Guest Review of Terry Pratchett's Nation

	Nation by Terry Pratchett 384pp (Paperback) My Rating: 9/10 Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4.21/5 Goodreads Rating: 4.32/5

While I was in one of my grad discussion classes a few weeks ago I said that I consider Terry Pratchett to be one of the great philosophers of the last few decades^*. I mostly base that on the Discworld series, but his new standalone book Nation provides yet more evidence to support that statement. Like Discworld and many of Pratchett's other novels, Nation works on multiple levels; it is a young-adult coming of age story, an entertaining exploration of social identity, and a commentary on topics ranging from metaphysics to shark repulsion. But from whatever angle you choose to approach it, the bottom line is that it does indeed work.

Mau is just finishing the process of becoming a man--no, not like that, stop it--when his entire world is ripped away from him. Upon returning to his home he finds that his island Nation has been utterly destroyed by a tsunami. The only survivor he finds isn't one of his family, friends, or the hundreds of other people from the Nation; it is an English noblewoman named Daphne, stranded when the same tsunami that crushed his village tossed her ship deep into the island's jungle.

As they try to recover from the initial destruction of the wave, they also have to figure out how to deal with the aftermath. Daphne may have arrived with a shipwreck full of supplies that will keep them alive, but there are other concerns as well. The two of them don't speak the same language. Daphne has to learn how to fend for herself after growing up in a gilded cage. Mau has to try to reassemble his Nation from the desperate refugees that trickle into the island one canoefull at a time over the following weeks. And all of this is on top of being teenagers trying to understand how to fit into societies that really only exist in their memories.

Even worse, not all of the survivors coming to the island are as benign as the refugees. The Raiders, ancestral enemies of Mau's Nation, have been sighted. Daphne's past also contains some shady characters that may be a threat. Even the arrival of Daphne's father, who she believes will be desperately searching every spit of land in the Pelagic until he finds her, would at the very least upset the fragile order she and Mau have been trying to reestablish on the island. But exploring the history of the island itself may have bigger consequences for the budding Nation than any of these outside influences...

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Speaking of outside influences, it was impossible for me to read Nation without constantly thinking about a pair of real-life events that are related to the story. The most obvious is the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami that took place while the book was being planned. Though Pratchett goes out of his way to let us know (via a brief author's note) that the Pelagic is not the Pacific and that Nation takes place on an alternate Earth with a different history, the connection is really too strong to ignore. That being said, it is a connection that does not really add to or take away from the story; the real life tsunami just sat in the back of my mind and added context and a link back to modern reality in a story that takes place in a (somewhat modified) 19th century setting.

The other real-life event that was constantly intruding on my reading of Nation was the news of Pratchett developing an early-onset form of Alzheimer's disease. (If--through some completely improbable twist of the Internet--Mr. Pratchett comes to read this, please feel free to stop with my apologies as I am yet another fan who is struggling to maintain that "I ain't dead yet" attitude you've tried to encourage.)

Nation's tagline, repeated both on the cover and throughout the story, is "when much is taken, something is returned." Every time I read that line I immediately flashed back to Pratchett's illness. Don't get me wrong; as somebody who has been through multiple degenerative and terminal illnesses in my immediate family, I know that it is really only a slowly unfolding tragedy for him, his wife Lyn, and the rest of his family. For the rest of us it is far, far less...yet, still, I will consider Pratchett to have been somebody great who was taken from us when his illness reaches its inevitable end. And maybe, in a temporal reversal, the books he's already written are what will have been returned; but I will still mourn the Pratchett novels that only appear in Lucien's library. So I have to say that this thought was strong in my mind as I read about Mau raging against his gods for taking away his world and I empathized with him as much because of it as much as because of any personal losses in my past.

That (long) prelude aside, I thoroughly enjoyed Nation. It is not as strong as the best Discworld books, but it would probably be in my top five and is better than Pratchett's other recent novels. I am comparing it to Discworld not only because it is impossible to talk about Pratchett without bringing up that series but also because it shares many of the themes and ideas that Discworld explores. Indeed, the only thing that really keeps Nation from being a Discworld novel is a change in setting and an absence of the level of everyday absurdity that reigns on the Disc.

