A review by celiapowell
Nation by Terry Pratchett

5.0

I loved this book. What a fantastic departure from Discworld. "Nation" isn't quite set in today's world - we spend most of the book on an island in the South Pelagic Ocean, which might be something like the Pacific Ocean, except not quite. Mau, a young boy off on his manhood quest, return to his island home to find it devastated by an enormous wave, a tsunami. Daphne, a young English girl, is also marooned on the island, after the ship she was travelling on is washed up on its shores. Gradually, the "ghost girl" and the "savage" get to know one another, and come together to care for the other remnants of villages who come to their shore. Until the fires of the Nation draw cannibals to the beach...

I loved Daphne and Mau - Mau's reaction to his devastated village is handled so perfectly. While there are certainly some very funny moments in "Nation" (this is Pratchett, after all), this isn't a comedic novel like the Discworld books are. It's tragic in parts, funny in other, very human and wonderful.