FORGOTTEN BOOK: TRUCKERS

Truckers by Terry Pratchett (first published in 1989; included in the 1993 omnibus The Bromeliad)

This is one of those young adult novels that could, and should be, enjoyed by everyone.

Nomes are a race of tiny four-inch tall creatures who resemble humans.  They are short-lived -- about ten years,  but don't tell them that; for nomes, their lifespans seem perfectly normal.

Masklin is a young nome who lives in the Outside where life can be dangerous.  There, no one ever heard of a nome dying of old age; nomes either wandered off on hunting trips and were never seen again, or, they were seen as they were eaten by predators -- usually foxes.  The rigors of life on the outside are taking a toll on Maskin's tribe.  In fact, the only young people remaining in the tribe are Masklin and the female Grimma; the few remaining members are elderly, including old Torrit (the ineffectual leader merely because he was, at ten, the oldest, and Granny Morkle, a tough old bird who is nearly as old as Torrit, and who reminds me of Abner's Mammy Yokum.  The rest of the elderly are even more  quarrelsome and demanding than these two.  Masklin is the only hunter in the group and his usual prey are rats, which are torn apart and eaten raw once Masklin is able to drag the large bodies home.

Things cannot go on are they are, so Masklin decides to move the entire tribe to someplace -- any place safer -- where food may be more abundant.  Humans are the big and rather dumb people who also inhabit this world, although whatever they do makes little sense to the nomes.  Masklin manages to get his entire tribe loaded into the back of a delivery truck, destination unknown.  It's a frightening journey for the tiny nomes, and it ends at the garage of a large department store.  The  nomes have no idea what a department store is, or how they will survive there.  They are surprised by the appearance of strange nome, Angalo, and his pet rat on a leash.

It seems there are nomes living in the department store, under the floorboard and in hidden areas...quite a lot of nomes...nomes who know of nothing other than the store, Arnold Bros. (est. 1905).  To these nomes the Outside is just a terrible myth.  The nomes at Arnold Bros. (est. 1905) are divided kinto many quarrelsome tribes, depending on where they are located.  Tribes include the Ironmongri, the Corsetri, Modes, the Millineri, the Haberdasheri, the Young Fashions, the Del Icatesson, the Stationari, and others -- all with their particular talents and odd beliefs.  The Stationari include a few nomes who are able to read (badly) and can interpret the signs throughout the store (badly).  The store itself was created and ruled  by the god-like Arnold Bros. (est. 1905), whom no one have ever seen  but know that he exists because it is his store.  Life is pretty regular at the store.  There are definite season, such as Christmas Fayre, January Sales, Back to School Week, Spring into Spring Fashions, Summer Bargains, and so on.  the store nomes know these are seasons  blessed by Arnold Bros. (est. 1905)because there are signs.  the religion of these nomes includes the acknowledgment of the blessed Bargains Galore and the evil (and totally scary) Prices Slashed!.  Lately there have been confusing signs that the nomes cannot understand:  Closure Sale, and Everything Must Go.

Old Torrit has a precious possession, the Thing -- a black rectangle that seems to do nothing that has been handed down from leader to leader over the centuries.  At one time, the Thing had helped the nomes and advised them but now it is silent.  Torri, whenever he needed to dispense some advice, would look at the blank Thing and make up whatever felt best to tell the tribe.  but  now the blank thing was beginning to light up and started speaking.  The Thing was the Flight Recording and Navigational Computer of a starship.

It seems the nomes were the survivors of a racr that once conquered the stars, or at least 94,563 that have been explored by nomes.  Some fifteen thousand years ago, the starship sent an exploratory ship out which crashed on Earth.  the surviving nomes gathered and began teaching  human about such things as metallurgy and agriculture. while they themselves slowly slipped into barbarism and ignorance.  The Thing began to be low on its power reserve and shut itself down until it could recharge.  The proximity of the store and its electrical grid allowed it to do so.  the thing was also able to access the stores computers and had some devasting news.  the store was due to be demolished kin twenty-six days to make way for luxury apartments.

The store nomes refused to believe this.  The store was their universe.  Their forever universe.  Surely Arnold Bros. (est.1905) in his benevolence would not allow the universe to be destroyed.  Besides, there was nothing outside of the store except the fabled and surely mythical Outside.

It's up to Masklin to rally the thousands of store nomes and lead them to safety.  But how?  And where?  The answer includes a wild ride in a stolen delivery truck, driven by dozens of tiny nomes who do not know what they are doing, using sticks, strings, and semaphors...and the store itself is not destroyed by Arnold Bros. (est. 1905) but by the nomes themselves who accidently blow it up, not with a loud Bang  but with a much quieter whoosh!  There is even a wild chase by a police car

Rest assured things work out, kind of.  They have to, because there were two sequels, Diggers (1989) and Wings (1990).  I'll get to them when I have a chance.

Truckers is a funny and sly satirical take on the way we think and react to the things around us when perception may not be our best ally.  I recommend the book most heartily.

Pratchett (1948-2015), of course, was the author of the popular Discworld series of fantasy novels.  For any who enjoy the skewed logic of that series, Truckers is a must.