Nation is intended to be a young adult book, and it does read like one. With a few exceptions that are mostly (interesting) decoration, there are no intricate plot twists or deep explorations of character motivation. In this book, though, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Mau and Daphne are both written as empathetic characters who are dealing with tremendous loss with the same mix of uncertainty and a determination to keep living that you find in anybody who is dealing with tragedy. The supporting characters are one dimensional, but in a structural way that focuses the tale, not in a cartoonish way that detracts from the story. The simplifications are constructive, not reductionist.

In A Deepness in the Sky Vernor Vinge's interstellar explorers, upon landing on a planet with ruins from a species they have never encountered before, don't try to learn about the species by finding a museum or a library; instead, they try to find the equivalent of an elementary school, under the logic that since that is where the species tried to teach its own young it would be the best place for an outsider to learn their language. In many ways the YA age group provides a similar method of looking at a culture. If elementary school is about learning the basics of language, the teenage years are about learning the basics of society and the values that adults carry forward for the rest of their lives. Nation explores ideas of metaphysics, racism, social norms, family, and history in a very direct way that, yes, makes the book YA appropriate, but also serves as a fascinating study on those subjects for readers who are so enmeshed in culture that it is difficult to really look at where our ideas that make up that culture came from. As one quick example:

"He's frightened of me, Mau thought. I haven't hit him or even raised my hand. I've just tried to make him think differently, and now he's scared. Of thinking. It's magic."

I've probably already written too much, but suffice it to say that Nation has all the elements you would expect in a novel from Terry Pratchett, including the most important: the feeling that you've just read a great story written by a master storyteller. I highly recommend Nation for any reader level.

9/10

^* I expected a big argument to follow, since this was a group that had a pretty good background in the last couple hundred years of western philosophy; instead I got a lot of blank stares until one person broke the silence with "I don't think anybody gets that reference." I was sad, for several reasons.

Upcoming Releases

I've seen a couple of release dates lately that caught my interest.

Nation, the upcoming young adult book by Terry Pratchett, is scheduled for release on September 30 of this year. This is not a book in the Discworld universe but is a book he has had in mind for a few years and finally decided to write. It is available for preorder on Amazon.

There is an announcement on George R. R. Martin's news page that the next "Wild Cards" book, Busted Flush, will be available in this December. It can also be preordered from Amazon.

Terry Pratchett Diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's

Here is a message from Terry Pratchett posted on Paul Kidby's site today:

Folks,

I would have liked to keep this one quiet for a little while, but because of upcoming conventions and of course the need to keep my publishers informed, it seems to me unfair to withhold the news. I have been diagnosed with a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer's, which lay behind this year's phantom "stroke".

We are taking it fairly philosophically down here and possibly with a mild optimism. For now work is continuing on the completion of Nation and the basic notes are already being laid down for Unseen Academicals. All other things being equal, I expect to meet most current and, as far as possible, future commitments but will discuss things with the various organisers. Frankly, I would prefer it if people kept things cheerful, because I think there's time for at least a few more books yet :o)

PS I would just like to draw attention to everyone reading the above that this should be interpreted as 'I am not dead'. I will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else. For me, this maybe further off than you think - it's too soon to tell. I know it's a very human thing to say "Is there anything I can do", but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry.

This is very sad news for Terry Pratchett, his family, and his many fans. I was very sad to hear about this - it's a tragedy for this to happen to anybody, but it's especially heartbreaking when it happens to somebody as clever and witty as Terry Pratchett is.

Review of Making Money

	Making Money by Terry Pratchett 400pp (Hardcover) My Rating: 7/10 Amazon Rating: 4/5 LibraryThing Rating: 3.99/5 Goodreads Rating: 4.01/5

Making Money, the thirty-second novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, is the second book in the series about con-artist Moist von Lipwig. Both stories are self-contained, meaning that you do not have to read any of the previous Discworld books in order to enjoy the newest one, although a few minor parts of the book will probably make more sense to you if you have read the first book about the main character, Going Postal. Some background on some characters appearing briefly exists in some of the previous Discworld books, but reading the previous novels in the series is certainly not a requirement for understanding what is going on in this book. It would just enhance the experience of reading it.

