Monsters of Men

Starred review from August 2, 2010
The Chaos Walking trilogy comes to a powerful conclusion in this grueling but triumphant tale. Three armies stand poised for battle, one controlled by the murderous but charismatic Mayor; a second headed by the equally Machiavellian terrorist, Mistress Coyle; the third led by the Sky, leader of the indigenous telepathic race known as the Spackle. Meanwhile, a convoy of ships is approaching the planet, bringing still more human colonists, though it isn’t clear that there will be anything left to settle when they arrive. Todd and Viola, along with the Return, an embittered former Spackle slave, find themselves in positions of increasing power and are faced with a variety of complex and ambiguous moral decisions, any one of which may lead to wholesale destruction. Trying to overcome their anger, hatred, and fear, each must confront the reasons why “in a place of all this beauty and potential... we just repeat the same mistakes.” As 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. Ages 14–up.

September 1, 2010

Gr 9 Up-The first word of this conclusion to the trilogy is "war," and war between various factions takes up much of this book. The action begins immediately and is told from two and then three viewpoints with no backstory that might bring readers new to the series up to speed. Todd and Viola attempt to persuade Mayor Prentiss and Mistress Coyle, respectively, that peace is the better path to the future, peace with one another and with the vast army of Spackles that looms above the valley. Unfortunately, the Mayor and Mistress only want peace that comes with victory for their faction. A scout ship arrives from the approaching convoy of colonists, changing the balance of power. The Mayor uses his "Noise," the ability that male humans and all of the Spackle have to communicate mentally, to control his army and to influence Todd. Mistress Coyle and the other mistresses shelter under the protection of the scout ship and work to cure the infection of the bands that threaten the lives of many of the women, including Viola. Ness distinguishes his various narrators by the use of different fonts, further distinguishing Todd with a select few words misspelled. This is a complex and engrossing work that series fans will devour but which may be impenetrable to those who haven't read the earlier volumes.-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2010

The momentum of Ness's breakneck science-fiction trilogy slows noticeably in this voluminous conclusion that is told in three voices: Todd's, Viola's and native Spackle 1017's. At the end of Book Two, the two opposing human factions led by the Mayor and Mistress Coyle were at war with each other and the Spackle. Meanwhile, a new convoy of Viola's colony had arrived only to find themselves in the middle of a war zone. Book Three, replete with themes of war, colonialism, terrorism and redemption, laboriously details how the three groups negotiate an uneasy peace at great personal loss, including the deaths of more than a few major characters. Some 250 pages pass before the Mayor and the Mistress even meet. By then their story, along with Todd's and Viola's (who spend most of the book frustratingly apart), has become less compelling than that of the broken and beautifully characterized 1017, a Spackle who is fated to become the reluctant leader of his people. This is a case where half as long might have been twice as good. (map) (Science fiction. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from July 1, 2010
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Ness, a forceful writer who chews through ideas at a blistering clip, takes on war, the heftiest of human follies, in the conclusion to his Chaos Walking trilogy. The genocidal tyrant Mayor Prentiss leads an army on one side, the terrorist healer Mistress Coyle heads a band of revolutionaries on another, and a massive legion of native Spackle threatens from a third. All three sides see only the complete annihilation of the others as the sole option for victory and survival, and they might be right, no matter how Todd and Viola use their formidable wills to advance peace as an influx of new colonists nears. Its a thick book, approaching Russian-novel territory, but it rarely feels bloated; and readers invested in the story will likely concede that Ness has earned the space. His 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. And in so doing he shows just how deep and complex, as well as how versatile, a symbolic narrative device like Noise can be. For all the huge themes mauling at each other, though, its the characters that ultimately stand out in this final actthe connections that bind them and change them and ruin them and redeem them. This is science fiction at its best, and is a singular fusion of brutality and idealism that is, at last, perfectly human.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2011
This trilogy-ender begins in the midst of a three-sided war. While Todd and Viola continue to narrate their stories, a mesmerizing new voice joins the chorus: 1017, Todd's erstwhile nemesis, now a prominent leader of the Spackle (native people). The series stands as a timely examination of human nature, human society, and the terrible costs of violence.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2010
The popular Chaos Walking trilogy concludes with all the appropriate fireworks. The book opens in the midst of a three-sided war, but the forces of Mayor Prentiss and Mistress Coyle form an alliance in opposition to the native population, or Spackle. And as the story wends its way through the twists and turns of the plot, the consequences of war, terrorism, and colonialism become horrifyingly apparent. While Todd and Viola continue to narrate their parts of the story, a mesmerizing new voice joins the chorus: 1017, Todd's erstwhile nemesis, now a prominent Spackle leader. So compelling is his voice and his narrative arc that he upstages the teen protagonists. Todd's voice, too, remains compelling, but there is a repetitive, circular quality to the prose that also spills into the plot and characterization, diluting the power of the story, particularly this third volume. Nevertheless, the trilogy stands as a significant achievement in science fiction, not only because of its storytelling but also because of its timely examination of human nature, human society, and the terrible costs of violence. jonathan hunt

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)