Nation

Nation

by Terry Pratchett

Narrated by Stephen Briggs

Unabridged — 9 hours, 32 minutes

Nation

Nation

by Terry Pratchett

Narrated by Stephen Briggs

Unabridged — 9 hours, 32 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

$27.99
FREE With a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime
$0.00

Free with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime

START FREE TRIAL

Already Subscribed? 

Sign in to Your BN.com Account


Listen on the free Barnes & Noble NOOK app


Related collections and offers

FREE

with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription

Or Pay $27.99

Overview

The sea has taken everything.

Thirteen-year-old Mau is the only one left after a giant wave sweeps his island village away. But when much is taken, something is returned, and somewhere in the jungle, Daphne-a girl from the other side of the globe-is the sole survivor of a ship destroyed by the same wave.

Together, the two confront the aftermath of catastrophe. And slowly, other refugees arrive-children without parents, mothers without babies, husbands without wives-all of them hungry and all of them frightened. As Mau and Daphne struggle to keep the small band safe and fed, they defy ancestral spirits, challenge death himself, and uncover a long-hidden secret that literally turns the world upside down . . . .

Internationally revered storyteller Terry Pratchett presents a breathtaking adventure of survival and discovery, and of the courage required to forge new beliefs.


Editorial Reviews

Thirteen-year-old Mau has almost completed the initiation rite of his Pacific island culture. Only one part of the ritual remains, but Mau worries that he will never be able to complete it. A devastating tsunami has wiped out his entire island, leaving only Mau and the British governor's daughters as survivors. Of course, what follows is far more poignant than any quiet South Pacific ceremony. A thoroughly engaging teen novel about identity, community, and resilience by fantasy wizard Terry Pratchett.

James Hynes

The heart of the book is Pratchett's serious examination of the roots and utility of religion. He's clearly a skeptic, and at times Nation reads like Philip Pullman, but with less anger and more jokes, and a bit more ambiguity…It's a wonderful story, by turns harrowing and triumphant, and Mau and Daphne are complicated and tremendously appealing characters. And since it's a Terry Pratchett novel, there is also a small army of vivid minor characters, including some colorfully venal British mutineers, a hilariously dry civil servant named Mr. Black and, in a cameo appearance from Discworld, Death himself, who appears here as a god called Locaha. It's a book that can be read with great pleasure by young readers—and not a few of their parents, I suspect—as both a high-spirited yarn and a subtle examination of the risks and virtues of faith.
—The New York Times

Michael Dirda

Nation remains at heart a novel of ideas, a ferocious questioning of vested cultural attitudes and beliefs. In form it is a classic "Robinsonade," that is, a book in which characters are marooned on a desert island and there create a little civilization of their own…While Nation occasionally moves a little slowly, it soon develops great momentum, and we come to care and worry about Mau, Daphne and the others. Moreover, this being a Pratchett novel, the writing is always a pleasure…It's a terrific, thought-provoking book, and it ends wonderfully.
—The Washington Post

Publishers Weekly

In Carnegie Medalist Pratchett's (the Discworld novels; A Hat Full of Sky) superb mix of alternate history and fantasy, the king of England, along with the next 137 people in line to the throne, has just succumbed to the plague; the era might be akin to the 1860s or '70s. As the heir apparent is being fetched from his new post as governor of an island chain in the South Pelagic Ocean, his daughter, the redoubtable Ermintrude, still en route to join him in the South Pelagic, has been shipwrecked by a tsunami. She meets Mau, whose entire people have been wiped out by the great wave (he escaped their fate only because he was undergoing an initiation rite on another island). She and Mau each suffer profound crises of faith, and together they re-establish Mau's nation from other survivors who gradually wash up on shore and rediscover (with guidance from spirits) its remarkable lost heritage. Neatly balancing the somber and the wildly humorous in a riveting tale of discovery, Pratchett shows himself at the height of his powers. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal

