers for Mau, who truly earns his manhood leading this new Nation.
    • 5/5
      Several times, while reading this, I had to put the book down and double check the author to make sure I was reading a Pratchett book. I like Pratchett, but I’m not a superfan and can tire of that tongue in cheek British quirkiness. Nation has this, but it’s only really at the beginning and the end of the book. This is a very different sort of book, quite different from his other YA offerings. I would think twice before offering it to a younger reader, making sure they are mature enough for it. Pratchett doesn’t reign in anything here. Big issues are raised, about civilization and society, but most importnantly the strength of the individual vs. blind faith in a god/gods. The overly religious may take issue with this book. I’d be surprised if there weren’t complaints already. Knowing that Practhett was diaganosed with alzheimer's while writing Nation makes it even more poignant. There is a lot of anger here. And sorrow, but with a small spark of hope throughout.

      Aside from this, it’s a gripping story, heartbreaking in places, funny in others. I love the way Daphne and Mau are written, and I’m so glad it is not a typical Tarzan/Jane storyline. Mau is taken seriously, and is a well-developed character. Pratchett treats Mau’s civilization the same way he treats Daphne’s, respecting it while pointing out it’s ridiculousness.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic narration. Funny and thought provoking. Excellent characters. All ages.
    • 4/5
      You can always depend on Pratchett for a good read. Even though this is a "young adult" book it's a great read for adults too. In the afterward Pratchett says the book is about making you think - it works. This one goes direct to my grandson.
    • 4/5
      A delightful story from Pratchett. It's set somewhere nearer to home than Discworld, but has his same mix of humour, social comment and philosophy.
    • 5/5
      I know my goal was to read all the discworld books this year, but after I ran out of Stephen Briggs audiobooks, I saw this one. It's Pratchett, but melancholy. Stephen Briggs is a great narrator, as always. The book starts off with a tsunami coming and wiping out a boy's entire island. No people left. And the tsunami also shipwrecks a white girl onto this South Pacific island. They are alone and can't talk to each other, and other survivors are washing up on the shore too. And the island holds a mysterious secret in an ancient cave. The island boy and the white girl must build a little nation of their own if they are to survive. Pratchett's wordplay is in top form, and the writing is excellent, but there is a sadness behind the words. This is the book Pratchett wrote after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and you can see his anger and struggle in this story.
    • 4/5
      This is not a book about colonialism so much as it's actually concerned about existenialism for nations. :)
    • 5/5
      Just finished Nation, one of the last Pratchett books I hadn’t read. It took me a while to get to it, I think partly because I’ll be sad when there are no new Pratchett works left for me to discover.Not a lot to say about it, started it Friday night and finished it today, so I definitely found it both compelling and enjoyable. A more modern Robinson Crusoe story, basically, with all the wit and charm and optimistic hopefulness (married with a dash of cynicism) that you’d expect from Pratchett.I also really liked how he foretold elements of the third act, both explicitly in text with the framing that this was a recollection, and also through the Chekhov’s gun type scenarios he set up. Big recommendation.
    • 3/5
      I got very drawn in by the start of this book and the interactions between the two main characters, but then started to lose interest later on as more characters and events were introduced. I still wanted to know how the story ended, but the most memorable moments for me definitely happen early on. I was a lot more invested in the characters and ideas presented than I was in the plot. I liked that the book challenged and discussed social norms and roles, although I didnt always agree with its conclusions.

      If you want to read a Terry Pratchett book but are feeling nervous about the number of books in the Discworld series this might be a good book to check out. Its a standalone and not hard to read, and gives a decent feel for Pratchetts style.
    • 2/5
      The only Pratchett book I never really took to - it was a huge disappointment.
    • 5/5
      Wow. This is quite possibly Terry Pratchett's best book to date. It's not a Discworld story -- it's set on an alternate version of Earth -- but like the Discworld books, it tells us a lot about ourselves by reflecting us in a funhouse mirror.

