The Culture

[ Mood: Cool ]
[ Currently: Listening to Model 500 ]
Finished reading the latest Terry Pratchett novel this morning. It is his first non-Discworld novel in some time (I reckon his last was Johnny and the Dead in 1993). This one is another that is apparently for children but just reads like any other Pratchett novel to me.

It is set on an alternative version of Earth where things are much the same as here but just slightly different – for instance Australia is split into two land masses. The story concerns Mau a boy/man travelling back to his home island (the Nation of the title) after a manhood ritual on another island. During his journey he is overtaken by a massive wave which wipes out the population on his home and wrecks a ship from which only a young upper class white girl survives.

Mau has to take care of the dead, learn to live with Daphne, deal the ghost voices of the grandfathers and find a reason to keep on living.

This was a very enjoyable book that could be read by confident readers of any age. There is a lot of railing against the Gods in this book due to survivor guilt. But in the end it is an uplifting story as Mau and Daphne come to terms with their situation and Mau begins to rebuild the Nation as the refugees from other islands start to arrive.