Seriously, it isn't often that a book like this comes along. My first reaction is just to scream 'OH MY EFFING GOD!!!' (only I don't say 'effing'! heh heh … Well, if you've read the books you get the joke) … which is exactly what I said about fifty times after I finished reading it last night. I don't even think I can do this book justice by writing this review. The Chaos Walking trilogy is genuinely imaginative dealing as much with questions of privacy and information overload as it does with the more self evident subject of war (The New World’s great menace is a germ that makes men s thoughts audible and visible.) Young adult readers should definitely start with the first two volumes before tackling the third, and, I’m afraid, shouldn’t expect to get much sleep until they’ve turned the final page.I am shocked. With its dark tone, violence and readerly fanaticism the book belongs firmly beside Suzanne Collins's work.

This is a complex and engrossing work that series fans will devour. And in so doing he shows just how deep and complex, as well as how versatile, a symbolic and narrative device the concept of Noise can be.This is science fiction at its best, and is a singular fusion of brutality and idealism that is, at last, perfectly human. rapid-fire litany of impossible choices makes for captivating thought fodder, and what has already been a potent display of the power of voice to drive, amplify, and transform a story gets a third, unexpected soloist. The consequences of each action, each word, are unspeakably vast: To follow a tyrant or a terrorist? To save the life of the one you love most, or thousands of strangers? To believe in redemption, or assume it is lost? Becoming adults amid the turmoil, Todd and Viola question all they have known, racing through horror and outrage toward a shocking finale.Īs in his preceding books, Ness offers incisive appraisals of violence, power, and human nature, and with the series complete, it’s clear that he has crafted one of the most important works of young adult science fiction in recent years. And as the ceaseless Noise lays all thoughts bare, the projected will of the few threatens to overwhelm the desperate desire of the many. Ruthless human leaders prepare to defend their factions at all costs, even as a convoy of new settlers approaches. The indigenous Spackle, thinking and acting as one, have mobilized to avenge their murdered people. “This is science fiction at its best, and is a singular fusion of brutality and idealism that is, at last, perfectly human.” - Booklist (starred review)Īs a world-ending war surges around them, Todd and Viola face monstrous decisions.

The riveting Chaos Walking trilogy by two-time Carnegie Medalist Patrick Ness, reissued with compelling covers - and a bonus short story in each book.

Chaos walking book 3