Moist finds he is getting bored with his work at the post office now that it is running rather smoothly and entertains himself by putting his thieving skills to the test and attempting to break into his own post office. Vetinari seeks to relieve Moist's lack of mental stimulation by repeatedly trying to entice him with the new challenge of running Ankh-Morpork's bank. Moist will not accept this position, which turns out to be an offer he can't refuse when the chairman dies, leaves her dog to Moist, and leaves all her shares in the bank to the dog.

Moist's leadership of the bank is somewhat complicated by the fact that making the coins is worth more than the value of the coins themselves, and in a fit of con-man brilliance (or madness) he invents modern economics. Unfortunately, his brain was lagging a bit behind his mouth when he did it, and he spends much of the book trying to deal with the consequences of an economy based on paper money. He must also contend with the Lavishes, the remaining family members of the dead chairman who feels they should be in charge of the bank, and their attempts to destroy his reputation. Furthermore, his secretary, a golem, has not only decided it's female but also that it has a crush on him, and Moist's fiance enlists his help in solving a mystery involving some golem artifacts she found buried underground.

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I've read a lot of reviews saying this book was a disappointment and did not live up to the usual standards of a book by Terry Pratchett, so I was not sure what to expect when I read it. It was not my favorite of the Discworld books by any means, but I still thought it was a good book. The Discworld books beginning with Night Watch have been more serious in tone, and the ones from Monstrous Regiment on have not been quite as good as many of the old ones. I did not think that Making Money was any worse than any of the other more recent books in the series.

Moist is not as compelling a character as Sam Vimes or Death, but I do prefer his character to the wizard Rincewind or any of the witches. (That being said, I do believe that some of the books about Rincewind and the witches are better than either of the books about Moist.) However, Moist is an interesting character if you like to read about con men who can say anything and get away with it because they're just that charismatic.

I've also heard a lot of concerns about the plot of Making Money sounding similar enough to Going Postal that it would end up sounding like a rehash of the previous book about Moist. Although the general plot is similar (revolutionizing and modernizing an institution), the scenarios were very different. The circumstances, a lot of the characters, and the side plots were all different, so I did not feel like the books were too similar.

Pratchett has an amazing command of the English language and his ability with wordplay is perhaps unrivaled. He can create a descriptive and humorous scene using brevity, and he has a clever way with words that few do. His stories may seem simplistic on the surface, but he packs philosophy, sociology, religion, and other themes into his work that makes it more meaningful. This book does not disappoint in that respect and showcases this skill with language and adding layers of meaning.

The story is fun, but it does lack some of the excitement and craziness of the other Discworld novels. There were certainly parts that were amusing or worded in such a way as to make one smile, but none of it had me unable to stop laughing for any length of time.

While it is weak while compared to many of the books in the Discworld series, Making Money is still an entertaining book containing insights into economic theory and the foibles of human nature. I would recommend it to any fan of Discworld but not as a starting point for those interested in reading a book from this series for the first time.

7/10

Other Opinions on Making Money:

• Graeme's Fantasy Book Review
• Pat's Fantasy Hotlist
• Sandstorm Reviews

Thud!

I'm behind on my reviews. I finished Thud! and Sea of Shadows and haven't yet reviewed either of them. I have a good excuse, though - I've been sick all week (and still am). Blech.

So anyway, on to the first book I haven't reviewed, which is Thud! by Terry Pratchett and the only Discworld book I hadn't yet read (at least until the next one comes out this fall).

Thud! is another Discworld book about Sam Vimes and the rest of the City Watch. Tension is everywhere in Ankh-Morpork as the anniversary of the Battle of Koom Valley, a war between the trolls and the dwarfs, approaches. A prominent dwarf is found dead with a club beside him and a famous painting depicting the Battle of Koom Valley disappears from the museum. It's up to the Watch, with a bit of help from "Mr. Shine" (who turns out to be a troll king and not, in fact, a cleaning product), to discover what is going on and the truth nobody wants to hear about what actually happened at Koom Valley.

