NATION by Terry Pratchett (R195, Doubleday)
Rating: 4/5
Reviewer: Jared Orlin
Terry Pratchett may have early-onset Alzheimer’s but it certainly doesn’t show in his latest comic fantasy escapade, which is not set in the Discworld this time. Instead Nation takes place in an alternative 1870s version of Earth where pirates and treasure loom large. Pratchett fans can expect the usual array of clever social satire and quirky characters.
The story revolves around the meeting of Ermintrude Fanshaw, who prefers to be called Daphne and is 138th in line for the throne of England, and Mau, a ‘‘native’’ island boy. Mau has just completed the rituals to become a man when a gigantic wave kills the entire population of his island (except a foul-mouthed talking parrot and the hilarious vomiting grandfather birds). The wave washes up Daphne on the shores of the Nation and the two survivors, who can’t understand a word the other is saying, must rebuild civilisation from scratch.
THE FRONT by Patricia Cornwell (R170, Little, Brown)
Rating: 3/5
Reviewer: Genevieve Callaghan
Take an emotionally wounded district attorney who treats anyone who’s witnessed her personal dramas like dirt. Add a sharp-dressing, handsome investigator who puts up with it and is more than he seems. Mix in a cop who’s physically scarred as a result of the DA’s mistakes. Now add a probe into a cold murder case that ends up flagging an active international terrorist investigation, some nasty political agendas, a few bad personal mistakes and brilliant writing by the accomplished author of the acclaimed Kay Scarpetta thrillers.
The result is a fast-paced read, a plot with more twists than a snake and a denouement that brings you up short, exclaiming, “How could she do that?”
My only criticism of this novel, the second instalment in Cornwell’s At Risk series, is that although it’s short it features too many plotlines which means things get pretty confusing.