      If you're a Pratchett fan, read this book as soon as you can.
    • 3/5
      This was my first non-Tiffany Aching TP experience. I ADORE the Wee Free Men. I found Nation to be terribly boring for the first 95 pages, and just when I thought I had read enough to justify putting it down, it got really interesting and I finished the remaining 270 pages in nearly one sitting. I was intrigued at the beginning with the questions of education and cultural rituals and how far they can get from reality. Both Mau (an island native) and Daphne (a Victorian princess-type) are totally unprepared for survival after a tsunami strands them together on an island. Well, Mau can find food and shelter and all that, but is at a loss for how to perform the rituals to his gods. The novel then turns to questions of faith and science and whether they are mutually exclusive. In the end, it comes down heavily on the side of science, but I think acknowledges the power and importance of belief. I think maybe Pratchett is saying that science is our new religion. I'd be interested to hear some other interpretations.
    • 4/5
      The story was as good as I remember and the narration was enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      It's been a long time since I've read this novel, but I remember quite a few things from it. My initial impression was that the two characters's experiences on the island were not connected, but the whole novel was about the two characters 'growing up' experience, what they learnt from each other and about others too. In this, it can be considered a double 'picaresque' novel, as if Pratchett had recreated a new world from an small island, with not so much a Big Bang, but as the result of a tsunami/earthquake. There is much less humour than in the Discworld novels, it is very different in tone and writing style, with quite possibly some underlying ecological and sociological message behind it all for readers. It doesn.t leave anyone indifferent and our interpretation of the whole can also differ from each other. It is a good read, chapters are relatively short, the action picks up pace along the pages and the characters could be the metaphor for a new Eden/world, like Adam and Eve, despite other additional people on the island. It is not your usual novel.
    • 5/5
      Pratchett leaves Discworld behind to explore an alternative colonization that /wouldn't/ leave centuries of destruction in its wake. (There's no colonization on the Disc; it wouldn't be funny enough). Much sadder than your typical Pratchett, but with humor aplenty and the exploration of morality that is so apparent in late Pratchett. 
    • 4/5
      In a world that isn't quite our own, in a place that isn't the South Pacific, a boy on the brink of manhood is on his way home from his ritual one-month exile, in the canoe he has made himself, when a volcano erupts and a tsunami is unleashed that, he discovers when he reaches his home island, wipes out his entire tribe.

      Mau's island isn't the only one affected, but it is one of the largest locally, and the place that other survivors gradually gather in the aftermath. The first of his fellow survivors, though, before anyone else joins them, is the lone survivor of a ship from a place that isn't quite our England. She's the daughter of a man who is 139th in line for the throne, on the way to join her father, governor of the colony at Port Mercier. What she doesn't know is that influenza has hit at home, and everyone between her father and the throne has died. A fast ship is on its way from home to Port Mercier to bring him back.

      Mau, Irmintrude (who chooses to tell him her name is Daphne, instead, because who wants to be called Irmintrude?), and the other survivors who trickle in to join them learn to communicate, learn to understand each other, and build a functioning new community. And then the cannibals arrive.

      This is a really enjoyable, satisfying story. Mau and Daphne each have a lot of assumptions to overcome, but they're good kids, and they're moreover smart and tough and ready to grow up as much as they have to in order to survive and make things work. The story goes in some unexpected places, and while this is intended for younger readers, adults will find plenty to enjoy and think about here, too.

      Recommended.

