"Nation" - Terry Pratchett books
I bought "Nation" yesterday at Borders. (Discounted off the full price, but no pen - they'd run out :( ) Stayed to finish reading it yesterday as well.
My impressions after reading: a bit underwhelmed. On one hand, of course the flavour of the book is different, since the setting is not Discworld, but a parallel Earth. I got used to that after reading for a while. But I think I didn't quite get the ending. The characters were reacting like there was a great revelation, but all I felt was, "so what?"
Perhaps some of the themes of the book felt a little recycled. I've read so many of Pratchett's books, that I could already see the message he was trying to get across with some of the events or characters in Nation. So to me, perhaps the writing seemed a bit heavy-handed at times.
It's possible I will need to re-read to get a fuller appreciation of the book. And there were parts of the storytelling that I liked, such as new myths and metaphysical events that were described/experienced by the characters. I also liked the gradual sense of discovery and building up of the Nation.
Still, I'm only lukewarm about the book. About the same way I feel about the Tiffany Aching series (sometimes the girl seems too perfect, too clever). On the other hand, I love Pterry's other young adult books like TAMAR and the Johnny series, especially "Only You Can Save Mankind".
Another favourite I reread the other day is "Going Postal" (partially because of a certain spiky chain-smoking lady who looks good in a severely plain dress). Come to think of it, that book had chapters too.
My impressions after reading: a bit underwhelmed. On one hand, of course the flavour of the book is different, since the setting is not Discworld, but a parallel Earth. I got used to that after reading for a while. But I think I didn't quite get the ending. The characters were reacting like there was a great revelation, but all I felt was, "so what?"
Perhaps some of the themes of the book felt a little recycled. I've read so many of Pratchett's books, that I could already see the message he was trying to get across with some of the events or characters in Nation. So to me, perhaps the writing seemed a bit heavy-handed at times.
It's possible I will need to re-read to get a fuller appreciation of the book. And there were parts of the storytelling that I liked, such as new myths and metaphysical events that were described/experienced by the characters. I also liked the gradual sense of discovery and building up of the Nation.
Still, I'm only lukewarm about the book. About the same way I feel about the Tiffany Aching series (sometimes the girl seems too perfect, too clever). On the other hand, I love Pterry's other young adult books like TAMAR and the Johnny series, especially "Only You Can Save Mankind".
Another favourite I reread the other day is "Going Postal" (partially because of a certain spiky chain-smoking lady who looks good in a severely plain dress). Come to think of it, that book had chapters too.