Gr 7-10

In this first novel for young people set outside of Discworld, Pratchett again shows his humor and humanity. Worlds are destroyed and cultures collide when a tsunami hits islands in a vast ocean much like the Pacific. Mau, a boy on his way back home from his initiation period and ready for the ritual that will make him a man, is the only one of his people, the Nation, to survive. Ermintrude, a girl from somewhere like Britain in a time like the 19th century, is on her way to meet her father, the governor of the Mothering Sunday islands. She is the sole survivor of her ship (or so she thinks), which is wrecked on Mau's island. She reinvents herself as Daphne, and uses her wits and practical sense to help the straggling refugees from nearby islands who start arriving. When raiders land on the island, they are led by a mutineer from the wrecked ship, and Mau must use all of his ingenuity to outsmart him. Then, just as readers are settling in to thinking that all will be well in the new world that Daphne and Mau are helping to build, Pratchett turns the story on its head. The main characters are engaging and interesting, and are the perfect medium for the author's sly humor. Daphne is a close literary cousin of Tiffany Aching in her common sense and keen intelligence wedded to courage. A rich and thought-provoking read.-Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City

Kirkus Reviews

Pratchett's latest masterpiece chronicles a lad's struggle to survive, and far harder struggle to make sense of the universe, after a tsunami wipes out his entire people. Along with the lives of everyone he has ever known, the devastating wave sweeps away Mau's simple, happy soul-literally, he believes. Fortunately, though much of his angry quest to find something to replace his lost faith in the gods is internal and individual, he acquires company on his tropical island, in the form of the shipwrecked, repressed-but-not-for-long daughter of a high British government official and a ragged group of survivors from other islands who straggle in. This is no heavy-toned tale: Tears and rage there may be in plenty, but also a cast of marvelously wrought characters, humor that flies from mild to screamingly funny to out-and-out gross, incredible discoveries, profound insights into human nature and several subplots-one of which involves deeply religious cannibals. A searching exploration of good and evil, fate and free will, both as broad and as deep as anything this brilliant and, happily, prolific author has produced so far. (Fantasy. 11 & up)

From the Publisher

A wonderful story, by turns harrowing and triumphant.” — New York Times Book Review

“Pratchett’s examination of questions about religious belief, the nature of culture and what it means to be human [...] is a terrific, thought-provoking book.” — Washington Post Book World

“A searching exploration of good and evil, fate and free will, both as broad and as deep as anything this brilliant author has produced so far. ” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Neatly balancing the somber and the wildly humorous in a riveting tale of discovery, Pratchett shows himself at the height of his powers.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“It is hard to imagine a reader who won’t feel welcomed into this nation.” — Horn Book (starred review)

“Quirky wit and broad vision make this a fascinating survival story on many levels.” — Booklist (starred review)

“A rich and thought-provoking read.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“A classic survival tale that offers laughs and much to mull over, this is a wonderfully entertaining novel.” (starred review) — KLIATT

Booklist (starred review)

Quirky wit and broad vision make this a fascinating survival story on many levels.

New York Times Book Review

A wonderful story, by turns harrowing and triumphant.

Horn Book (starred review)

It is hard to imagine a reader who won’t feel welcomed into this nation.

KLIATT

A classic survival tale that offers laughs and much to mull over, this is a wonderfully entertaining novel.” (starred review)

Washington Post Book World

Pratchett’s examination of questions about religious belief, the nature of culture and what it means to be human [...] is a terrific, thought-provoking book.

Booklist

"Quirky wit and broad vision make this a fascinating survival story on many levels."

Horn Book

"It is hard to imagine a reader who won’t feel welcomed into this nation."

OCTOBER 2008 - AudioFile

After a giant wave has hit his home island, Mau returns from the rituals for transitioning from a boy to a man to find that everyone has been washed away. Along comes Daphne, who was washed ashore after the ship on which she was traveling was caught in the same wave. Narrator Stephen Briggs deftly acts as guide as the building of a new nation begins in a time like the nineteenth century in a place like those on the edges of the British Empire. Briggs adopts a tone of fun without resorting to outrageous hilarity and thus preserves the satire, and the overall sweetness, of the story. He preserves the proper British manners of Daphne's father, who has now become king and whose position allows him to finally put his mother in her place. J.E.M. 2009 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID: 2940170324866
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 09/30/2008
Edition description: Unabridged
Sales rank: 824,879
Age Range: 10 - 13 Years

Read an Excerpt

Nation

Chapter One

The Plague

The snow came down so thickly, it formed fragile snowballs in the air that tumbled and melted as soon as they landed on the horses lined up along the dock. It was four in the morning and the place was coming alive and Captain Samson had never seen the dock in such a bustle. The cargo was flying out of the ship, literally; the cranes strained in their efforts to get the bales out as quickly as possible. The ship stank of the disinfectant already, stank of the stuff. Every man who came on board was so drenched in it that it dribbled out of his boots. But that wasn't enough; some of them had squelched aboard with big, heavy spray cans that spat an acid-pink fog over everything.

