What’s it all about?:
Three armies march on New Prentisstown, each one intent on destroying the others. Todd and Viola are caught in the middle, with no chance of escape. As the battles commence, how can they hope to stop the fighting? How can there ever be peace when they’re so hopelessly outnumbered? And if war makes monsters of men, what terrible choices await?
What did I think?:
Ah, Patrick Ness. You’ve just gone and finished the Chaos Walking trilogy with a giant bang and I loved every second of it. I actually waited for a while before reading the third book, Monsters Of Men as, to be perfectly honest, I really didn’t want the series to end. It began with The Knife of Never Letting Go which I can only describe as epic and continued with The Ask And The Answer which made me conclude that Patrick Ness is now one of my all-time favorite authors. What then did I expect from Monsters Of Men? Well, I was slightly worried that my expectations were actually too high. Shouldn’t have worried though – the final book in the trilogy was just as nail-biting, thrilling and fascinating as when I first came to the series.
I find it very hard reviewing books in a trilogy, especially after the first book as I’m very wary of giving spoilers for those people that haven’t started the series yet. What I can tell you is this is the story of Todd and Viola who met in the first novel under strained and dangerous circumstances and their friendship and love for each other has gone from strength to strength. I’m not going to re-hash what has happened so far but at the beginning of Monsters Of Men they have been separated and are embroiled in a fierce war against both the Spackle (the native species of the New World – yes, humans in fact are the interlopers!) and the humans who are against the self-entitled leader of the humans, President Prentiss. The novel is told from both Todd and Viola’s perspectives and also from one of the Spackles whom we met in the previous novel which I found particularly intriguing. Todd must struggles with his conscience, the weight of his past and future decisions and the mind control of the Major whilst Viola begs for peace and is desperately trying to reach Todd.
This book meanders between being very fast-paced and action packed to slower, gentler sections where the reader can pause for breath before being sent into the next battle/exciting incident/devastating repercussion (sometimes all three!). Once again, the author presents us with a mastery of characters, from Todd and Viola who we have already fallen in love with to the villain of the piece President Prentiss to the bloodthirsty for revenge Spackle and the fierce Mistress Coyle (terrorist or freedom fighter – who can tell?). The old saying that war makes “monsters of men,” resonates very deeply especially in this final offering in the Chaos Walking Trilogy and all characters have to come face to face with another side of their personality that they may not have been aware they possessed. The brilliance of the writing and the thrilling plot truly shines through the narrative and I have to admit to being quite bereft when I turned over the final page, especially with an ending that left my heart in little pieces. I will read anything Patrick Ness writes – that is a promise!
Would I recommend it?:
But of course!
Star rating (out of 5):
