In accepting the 2009 Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction Award for this book, Terry Pratchett said "I believe that Nation is the best book I have ever written, or will write." I'd love to know what others think about that.
To jog the memory of those who have read it, and give those who haven't read it an idea of what it is about: "Nation" is set in an imagined version of our world in the late 19th century. Mau is a boy who was sent to another island as part of the ritual of becoming a man, and returns to his "Nation" to discover that his entire community has been wiped out by a tidal wave. He is joined by Daphne, a girl from Europe who is the only survivor of a shipwreck. Despite their differences in language and culture, they must work together to survive, and unify the people who slowly join their new community.
It's a survival story and a coming-of-age story, and while there are some moments of humor, the usual comedic tone we're familiar with from Pratchett falls very much to the background, and is instead replaced with a more grim and serious tone.
From reading other reviews of "Nation", it's evident that many readers find it confusing to understand what is going on at times, and simply boring and dull at other times. Some aspects do feel somewhat bizarre, such as a scene where Daphne goes into some sort of spiritual realm of death to rescue Mau's brother Max from dying. And what are we to make of the gods talking to Mau? Other parts are somewhat dark, although we've seen that with Pratchett before.
But what exactly is it about? At the very end, Pratchett tells us this: "Thinking. This book contains some. Whether you try it at home is up to you."
So this story is clearly geared to make us think, but what about? Colonisation? Religion and faith? Loss and grief? Feminism or race? Science? Coming of age? It touches on all these things somewhat.
What exactly he's saying may seem obscure at first. If that's the case, then perhaps Pratchett would tell us: Then go think some more.
In the end, "Nation" does feel different from a lot of Pratchett's other work, as something has a more serious undertone. Is it his best book? I'm not sure. I'm not done thinking yet. 🙂
by EndersGame_Reviewer