I am here through a rather circuitous route: Google Alert pointed me to your review in alt.fan.pratchett. But I was so impressed with your review that I came here to comment.
I have spent quite a bit of time trying to describe - perhaps even warn - a couple of Pratchett fans about how different Nation is from the Discworld books. The response I ran into was, 'I like Terry's non-Discworld books, so I'll like Nation.'
You say things in this review, particularly in the third and fourth paragraphs, that I have found difficult to express. Nation is, to me, a much "harder, slower read" than anything else Terry has written. I was not prepared for that at all and, though the book has grown on me, my initial reaction was disappointment. I was expecting, and wanted, Pratchett's usual fare, very much as you describe it in the first sentence of your third paragraph.
I intend to suggest to my very modest number of LJ readers that they read this review before they begin Nation, because, as you say so well, "It's a very good book, if you can avoid thinking of it as a Pratchett book."
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-09-14 02:12 pm (UTC)I have spent quite a bit of time trying to describe - perhaps even warn - a couple of Pratchett fans about how different Nation is from the Discworld books. The response I ran into was, 'I like Terry's non-Discworld books, so I'll like Nation.'
You say things in this review, particularly in the third and fourth paragraphs, that I have found difficult to express. Nation is, to me, a much "harder, slower read" than anything else Terry has written. I was not prepared for that at all and, though the book has grown on me, my initial reaction was disappointment. I was expecting, and wanted, Pratchett's usual fare, very much as you describe it in the first sentence of your third paragraph.
I intend to suggest to my very modest number of LJ readers that they read this review before they begin Nation, because, as you say so well, "It's a very good book, if you can avoid thinking of it as a Pratchett book."