As has been the case with the last few Discworld books, there is a bit more of a serious note to Thud!. It's certainly not all seriousness, though, as becomes apparent by such touches as the artist of the stolen painting being afraid of a chicken he hears in his head. Another humorous addition is the Gooseberry dis-organizer with Bluenose technology that Sybil gave Vimes, which is reminiscent of the palm pilot except this one is powered by a little talking imp.

It's always fun to see how Pratchett takes a fantasy world and illustrates our modern world through it. The "affirmative action" in the Watch that results in the hiring of dwarfs, trolls, a werewolf, golems, and in this book, a vampire always keeps things interesting as all these different species try to get along. Different religions and superstitions are wonderfully illustrated through these various creatures. I also liked the way he poked fun at art and artists and what makes a piece of work actual tasteful art.

I wouldn't call this the best of the Discworld books, but it was certainly still a lot of fun containing much of the satire the series is known for.

7.5/10

Going Postal

Going Postal, one of the newer Discworld books by Terry Pratchett (the newest with the exception of Thud!), stars a new character by the (real) name of Moist von Lipwig. Moist, a con artist whose description reminded me a lot of Locke Lamora, is on death row under his assumed name of Alfred Spangler. To his surprise, Moist finds himself in Patrician Vetinari's office instead of in Death's domain after his hanging. Vetinari gives him a choice: he can either die or he can run Ankh-Morpork's Post Office.

So Moist becomes the Postmaster, and he changes to the Post Office for the better with the invention of stamps. He finds himself in competition with the head of Ankh-Morporks clacks system, which is reminiscent of the modern email system - generally faster and better but also more technical and down for maintenance a lot.

As is the case with a lot of the newer Discworld books, Going Postal is more serious - which isn't to say it's completely serious but it's a lot less zany than some of the older books. There has been a definite change of tone in the books, starting around Night Watch. Pratchett seems to be moving away from some of the older characters like Rincewind and the witches and focusing more on introducing newer characters and writing about the City Watch. That's not necessarily a bad thing since the City Watch includes some of the better characters and the witches and Rincewind were not as interesting (although there are certain books about them that were quite good). I do miss some of the zaniness that I remember from older books such as Guards! Guards!, however.

Despite it's somewhat more serious tone, Going Postal is still a very enjoyable book which introduces a very fun new character with Moist von Lipwig (who I hear Pratchett is going to use in his next book, Making Money, which comes out this fall).

7/10

Discworld Double Feature

I'm a little behind on my reviewing lately (three books) so I'm going to combine the two Discworld books I just read into one review. The last review on Discworld pretty much said in general what they are like anyway.

Night Watch was a Vimes book, and it was probably one of the better Discworld books (but then, Vimes is one of my favorite Discworld characters). In this book, Vimes is chasing a criminal and both he and the criminal get taken to the time of a revolution that occurred in the past when Vimes was just starting out in the Watch. The criminal kills Vimes's mentor when he arrives so now it's left to Vimes to teach himself everything he knows. It was hilarious and it was fun to see some of the characters as their younger selves.

9/10

Monstrous Regiment had brief appearances by Vimes and William de Worde from The Truth, but the main character was a young woman from Borogravia named Polly who has not appeared in any of the previous Discworld books. The Borogravians follow the teachings of a rather unreasonable god by the name of Nuggan, whose teachings state that women should not dress like a man. In order to find her brother during a time of war, Polly disguises herself as a man by cutting her hair and using a pair of socks to make herself look more "manly" and joins the army. This is more serious than most of the Discworld books and doesn't have as many lines that make you crack up as most of them do, but I loved the themes of gender and religion (and don't get me wrong, it is still funny and very enjoyable).

