Saturday, June 27, 2015

2015 book 154

Terry Pratchett's Nation
I really think this stand-alone YA book by Pratchett is his most underrated--I don't think I even saw one person mention it when he died, and that's such a shame, because it's GREAT (and works just as well for adult readers). It's set in a slightly different version of history, where a boy's entire island is washed away by a giant wave and he's the only survivor, and that same wave shipwrecks a little British girl (who wants to be a scientist! She is of the Tiffany Aching school of sensible heroines) on said island, and they sort of rebuild civilization. There is some really great stuff here with belief, and family, and history, and friendship, and knowledge. I feel like Pratchett handles the cultural stuff pretty well (setting it in a parallel world helps) and anyway, all these characters are just so great, and he keeps the story moving along. It's been a long time since I first read this, and I was so glad to still love it.

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