Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2010.

Shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize 2009

Hugely entertaining, this is a fully envisaged fantasy adventure, which makes serious points about the importance of the past from the master storyteller and author of the hugely popular Discworld series.  Survival! Mau’s world is bowled over and swept away by a towering Tsunami. His past life has vanished and he must build a new life with the scraps he has left. Luckily, someone else has survived too and soon Daphne, or Trouser-Man as Mau calls her, are creating a new Nation building on the bits of knowledge from the past which won’t die away.  

The novel has been adapted for the stage – Olivier Theatre at The National Theatre in London - by the controversial playwright Mark Ravenhill. Nation will be the National’s family show opening in November 2009, following the success of previous family-friendly productions, His Dark Materials, Coram Boy and War Horse.

Described by National Theatre Artistic Director Nicholas Hytner as “a wonderful book and, I suspect, perfect for an Olivier adaptation”, Nation is set on a desert island following a tsunami which wiped out most of the population.

Synopsis

When a giant wave destroys his entire Nation - his family and everyone he has ever known - Mau finds himself totally alone. Until he meets Daphne, daughter of a colonial Governor and the sole survivor from a shipwreck. They have no common language, no common culture - but together they discover some remarkable things - like how to milk a pig and why spitting in beer is a good idea - and must try and forge a new kind of Nation. Then other survivors arrive to take refuge on the island, and not all of them are friendly. In Nation , Pratchett brings us a novel that is both witty and wise, encompassing themes of death and nationhood, while also being extremely funny.

Reviews

'An enchanting novel... Terry Pratchett is one of the most interesting and critically under-rated novelists we have.' The Times

'Terry Pratchett is an indisputable one-off...Nothing he writes is ever predictable - except that it will always be gloriously readable.' The Independent

'Nation has profound, subtle and original things to say about the interplay between tradition and knowledge, faith and questioning...It's funny, exciting, lighthearted and, like all the best comedy, very serious.' The Guardian

About the Author

Sir Terry Pratchett is one of the most popular authors writing today. He lives behind a keyboard in Wiltshire and says he 'doesn't want to get a life, because it feels as though he's trying to lead three already'. He was appointed OBE in 1998 and in 2009 was knighted for his services to literature. He is the author of the phenomenally successful Discworld series and his trilogy for young readers, The Bromeliad, is scheduled to be adapted into a spectacular animated movie. His first Discworld novel for children, THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS, was awarded the 2001 Carnegie Medal. In December 2007 he announced that he had been diagnosed with Posterior Cortical Atrophy, a rare variant of Alzheimer's disease. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation