This book is as far away from the Discworld series of books as TP could get. Rather than his (now) expected forray into outlandish alternative universe humour, this book is based on a small - possibly Polynisian - island chain at the end of the last (but 1!) century.

There has been a huge natural disaster (tidal wave) which has left the hero of the story on his own during his rite of passage into manhood. Everyone and everything he knows has gone - washed away. The only other human is a young very English girl who was washed ashore on the ship she was travelling on.

The tale goes into the different approaches towards life and spirituality of "simple" island people and the view of the British towards anyone inferior to themselves (i.e. everyone not British!) There are heroes and villains, who you want to win and loose (in that order).

Not a ripping yarn, but very deep and gives the reader an insight into the ways that other cultures react to adversity, and also their deep spiritual ties to their world and their ancestry. If you are eagerly awaiting a humour packed, pacey Discworld story - you will be dissapointed. But give ir a a fair chance, there is quite a bit of humour (a comedy of errors really) and it is quite thought provoking! (Especially for an Englishman such as myself!).

IMHO I would give this a 7/10