Nation: Difference between revisions

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A stage version, adapted by Mark Ravenhill, debuted in 2009.

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=== This book includes: ===

* [[Action Survivor]]: Everyone to some extent.

* [[Action Girl]]: Daphne, but not in the "fighting" sense of trope, in the "she doesn't sit around waiting to be rescued" part. She's the one who insists that Mau move the big stone in front of the Cave of the Grandfathers, which ultimately saves the Nation. Oh, and she doesn't take anybody's crap.

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* [[Ax Crazy]]: First Mate Cox. There's a reason that if a ship already has a first mate, they'll quickly ask to be second mate if First Mate Cox comes aboard.

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: The Nation survives and flourishes. Daphne's father is crowned king. However, Daphne {{spoiler|leaves the island and only sees Mau one more time}}. Although {{spoiler|the girl who's being told the story}} insists that {{spoiler|two dolphins were seen swimming together immediately after both Mau and Daphne died}}

* ~Chekhov's Gun~: The axe (A [[Double Subversion]])

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: The axe (A [[Double Subversion]])

** {{spoiler|The recipe for making beer}} is a ~Chekhov's Skill~.

** {{spoiler|The recipe for making beer}} is a [[Chekhov's Skill]].

* [[Colourful Theme Naming]]: The Gentlemen of Last Resort- Mr. Black, Mr. Brown, Mr. Amber, and Mr. Red.

* [[Colourful Theme Naming]]: The Gentlemen of Last Resort -- Mr. Black, Mr. Brown, Mr. Amber, and Mr. Red.

* [[Coming of Age Story]]: Quite literally for Mau, as he was in-between being a child and man. In fact, he thought he lost his "child soul" and would gain a "man soul" when he got back to the Nation... but when he did, everyone was dead. So afterwards, the other survivors call him the Boy Without a Soul.

* [[Combat By Champion]]

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* [[Disaster Dominoes]]: {{spoiler|The destruction of the Grandfathers, in a literal domino effect}}.

* [[Distant Finale]]: The entire book takes place in 1859 or '60, except for the Epilogue which is the "Present Day."

* ~Don't Explain ~~The~~ Joke~: Daphne's father makes the critical mistake of trying explain an [[Incredibly Lame Pun]], only to have the Gentlemen of the Last Resort tell him it wasn't funny. Of course, he's {{spoiler|king now}}, so they tell it to him in a more polite manner.

* [[Don't Explain the Joke]]: Daphne's father makes the critical mistake of trying explain an [[Incredibly Lame Pun]], only to have the Gentlemen of the Last Resort tell him it wasn't funny. Of course, he's {{spoiler|king now}}, so they tell it to him in a more polite manner.

* ~Don't Try This At Home~: There's an afterword discussing the truth behind some implausible-sounding things that happen in the story; most of them are accompanied with warnings that you should not try this at home. The last one ends, instead, with "Whether you try it at home is up to you."

* [[Don't Try This At Home]]: There's an afterword discussing the truth behind some implausible-sounding things that happen in the story; most of them are accompanied with warnings that you should not try this at home. The last one ends, instead, with "Whether you try it at home is up to you."

* [[Duel to The Death]]: Between Mau and First Mate Cox.

* [[Earn Your Happy Ending]]:

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* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: ''Cannibals'' don't like First Mate Cox.

** And vice-versa: he won't eat their diet...

* ~Everybody's Dead Dave~: Not only with Mau being the last survivor of the Nation, but with Daphne, too. And Europe (and America, it is hinted at) is being ravaged by the "Russian influenza."

* [[Everybody's Dead, Dave]]: Not only with Mau being the last survivor of the Nation, but with Daphne, too. And Europe (and America, it is hinted at) is being ravaged by the "Russian influenza."

* [[Everything's Even Worse With Sharks]]: Mau confronts one while trying to raise the god anchors; Cox {{spoiler|is eaten by}} several of them later on.

* [[Far Side Island]]: Referenced.

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** Lampshaded when a priest points out that Mau ''needs'' the gods to exist [[Nay Theist|just enough so that he can be angry with them for not existing]].

** Daphne gets a few shades of this too.

* [[Footnote Fever]]: Relatively restrained for a [[Terry Pratchett]] novel, but there are a few footnotes about (entirely fictitious) wildlife like the [[wikipedia:Pacific Northwest tree octopus|tree climbing octopus]].

* [[Footnote Fever]]: Relatively restrained for a [[Terry Pratchett]] novel, but there are a few footnotes about (entirely fictitious) wildlife like the [[wikipedia:Pacific Northwest tree octopus|tree-climbing octopus]].

* [[Genre Savvy]]: Daphne, and she knows it too:

{{quote| "There was something in the brain that said: Sinister-looking valley + half dead trees + ominous doorway = skulls in a bowl, or possible on a stick. But even by listening to it, she felt she was being unfair to Mau and Cahle and the rest of them."}}

{{quote| "There was something in the brain that said: Sinister-looking valley + half dead trees + ominous doorway {{=}} skulls in a bowl, or possible on a stick. But even by listening to it, she felt she was being unfair to Mau and Cahle and the rest of them."}}

* [[Good Cannot Comprehend Evil]]: Daphne has a hard time explaining Cox's behavior to the islanders. They can cope with cannibals, but not someone who shoots people because they're there.

* [[The Grim Reaper]]: Locaha. And he's not as nice as Pratchett's other [[Discworld|Grim Reaper]].

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* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Mau goes through a pretty extreme version of this when he's sinking the bodies of his tribe in the ocean. Basically, his body's moving, but his mind isn't there any more. He doesn't even notice Daphne standing directly in front of him. He only wakes up just before drowning himself.

** Daphne gets a beneficial one via the Grandmothers to help her birth a baby.

* ~I'm A Humanitarian~: The cannibal Raiders. Cox joins forces with them, but claims not to have adopted the diet.

* [[I'm a Humanitarian]]: The cannibal Raiders. Cox joins forces with them, but claims not to have adopted the diet.

* [[In Spite of a Nail]]: Despite the [[Alternate History]] aspects of the story, the present day epilogue suggests many major scientific figures still exist and work in the same fields.

* [[Istanbul Not Constantinople]]: The Great Southern Pelagic Ocean is the Pacific under an assumed name.