      I borrowed this book from the library.
    • 5/5
      Nation is a stand-alone story from a master of story-telling, Terry Pratchett. If you only know Pratchett's work from his Discworld series then you are missing out.Nation starts out with a simple, yet tragic, situation. A great tsunami sweeps across the ocean wiping out life on many islands. The only apparent survivor is a young boy - Mau, who is returning from his time on the Boy's Island so that he can become a man. He returns home to find that everybody he knew and loved has been killed by the wave. Now Mau is the only survivor of what was once the largest and most powerful people in the region - the Nation. Oh, and since nobody is waiting for Mau when he arrives to complete the ceremony with the very sharp knife, and the tattoos, Mau is stuck between worlds without a soul and he just might be a demon in disguise. Mau is not alone as he soon meets Daphne - the ghost girl - the only survivor of the ill-fated ship Sweet Judy that was washed up onto the island of the Nation by the tsunami. Daphne is certain that her father - a governor in His Majesty's Government - will soon send out ships to rescue her, but in the meantime she must learn how to survive on an island with a strange boy and no common language. As Mau and Daphne begin to understand each other more survivors of the tsunami show up and soon both are put into situations neither has prepared for, and they then learn about the secrets being kept hidden on the island. Nation is a wonderful story, filled with great and compelling characters and more than just a touch of humor. Mau and Daphne are unique and compelling characters, each struggling to rise above the challenges they face together, while each also struggles to rise above the shadows of their ancestors that seem to loom over their shoulders throughout the story. For Mau it is the insistent chatter of his dead ancestors, the Grandfathers, who harangue Mau at every opportunity to restore the Godstones, to defend the Nation. For Daphne, it is to come out of the shadow of her overbearing grandmother and the expectation to only do what is "proper" and correct as a lady would do. Both Mau and Daphne come to terms with their own place in the world and by the end are able to stand up to their ancestors and tell them where they can go. Nation also serves as a mirror that allows the reader to reflect and examine our own lives and how we'd react to an incomprehensible tragedy. Mau's world has been dominated by the Gods and his ancestors, and Pratchett doesn't pull any punches as Mau begins to question the sanity of any God or Gods who would allow such destruction and pain to happen. This is a question that many people - including myself - have struggled with. If God (or Gods) is all powerful and benevolent why does God allow tragedy to happen? Why are their earthquakes and tsunami that kill off our loved ones? Why is their disease and death? Because of God's will? Because of sin? Does an innocent child deserve to feel God's wrath? What sin did the child commit? These are the questions that Mau struggles with in the story in a way that only Sir Terry can deliver. It allows the reader to reflect upon these same questions in their own life and maybe help them find the answers they are seeking.As usual with Sir Terry's work I found nothing that detracted from the story. The characters were well-developed, even the minor ones, and the story and plot were spot on. Pratchett delivers a sort of sermon on belief and faith that does not come across as preachy. I listened to the audiobook version of Nation, narrated by the wonderful Stephen Briggs. As usual Briggs brings the world that Pratchett has created to vibrant life and delivers a masterful performance. If you are a fan of Terry Pratchett's work, and have never read outside of the Discworld books, or if you are looking for a great story with strong and compelling characters, a little bit of humor, and are not afraid of reflecting on the questions posed by the author, then I highly recommend Nation.
    • 5/5
      Squee! I love this book more than I can express. Just go read it :)
    • 4/5
      Terry Pratchett's Nation is a marked departure for the esteemed author from his Discworld series of books but presents the reader with many of the same issues and underlying messages as his other works. It's certainly well worth a read and introduces us to some truly memorable characters.
    • 5/5
      A beautiful work by Terry Pratchett. Humorous, exciting, and full of characters you can't help but love, even down to the old lady with no teeth who has no real bearing on the overall story. This is not a Discworld story; it's set instead in our world, sort of. It's a great treatise on Empire and its effects on both the conqueror and those who would be conquered. And it also tackles issues of racism, multiculturalism, and communication across the chasm of culture.
    • 5/5
      I know my goal was to read all the discworld books this year, but after I ran out of Stephen Briggs audiobooks, I saw this one. It's Pratchett, but melancholy. Stephen Briggs is a great narrator, as always. The book starts off with a tsunami coming and wiping out a boy's entire island. No people left. And the tsunami also shipwrecks a white girl onto this South Pacific island. They are alone and can't talk to each other, and other survivors are washing up on the shore too. And the island holds a mysterious secret in an ancient cave. The island boy and the white girl must build a little nation of their own if they are to survive. Pratchett's wordplay is in top form, and the writing is excellent, but there is a sadness behind the words. This is the book Pratchett wrote after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and you can see his anger and struggle in this story.
    • 3/5
      In an alternate history there is a wave, and island and a ship. Thus begins the story of a young woman and a young man struggling to know themselves and to survive.This is another example of the author's struggle with belief, what it means to believe, why people believe and why they don't. As is usual with Pratchett, ideas are put forth, but not insisted upon and conclusions are left to the reader. I found the read enjoyable, but something about the narrative style wore on me. It is very like the Tiffany Aching books, with a character thinking, rethinking and questioning that thinking repetitively. Almost as if he doesn't trust the reader to get his point. Anyway, still enjoyable as it explores island life, presuppositions and misunderstandings people of different cultures have about one another, and dealing with grief.
    • 4/5
      I loved this. Not Discworld. Probably aimed at YA, and I will recommend it to my 14 yo son. Thoughtful, dealing with religion & faith, puberty, family, racism, and culture. Leavened with just enough humor and excitement to make it engaging.
    • 4/5
      I've actually been waiting a long time to listen to this and I'm glad I finally got a chance to. This book floats between very serious life altering actions and how they affect the way the characters feel about the world, their gods etc and then by silly funny misunderstanding jokes. I really loved the different characters and how they interacted with each other and watching people grow and change.
    • 4/5
      A worthwhile read. A little challenging to get traction in the beginning but we'll worth your patience.