The Bromeliad

Infobox Book
name = The Bromeliad Trilogy
title_orig = Truckers (1989), Diggers (1990), Wings (1990)


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author = Terry Pratchett
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country = UK
language = English
series = The Bromeliad Trilogy
genre = Fantasy
publisher =
pub_date =
media_type =
pages =
isbn =
oclc =
preceded_by =
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:"For the family of flowering plants, see Bromeliaceae".

"The Bromeliad Trilogy" (also known in the UK as "The Nome Trilogy") is a trilogy of children's books by Terry Pratchett, consisting of:

#"Truckers", 1990
#"Diggers", 1991. It includes a (not talking} JCB called Jekub.
#"Wings", 1991

The books are only known as the "The Bromeliad Trilogy" in the US.

The trilogy tells the story of the Nomes, a race of tiny people from another world who now live hidden among humans. Through the books they struggle to survive in the world and, once they learn of their history from an artifact known as "The Thing", make plans to return home.

"Diggers" and "Wings" are to be read as contemporaneous sequels to "Truckers", as each book follows different characters through (mostly) concurrent events.

The title is partly a pun on "The Belgariad", a fantasy series by David Eddings, and Iliad by Homer. It also refers to the Bromeliaceae plant.

Plot summary

The trilogy tells the story of the Nomes, a race of tiny people from another world who now live hidden among humans. Through the books they struggle to survive in the world and, once they learn of their history from an artifact known as "The Thing", make plans to return home.

Themes

The title refers to the fact that some species of small frogs live their entire lives inside Bromeliad plants, which is a metaphor used throughout the books.

Pratchett covered the idea of small people in his first novel, "The Carpet People" (1971/1992), about a race of tiny people even smaller than Nomes. The book is unconnected to this series.

Continuity

References in the books suggest that they are set in the same world as Pratchett's Johnny Maxwell novels (1992–1996), which begin with "Only You Can Save Mankind".

After being asked if he would write about the Nomes return (as implied at the end of Wings), Pratchett replied "there may be another book about the nomes."cite web |url=http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/words-from-the-master.html |title= L Space Pratchett quotes]

Central characters

*Masklin — A member of the Outside Nomes, Masklin is brave and adventurous.
*The Thing — A small, sentient computer. A part of 'The Ship'
*Torrit — The leader of the Outside Nomes, tasked with keeping The Thing safe.
*Grimma — A female counterpart to Masklin, who hates sexism.
*Gurder — A religious store nome. Later becomes the abbot.
*Angalo De Habedasheri — Store nome obsessed with the 'Outside'.
*Dorcas del Icatessen — The most scientific of the nomes. Interested in electricity.
*Granny Morkie — Elderly outside nome.
*Arnold Bros. (est 1905) — The 'founder' of the Store and godlike figure to the nomes.

Appearing only in Truckers

*Old Torrit — an elderly nome from the Outside. His recent death is mentioned early on in "Diggers".
*The Abbot — The leader of the Stationeri. Dies of old age in "Truckers".
*The Count de Habedasheri — Angalo's father. The leader of the Habedasheri.
*Bargains Galore
*Prices Slashed: the nomes' name for the store's caretaker who is also the store's boilerman

Appearing only in Diggers

*Sacco and Nooty
*Nisodemus

Appearing only in Wings

*The Floridian Nomes
*Richard Arnold - called Grandson Richard by Gurder, appears briefly in Diggers

Film and animation

A stop motion animated series of "Truckers" was produced in the United Kingdom by Cosgrove Hall.

In 2001, DreamWorks acquired the film rights to the trilogy [cite web |url=http://www.writenews.com/2001/050201_dreamworks_bromeliad.htm | title=Dreamworks film story] , and announced plans to combine all three books into a single film, to be directed by Andrew Adamson. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/1403462.stm | title=BBC story] . However, as of 2008 the company has made no further mention of the project, and Adamson is currently slated to direct both "" and "Benighted". [cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0011470/news | title=Internet Move Database story]

Translations

*"Trilogia del Piccolo Popolo" (Italian)
**"Il Piccolo Popolo dei grandi magazzini"
**"Il Piccolo Popolo all'aria aperta"
**"Il Piccolo Popolo decolla"
*"Ævintýri Nálfanna" (Icelandic)
**"Flóttinn"
**"Undir berum himnu"
*"Le Grand Livre des gnomes" (French)
**"Les Camionneurs"
**"Les Terrassiers"
**"Les Aéronautes"
*"Die Schlacht der Nomen" (German)
**"Trucker"
**"Wühler"
**"Flügel"
*"Trylogia Nomów" (Polish)
**"Nomów księga wyjścia"
**"Nomów księga kopania"
**"Nomów księga odlotu"
*"Noumi" (Serbian)
**"Kamionci"
**"Buldožerci"
**"Krilci"
*"El éxodo de los Gnomos" (Spanish)
**"Camioneros"
**"Cavadores"
**"La Nave"
*"Resan Hem" (Swedish)
**"Vi far"
**"Vi flyr"
**"Vi flyger"
*"Gnomernes Flugt" (Danish)
**"Varehuset"
**"Stenbruddet"
**"Det Store Skib"
*"Onttujen kirjat" (Finnish)
**"Suuri ajomatka"
**"Louhoksen Valtiaat"
**"Yläilmoissa"
*"Manák trilógiája" (Hungarian)
**"Sofőrök"
**"Földvájók"
**"Szárnyalók"
*"Трилогия за Номите" (Bulgarian)
**"Масклин"
**"Грима и Доркас"
**"Крилете на Масклин"
*"Τα ανόντα" (Greek)
**"Φορτηγατζήδες πάνω στη γη"
**"Σκαπανείς κάτω από τη γη"
**"Φτερά και πούπουλα στον αέρα"
*"Trilogia Nomilor" (Romania)
**"În Camion"
**"În Excavator"
**"În Navă"
*"Мир Номов" (Russian)
**"Угонщики"
**"Землекопы"
**"Крылья"
*"Vyprávění o Nomech" (Czech)
**"Velká jízda"
**"Velký boj"
**"Velký let"
*"טרילוגיית הננסים" (Hebrew)
**"ננסי המשאית"
**"ננסי המכרות"
**"ננסי הכנפיים"

References