Nation (novel)

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Nation

Author	Terry Pratchett
Cover artist	Paul Kidby
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Fantasy
Publisher	Doubleday
Publication date	11 September 2008
Pages	300
ISBN	ISBN 0385613709 ISBN 978-0385613705
Preceded by	Making Money
Followed by	I Shall Wear Midnight

Nation is a Terry Pratchett novel, scheduled to be published in the UK on 11 September 2008.^[1] It will be the first non-Discworld Pratchett novel^[2] since Johnny and the Bomb. Pratchett took his editors by surprise by writing it before the previously scheduled Tiffany Aching conclusion. He has said "I want to write this one so much I can taste it", and that he's been ready to do it for four years.^[3]

Pratchett, giving little away, said in Feb 2007, "At the moment I'm just writing. If it needs to be Discworld it will be Discworld. It could be set in this world 150 years ago while still more or less being a fantasy. The codename for it is Nation."^[3]

[edit] Plot summary

Finding himself alone on a desert island when everything and everyone he knows and loved has been washed away in a huge storm, Mau is the last surviving member of his nation. He's also completely alone - or so he thinks until he finds the ghost girl. She has no toes, wears strange lacy trousers like the grandfather bird and gives him a stick which can make fire. Daphne, sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, almost immediately regrets trying to shoot the native boy. Thank goodness the powder was wet and the gun only produced a spark. She's certain her father, distant cousin of the Royal family, will come and rescue her but it seems, for now, all she has for company is the boy and the foul-mouthed ship's parrot. As it happens, they are not alone for long.Other survivors start to arrive to take refuge on the island they all call the Nation and then raiders accompanied by murderous mutineers from the Sweet Judy. Together, Mau and Daphne discover some remarkable things - including how to milk a pig and why spitting in beer is a good thing - and start to forge a new Nation.^[4]