The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness

Author: Patrick Ness

Length: 516 pages

Release Date: May 4 2009

Publisher: Walker Books

Blurb

Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss.

Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor’s new order.

But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer?

And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode…

Review

But they were captured…and she was dying…and they were coming…and they were almost safe. So many questions went unanswered by the time The Knife of Never Letting Go was closed, and the reader was left hungry for more. The Ask and the Answer, the second instalment in the Chaos Walking trilogy, supplies us with the answers we so desperately need, before adding more questions just for good measure. Ness has produced a thrilling, white knuckle novel that never lets up on pace and tension, pulling that reader back into the unchartered and deadly planet of New World, where our story picks up right where it left off; on the brink of the end…

But I’m not spoiling this one for you; The Ask and the Answer has to be experienced by oneself. It cannot be told; just read or the magic of this fantastic book is lessened. I’m deadly serious; The Ask and the Answer is everything that The Knife of Never Letting Go was and more, weaving this way and that until the image of something beautiful and horrible is formed. The book shows the horror of living under a dictator and the pressure of resistance as our faithful protagonists Todd and Viola try and strike back against the complex and intriguing character of Mayor Prentiss. Told in a smooth and scintillating manner that does nothing but impress, Ness amps up the danger and suspense until, by the book’s denouement, there appears to be no way out for our heroes.

Character development is fantastic here, with the likes of Todd, Viola, Mayor Prentiss and his son Davy progressed to the max, their true thoughts and feeling unfolding before our very eyes as the battle of New Prentisstown unfolds itself. An added bonus to this book is sections told from Viola’s point of view, seeing the world of death and destruction, murder and mystery through the eyes of this headstrong and independent protagonist. The changes to Todd and Davy were those that shocked me most, I must say, with their personalities taking hard U-turns that warp and defile the characters we saw in the books predecessor, though done in an imaginative and believable way. Ness also shows he is not afraid to cause conflict between his main characters; animosity between Todd and Viola spans for chapters at a time, allowing a genuine feel for a caring and fiery relationship.

New characters within The Ask and the Answer further the plot in fantastic and subtle ways; the likes of the devious and manipulative Mistress Coyle, love struck Lee and the cunning Mayor Ledger all add new factors to this intricate ball of threads, thickening the plot to astronomical proportions. On top of these new faces, new elements of New World, its history and geography, truly come into play. There are twists and turns just when the reader thinks there can be no more; Ness controls the story like a master puppeteer, directing the readers attention one way so to distract them from an indistinct factor that is about to explode in their faces; this novel is just that clever.

Beating the cliff-hanger we were left at the climax of the Knife of Never Letting Go was always going to be hard going, but Ness pulls it off with style, crafting a delicate and powerful finale that makes his audience turn immediately to the third and final book in the trilogy. Tension oozes from every word in this edge of your seat, biting your nails ending, figuratively pulling the reader over that cliff with curiosity. There is no way anyone could resist Monsters of Men after that fantastic final scene; I truly pity those initial readers who were forced to wait a year for the next book; I truly do.

Overall, The Ask and the Answer takes top position as my favourite read of 2011; it’s an explosive whirlwind of plot elements, literary flare and powerful prose that left me cursing my ‘five books before the next in a series’ rule. I may have to cheat and skip ahead to Monsters of Men, which holds bags of potential to be crowned my best book of 2011. The Ask and the Answer is an addictive show stopper that refuses to let a reader go; the Chaos Walking trilogy is a must read; plain and simple.

Dusty :]