Patrick Ness has succeeded in continuing a truly unique
young adult story without all the trappings on most of the other series in that
genre. The Ask and the Answer is the
second book in the Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness.
The first book in the series, The Knife of Never Letting Go,
was a fast paced story of the chase of Todd Hewitt across largely uninhabited
frontier land of a newly colonised planet with new comer Viola Eade, who’s parents
were killed in the crash landing of their scout vessel.
In this instalment of the story, Todd and Viola are caught in
between two warring factions when Major Prentiss (now President Prentiss) finds
resistance to his hostile takeover of Haven (renamed New Prentisstown) in the
form of Mistress Coyle (a local Healer) and her reformed gorilla group from the
Spackle Wars, The Answer.
The Answer snatch the uncooperative Viola away to help in their bombing raids of
New Prentisstown. Whilst Todd is held captive and manipulated into working for
President Prentiss’s cause.
This book is written in an amazingly graphic and compelling
manner, with the change in font for both main characters POV and that of the “noise”.
I felt like screaming at the characters at points when I knew they would be
walking into a trap, and crying with them in others when everything seemed so without
hope. These emotions, I believe are the signs of a well written book. Can not recommend
this series enough. 4/5 Stars
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