8/10

I looked up whether or not there was a date for the next Discworld book on Amazon yesterday, and it says the next book Making Money will be available on October 1, 2007. I believe I read in an interview with Pratchett that this book includes the characters from Going Postal and they do something similar for the banking system as they did for the postal system in that book.

Thief of Time Review

After reading Hyperion, I decided it was time to read something lighter, so I picked up Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett. At this point, I've read most of the Discworld series, but there are a few of them I haven't yet read and this one was next in publication order.

Thief of Time is definitely an enjoyable, humorous story. Other than Death and Susan and a couple of brief appearances by Nanny Ogg, it does not contain any of the usual Discworld characters but it does introduce several new ones. Somebody could pick up this book without having read any of the other Discworld books and still enjoy it, although it might be helpful to know some about Susan's past just to see where she is coming from in the story (but that certainly is not necessary for reading this book).

In Thief of Time, a woman known as Lady LeJean visits a young clockmaker named Jeremy and gives him supplies (including an Igor) for building the world's first truly accurate clock. Jeremy, who is very obsessed with time and clocks, is intrigued by this idea and begins work on the clock not knowing that it will cause time to stop once it has been completed.

Meanwhile, a sweeper/monk of the order of the Monks of History named Lu-Tze is training a new apprentice, Lobsang, who has a natural talent. Lu-Tze learns all about Lobsang's mysterious abilities while Lobsang learns all about Rule 1 ("Do not act incautiously when confronting a little bald wrinkly smiling man"). Lu-Tze and Lobsang find out about the imminent destruction of the Discworld and travel to Ankh-Morpork to try to stop it.

Death begins preparing for the upcoming Apocalypse. He first tries to get his grand daughter Susan involved in trying to stop the end of the world, then rides off to attempt to gather the other 3 horsemen of the Apocalypse, which turns out to be harder than he thought - Pestilence is too frightened, Famine is too arrogant, and War is too hen-pecked by Mrs. War.

This was not my favorite Discworld book, but it certainly wasn't my least favorite either. (I tend to like the Watch books, Death books, and Small Gods - a great stand alone Discworld book - the best and the Witch books the least.)

Thief of Time is a fun book you can read pretty quickly, but while it could be considered light reading, it still contains deeper meaning. I've never seen anybody able to write humorous, non-verbose books that are still very philosophical like Pratchett does. He must be a genius to have that talent.

I would definitely read this book again.

Rating:
8.5/10

On the Move

My fiance and I are moving this week so we've been packing up all our books and no matter how many we pack, there's always more. And I even have a bunch that never got unpacked from before. It's amazing how many we have, and how many of those I haven't yet had time to read (many of which are on my To Read list for 2007).

Here are a few of the books I came across that I'd recommend (something like an amazon list without the books and prices):

George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire

If you haven't read these yet, what are you waiting for? The first book, A Game of Thrones, is a little hard to get into at first, but it is worth it. The storyline is pretty well done, and the characterization is amazing (even if there are so many characters that it's hard to keep track of them all). There are so many good characters, and they are not the stereotypical black and white/good and evil characters at all. Some of the ones you start off loving to hate, you end up hating to find you love (such as Jaime Lannister, when he is introduced as a point of view character in the third book). A Storm of Swords very well might be the best book I have ever read - from start to finish, it was hard to put down. A Feast for Crows admittedly does not live up to the previous books, but I am hoping that's just because a lot of the best characters were missing and the author actually wanted to continue the story 5 years later but couldn't because he would have had a hard time explaining some events. In any case, the first three books are amazing. Very realistic without being too fantastic. But do be forewarned - Martin is not afraid to kill off his characters, and characters you are attached to may die.

Robin Hobb's Farseer/Liveship Traders/Tawny Man trilogies

Robin Hobb's three trilogies tie together, even though the second one contains a different set of main characters. They are simpler than some of the fantasy books I've read and sometimes not very subtle, but the characterization is top notch. The story is unique, particularly that of the liveships, which is a different and compelling concept. I thought I'd find the Liveship Trader trilogy hard to get into after being so attached to Fitz, the main character from Farseer, but I read them since I understood Tawny Man was supposed to make more sense after reading the second trilogy. Am I glad I did, since I enjoyed them even more than the Farseer trilogy. They're definitely a fun read, and they are better than most of what is available for fantasy today.

