Not as hilarious as Pratchett's Discworld series, but plenty of flashes of brilliant humor along with a serious treatment of topics such as community, nationhood, and identity.

There's nothing wrong with this book. It's not bad at all. It's just that it's not particularly exciting or captivating. At no point did I feel like I couldn't put the book down yet because I had to see what happened in the next chapter.

That's probably because nothing really happens in this book.

The set up is really good. After the first couple of chapters, I thought I'd be in for an interesting story. The main character, Mau, lives on an island nation and belongs to a culture with all sorts of interesting traditions. He's about to make the transition from boyhood to manhood. Meanwhile, the majority of the British royal family has been killed by a plague and the man who is next in line for the throne is sailing in the same region as Mau's island. So is his daughter who was sailing to meet him. Then there's a giant storm which wipes out all of Mau's people and crashes the heir's daughter's ship on Mau's island (killing all other humans on that ship).

So, Mau meets up with the daughter and slowly builds a new nation on that island with other people who start randomly showing up. Pratchett deals with all the things that would realistically have needed to be dealt with - language barrier being the biggest. But I feel like there should have been a bigger "clash of cultures" and like there really ought to have been more plot than there was.

A very thought-provoking book. It makes me wish that our world was a little closer to the alternate reality that Pratchett presents.

Amazing story about death, loss of faith, and science. Page-turning, moving, and hilarious all at once.

Amazing book, just loved it!
Really well written, this book is a master piece.
If this book does not become a classic, there is something very wrong with people.

I loved every second of reading this book. I was taking an "Ancient Science" course at the time I was reading this and it was a perfect companion novel. It was a very fun and very interesting read.

Not as hilarious as Pratchett's Discworld series, but plenty of flashes of brilliant humor along with a serious treatment of topics such as community, nationhood, and identity.

Probably my favorite book by Terry Pratchett. Whether you're a fan of his other books or not, a fan of Discwold or not, you have to love this book. It sort of makes me wish he did more stand alone books and books outside of the Discwold universe, actually. And I'm a huge fan of Discwold.

I have never read one of his books and not enjoyed it, and I've read a lot of them, but this is still my favorite.

I loved every moment of it! Pratchett's vivid descriptions were especially entertaining.

Very good stand-alone novel from Terry Pratchett.
Two worlds collide in a timeless but all-too familiar universe.
The two representatives from each opposing culture couldn't be more different on the surface of things but become drawn to one another and find that special something that can only be achieved through trust and love, friendship and mutual respect.
A great way into Terry Pratchett's huge body of work for readers 12yo+ - next stop: Disc World!!