And there was nothing Captain Samson could do about it. The agent for the owners was right there on the dockside with his orders in his hands. But Captain Samson was going to try.

"Do you really think we're infectious, Mr. Blezzard?" he barked to the man on the dock. "I can assure you—"

"You are not infectious, Captain, as far as we know, but this is for your own good," shouted the agent through his enormous megaphone. "And I must once again warn you and your men not to leave the ship!"

"We have families, Mr. Blezzard!"

"Indeed, and they are already being taken care of. Believe me, Captain, they are fortunate, and so will you be, if you follow orders. You must return to Port Mercia at dawn. I cannot stress enough how important this is."

"Impossible! It's the other side of the world! We've only been back a few hours! We are low on food and water!"

"You will set sail at dawn andrendezvous in the Channel with the Maid of Liverpool, just returned from San Francisco. Company men are aboard her now. They will give you everything you need. They will strip that ship to the waterline to see that you are properly provisioned and crewed!"

The captain shook his head. "This is not good enough, Mr. Blezzard. What you are asking—it's too much. I— Good God, man, I need more authority than some words shouted through a tin tube!"

"I think you will find me all the authority you need, Captain. Do I have your permission to come aboard?"

The captain knew that voice.

It was the voice of God, or the next best thing. But although he recognized the voice, he hardly recognized the speaker standing at the foot of the gangplank. That was because he was wearing a sort of birdcage. At least, that's what it looked like at first sight. Closer to, he could see that it was a fine metal framework with a thin gauze around it. The person inside walked in a shimmering cloud of disinfectant.

"Sir Geoffrey?" said the captain, just to be sure, as the man began to walk slowly up the glistening gangplank.

"Indeed, Captain. I'm sorry about this outfit. It's called a salvation suit, for obvious reasons. It is necessary for your protection. The Russian influenza has been worse than you can possibly imagine! We believe the worst is over, but it has taken a terrible toll at every level of society. Every level, Captain. Believe me."

There was something in the way the chairman said every that made the captain hesitate.

"I take it that His Majesty is . . . isn't—" He stopped, unable to force the rest of the question out of his mouth.

"Not only His Majesty, Captain. I said 'worse than you can possibly imagine,'" said Sir Geoffrey, while red disinfectant dripped off the bottom of the salvation suit and puddled on the deck like blood. "Listen to me. The only reason the country is not in total chaos at this moment is that most people are too scared to venture out. As chairman of the line, I order you—and as an old friend, I beg you—for the sake of the Empire, sail with the devil's speed to Port Mercia and find the governor. Then you will— Ah, here come your passengers. This way, gentlemen."

Two more carriages had pulled up in the chaos of the dockside. Five shrouded figures came up the gangplank, carrying large boxes between them, and lowered them onto the deck.

"Who are you, sir?" the captain demanded of the nearest stranger, who said:

"You don't need to know that, Captain."

"Oh, don't I, indeed!" Captain Samson turned to Sir Geoffrey with his hands open in appeal. "Goddammit, Chairman, pardon my French, have I not served the line faithfully for more than thirty-five years? I am the captain of the Cutty Wren, sir! A captain must know his ship and all that is on it! I will not be kept in the dark, sir! If I cannot be trusted, I will walk down the gangplank right now!"

"Please don't upset yourself, Captain," said Sir Geoffrey. He turned to the leader of the newcomers. "Mr. Black? The captain's loyalty is beyond question."

"Yes, I was hasty. My apologies, Captain," said Mr. Black, "but we need to requisition your ship for reasons of the utmost urgency, hence the regrettable lack of formality."

"Are you from the government?" the captain snapped.

Mr. Black looked surprised. "The government? I am afraid not. Just between us, there is little of the government left at the moment, and what there is is mostly hiding in its cellars. No, to be honest with you, the government has always found it convenient not to know much about us, and I would advise you to do the same."

"Oh, really? I was not born yesterday, you know—"

"No indeed, Captain, you were born forty-five years ago, the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Bertie Samson, and christened Lionel after your grandfather," said Mr. Black, calmly lowering his package to the deck.

Nation. Copyright © by Terry Pratchett. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews