The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
4/5 Stars
In the second book in the Chaos Walking trilogy Todd must learn how to survive under the Mayor’s new order and Viola is imprisoned. Soon the resistance starts fighting back and everyone is forced to decide what they are willing to do to survive.
This book does so well what science fiction is meant to do. It takes these political and human situations our of the context of the familiar and forces us to look at them from a different light. What is the difference between and terrorist and a rebel? How could all those people follow such a horrible leader? I have to say Mayor Prentiss is a fabulously horrible villain. You truly come to hate him as you watch how he perfectly manipulates those around him to become who he wants them to be. The action is intense and there is real fear and tension for our main protagonists. Ness does a perfect job of writing and orchestrating the violence in these books so it really hits home, and feels quite personal. All our characters feel fully realized and everyone we focus on has a purpose for being there. And Todd…my precious little muffin….his character arc to far has been awesome..and heart breaking. He has grown and learned so much since the beginning of the series, I feel extremely attached to him and his outcome. Why not five stars? I felt some of the “twists” were a bit predictable, and I am hoping this story will have an epic five star finish.
This is a good series to try out if you are new to Science Fiction and the sci-fi elements are very minimal and these events could almost be happening on earth. Give it a try, you might be surprised!
