Todd and his dog Manchee lives in Prentisstown in New World. New World looks in many ways like Old World (which, I guess, is our world), there are trees, forests, mountains, valleys and animals (although some of them are rather different from the animals you know). But in Prentisstown in New World men can hear each other's thoughts - called Noise - and animals also talk! Sounds stupid? It isn't. There are no women in Prentisstown, and something is brewing underneath all the Noise.
Todd is only a month away from being 13, and when he is 13, he is a man. He lives with Ben and Cillian on a farm, and he is grudgingly going about his usual business when he stumbles upon a spot in the nearby swamp, where Noise can't be heard. Where there is Quiet. Realizing this, Todd also realizes that something has been kept from him - somthing he will not learn about until he is a man - in only a month. He agonizes over the constant Noise ("Men are just chaos walking" Todd notes at one point), he agonizes over his dog, who just chatter about pooping, and he doesn't really want to do farmwork.
Soon enough he has reason to wish that he was just doing farmwork and minding his own business. Because after finding the spot of Quiet in the swamp, he is being sent onto a quest that he constantly doubts he will be able to fulfill. But with the aid of his trusted dog Manchee he is sent on his way, and the surprises keep flying off the pages of this book, making it one of the most interesting and suspenseful reads I've had during my recent YA-dystopian reading bing. Its been a very long while since I was a YA myself, but I was so scared and horrfied at times that I had to put the book down! An awesome read! Its definitely dystopian, although it is neither End-of-the-world nor Post Apocalyptic. I highly recommend it.
The Knife of Never Letting Go is the first in the Chaos Walking Trilogy. The next one, The Ask and the Answer is already out, and yes, I have ordered it. Can't wait to read it.
Jackie of Farm Lane Books Blog reviews The Knife of Never Letting Go here.
5 comments:
A very different reaction to mine! This book does seem to divide people. I'm pleased that you enjoyed it and hope the next in the series is just as good.
I'll have to check yours out then, Jackie :-)
I love fantasy and dystopian and this sounds really interesting to me. I've just started seeing reviews of the novel and it really does sound like something I would love. Thanks for giving me the push to track it down.
This book SLEW me in the HEART, and when that tragic thing (you know the thing) happened, I shed real tears.
I shed tears as well! I really did! Can you believe it ;o) I actually wrote in a comment on jackie's blog Farm lane Book Blog) that I cried because of that tragic thing
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