Hobb's writing pace is amazing - she consistently writes about a book a year and they come out well. The only one of these nine books I had trouble getting through was Assassin's Quest, the last book in the Farseer trilogy. It just seemed to plod to me somewhat, but that is the only one of those nine books that I didn't find nearly impossible to put down.

I just got Shaman's Crossing, the first book in Robin Hobb's new trilogy. I have not read it yet, but I am looking forward to reading it.

Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles

You may have heard or read the story of Merlin and King Arthur, but never like this (unless of course, you have indeed read this series)! Whyte's writing style is far superior to that of most authors I've read; it's very intelligent. The only thing that irked me about it was that a few times he did use the so-called word "irrespective"; I hate incorrect grammar, but that seemed especially out of place when the rest of the writing was superbly done.

This series is generally in the fantasy/sci fi section in the bookstore, but I think of them more as historical fiction books. The emphasis is not on King Arthur and magical events, but starts with Merlyn and Arthur's grandfathers and later is told through Merlyn's eyes. There's a lot of background about the Roman Empire and Britain. It's a very realistic vision of Camelot, and it shows how (mostly) realistic events could have evolved into the fantastic stories about Merlin and Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and Excalibur.

The last book in the series just came out about a week ago, and I haven't read that one yet, but all the others were wonderful.

Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen

Unfortunately, only four of these novels are currently out in the U.S. (and at least two novellas). At least they did eventually come out in the U.S.; I heard Erikson was originally told that American authors were not intelligent enough to appreciate this series. This was disappointing, since I had heard good things about the series when it was not out in the U.S., so I was thrilled when they were finally here. I was worried they were not selling well enough to continue publishing them, but they seem to have so far since the fifth book is supposed to come out here next spring.

I've read the first three novels as well as one of the novellas (Blood Follows). The fourth book, House of Chains, is one of the books I packed the other day and is on my list of books to read when I have time to concentrate on a massive, involving book.

So far, the series is amazing and I can definitely see what the hype is about. They're intelligently written, and the worldbuilding is well done. The dialogue is entertaining, especially in the third one which often made me laugh, and there's a wide cast of well-developed, three dimensional characters. There's an interesting combination of magic and a realism in this series as well. Erikson does a masterful job of drawing gods into the tale and making them powerful yet human, much as the Greek gods are depicted.

Maybe it's just something about Canadian authors, but Erikson and Whyte both really struck me as having the most intelligent writing style of any of the modern authors I can think of (with the exception of Martin, of course).

Terry Pratchett's Discworld

There are currently 30 novels in the Discworld series, as well as various illustrated books, maps, Science of Discworld books, GURPS Discworld, and probably more. I have to admit, I was skeptical about this series at first since I generally like books that have an engrossing storyline with realistic 3 dimensional characters, so I thought a comical series would not really appeal to me. Luckily for me, my fiance became addicted to them and read them all and kept trying to get me to read them. They may be short, they may be funny, but they're also a great piece of satire with a lot of subtle philosophy about modern life thrown in.

I was also surprised to find I really like some of the characters. No, they're not as "real" as Tyrion from Song of Ice and Fire or Fitz from the Farseer trilogy, but you've just got to love Death, Sam Vimes, and Captain Carrot. The books focus on a small selection of characters and Death is the only one who generally makes at least a small appearance in all the books. The books about Death and the Night's Watch are the best; the witch books aren't as good. There are also a couple of books that do not have any of the regular characters, such as Small Gods and Pyramids. Small Gods, which deals with Greek philosophers and religion, is one of the best in the series.


Those are probably my top 5 series at the moment, but I keep thinking of a few others that I find hard not to include on my top 5 list. I'll write about some of those and some other decent reads later.

P.S. I don't know what it is with this HTML editor but the font size just is not working as expected. Yes, I know, I do websites for a living, which is probably why I'm too lazy to go rewrite the HTML.