There’s a phrase I use called “The Valley Full of Clouds.” Writing a novel is as if you are going off on a journey across a valley. The valley is full of mist, but you can see the top of a tree here and the top of another tree over there. And with any luck you can see the other side of the valley. But you cannot see down into the mist. Nevertheless, you head for the first tree.
Terry Pratchett
Tag: Terry Pratchett
Nation
“we become what we have to be”
The above thought by Mau sums up the theme of this book on survival. Several natural disasters change the lives of many people in Nation by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins 2008).
Mau has gone to the Boy’s Island to become a man, but after the big wave, no one of the nation is waiting for him when he gets home. He does however find a girl, the sole survivor of the ship that wrecked on his island. And then there are those searching for the 139th heir, since the king and everyone else in between has died from plague.
And that’s only a hint of what’s going to happen.
This moving, funny story will not disappoint. And if you haven’t come across Mr. Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching or humorous Discworld stories, you should check them out too. www.terrypratchettbooks.com
Thanks, Jenn, for the loan of this book.
The Wee Free Men
It’s so much fun when someone introduces me to a new fantasy world. (Thanks, Jenn!) I zipped through the first book, The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins, 2003) and am onto the sequel, A hat full of sky (2004)
The first line of the first book gives you a delicious taste of what is coming: “Some things start before other things.” Tongue-in-cheek humor runs alongside the adventures of 9-year-old Tiffany Aching, who has read the dictionary all the way through. You’ll meet the local Nac Mac Feegle (the wee free men) and follow Tiffany as she deals with some emotional issues in her life.
In the second book, Tiffany is now 11. I’m not done yet, but it has the same flavor as the first and is calling to me as I write this . . .
Read what Terry says about these books on his site: http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/ I discovered there is a third book about Tiffany that I’ll have to order.