I've enjoyed every Pratchett book I've read - many of them multiple times! - but I think the best written Pratchett books are the ones where he has a clear idea of what he wants to say, morally, and just goes for it. And what he comes out with is so clear and so kind and so angry, still, and it rarely expresses itself in big moments - for him, the real coal face of ethical behaviour happens in the moments of small choices, of choices made in the understanding of their smallness, and of their immensity. It's very hard, I think, for a writer to be able to do this without preaching, or without making the reader feel irritated and lectured at. And perhaps it's just that, as a reader, I'm already sympathetic to the way that Pratchett perceives (perceived, alas) the world - perhaps if I had different values then didacticism would be more apparent. But I don't and it isn't, so when I read a book like Nation it's as much confirmation, as well as persuasion, of what the world could be if we were different.

It helps that the two main characters are so relatable. Daphne, cut off from her own culture and having to adapt to another, having to assess the value of what she knows in order to help others as well as herself. And Mau, put into the position of preserving a culture he no longer quite believes in, having to balance the needs of community against his growing understanding of the world around him. The two of them together, valuing difference and communication and persistence, and the ending I think is perfectly weighted. They don't become each other's answer; rather they become the means by which each can go on asking questions. It's lovely.