Conclusion of Chaos Walking, Patrick Ness

Reviews

General opinion

A fantastic fantasy trilogy with tons of action and plot twists, which will leave your heart aching and your mind blown. The start of the first book can be a little bit mild paced, considering each fantasy world needs a proper introduction and description, and then everything takes off and never slows down.

Whether it the action itself, the tension between each movement of Todd and Viola's and the men and women around them, lead by Prentiss and Miss Coyle, or the Spackle, who will portray an important part in the understanding of the nature of the planet they all live in and how it affects its habitants; its gripping story that won't defraud you.

All this, accompanied by well-built characters who lead the plot with their desires and their idea of the good and the evil, making decisions that affect one another and will define themselves even more strongly. All together, combines into Chaos Walking 'The knife of never letting go', 'The ask and the answer and 'Monster of men' by Patrick Ness.

Characters

Todd. I loved his character development, we see him grow from being a mere lost boy who has lost everything he had and believed in, to a grown young man who isn't afraid anymore. However, what I admire the most is that he sticks with his principles and maintains his tender heart, only making me feel more love and appreciation for him.

Viola. At first, she was a bit difficult to like, not for long as she is essential for Todd as well as in the next books, as another main character who has a strong mindset and is capable of fighting any enemy that interposes between her and Todd's pace; opposite, or complementary to that, is her intelligence and calm temper.

Mayor Prentiss. As the biggest antagonist during the books, we have Mayor or President, as he would like to call himself, who intends to rule New World. Not only he is clever, has a leading character, and many secret weapons, he is also an excellent manipulator who totally drove me mad and made me hate him with all my might.

The Spackle, 10170. Not until the latter half of the second book and the third one, is when we are able to see the importance of this native species of the world the humans have invaded. They're the key to understanding what happens to Prentiss when he controls the Noise and for the functioning of the entire planet.

Special mentions

Manchee, Angharrad, Acorn. I put them all together because they're the most loyal characters in the books, with no doubts regarding their owners/friends and they gave their all to save them. Their love was unconditional, as all animals love is, but the author helped us to see it more clearly because of the Noise where we could hear Todd, Boy Colt and Girl Colt. I shed a tear with the death of two of them.

David Junior, Wilf, Jane and Lee. This at first could seem like a weird mix, however, these three men had a good heart. David was just trying to please his father, the one who really never cared about him and the one who ends up killing him; Wilf and Jane are the most humble and clear hearted people I've seen in a book, they were kind of a dad and a mom for both Todd and Viola, and their bond is just so precious...; and lastly we have Lee, who was a potential third interest that happened but didn't happen at the same time, and I loved every second of him and his love for Viola as well as his witty personality and brave heart.

Plot and history

More of what I have previously stated in the general opinion, I find the history a very special and different one, who scapes from clichés like the strong guy who saves the fragile girl, at the end of the first book these roles reversed as Viola stabs the Priest to save Todd and herself and throughout the books with the tender Todd.

A distinctive fantasy world, nothing to do with magic forests or mystical beings (which isn't any worse, I'm just trying to say this is not what you will find at all), that affects the people in a unique and weird way and is the driving force for all the events that take place in the books, being the reason behind the spackle war and the separation of women from men.

Again, I truly encourage every reader to give the series a try, and they will easily be found tangled in the words and lost in their pages. As an extra commentary, I want to add that I LOVED the edition of the book, with the words with different typography to accentuate the effect of the Noise and just make it so visually appealing.

Final ranking

9,75 of 10