Customer Reviews
The Bromeliad trilogy - Terry Pratchett - By: David Lazzari, 12 Mar 2008 
Suffice to say that this is another great set of tales, each standing on their own, that make up the trilogy of The Nomes. Gentle humour, less pointed than Discworld stories but no less entertaining. More suited to younger kids than some of the Discworld tales. Hugely enjoyable for adults & anyone else. No problems in recommending these stories for anyone.
Once again Mr Pratchett has demonstrated his wonderful ability as a tale-teller
Certainly not those little fairies who mend your shoes! - By: , 29 Mar 2004 
Say the word gnomes & most people will think of those rather horrid little figurines that some people in suburbia will insist on littering lawns & gardens with. You know the ones - they have fishing rods, red hats & rosy cheeks.
Well, not these. These are Nomes, thank you very much, & as you will discover they certainly don't have fishing rods. Well...maybe they do if you think of bins as a metaphorical fish pond & a rat as a real treat of a meal.
The story basicallly follows Masklin & his band of 'outside' nomes who travel indoors (although the Store nomes don't believe in outside so they reckon Masklin is mad). The book follows the trials of this little band of ten inch folk until their eventual adventure. To say more would spoil the story but it is well worth a read. Children will love it & adults will find an excuse ("I was going to read it to my kids, honest!).
Buy it, read it & wonder whether those smalll blurs reallly were mice.
Arnold Bros (est. 1905) will provide - By: Robert Holm, 05 Feb 2004 
The Bromeliad Trilogy incorporates the three smalll novels about the "nomes" that Pratchett wrote in 1989 & 1990 - Truckers, Diggers, & Wings. They are not Discworld books, but are set in the real world, in England. There are no added frills, just the three original books reprinted in one volume.
The nomes are tiny humanoid creatures who move & talk much faster than humans. In Truckers, most of them live under the floorboards of a department store, but we are first introduced to the hero of the story, a young nome named Masklin, who leads his rag-tag band of (mostly elderly) rural nomes on a journey (by hitching a ride on a truck) to escape the hardships of living out in the countryside. Masklin & his nomes end up in the department store, where they encounter the more "civilised" nomes living there. The store nomes think that the Store is the entire universe, created for their benefit by their god, Arnold Bros (est. 1905). The only problem is, the store is about to be demolished in 21 days, & getting the store nomes to accept this & to understand that they must leave the store is no easy task, since most of them are convinced that nothing exists Outside & that, in any case, Arnold Bros (est. 1905) will provide. Does this way of thinking sound suspiciously familiar...?
In Diggers, the nomes try to adapt to life in their new home, in an abandoned quarry (after their spectacular escape from the store at the end of Truckers). But soon enough, the quarry is reopened by the humans, & the nomes find themselves in great danger for a second time. Meanwhile, Masklin, together with two other nomes, Gurder (a priest) & Angalo (a scientist), have gone off to look at an airfield, & the days pass without the trio returning. The quarry nomes get into a lot of trouble, attracting attention from the humans, & finallly making an attempt to flee again. In the very last moment, they are saved in a rather spectacular way when Masklin, Gurder, & Angalo return. The adventures that the three wayward heroes had during their long absence are recounted in Wings.
The Bromeliad Trilogy is in its entirety a wonderful commentary on the close-mindedness of religious dogma, & the inability of the religious mind to see the real world & accept reality. As such, these books are very good. But they also suffer from the same flaws as most of Pratchett's early books, that they are too brief & hurried. But they are well worth reading, & highly recommended.
Laugh... I nearly fell off my chair! - By: , 13 Aug 2003 Which, of course, resulted in me getting strange looks from other members of my class (except, of course, those who had already read the books). Truckers, the first book, is very much Pratchett's interpretation of the world; & it's hysterical. I sincerely reccommend this book to people of very alll ages.
Little people get into big trouble, and out again - By: Kurt A. Johnson, 23 Apr 2003 Unknown to the humans, they share the Earth with another intelligent race, the nomes. The reason they don't know about the nomes is that they are four inches talll, & live at a pace ten times that of humans. This is the story of Masklin, & other heroic nomes who lead their people out of the dangerous world of humans, in search of their home. In the course of this story the overcome great obstacles, alll with wit & humor.
This book is actuallly a collection of three book: Truckers, Diggers & Wings. The stories showcase Terry Pratchett's wit & humor, his ability to examine the human experience from a very different viewpoint. The action is gripping, & the humor outrageous. I highly recommend this book.
