Review - Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness (Walker)

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

Published by Walker

Hardback – 624 pages
Published May 2010

Copy loaned from library

“War,” says the Mayor. “At last.” Three armies march on New Prentisstown, each one intent on destroying the others. Todd and Viola are caught in the middle, with no chance of escape. As the battles commence, how can they hope to stop the fighting? How can there ever be peace when they’re so hopelessly outnumbered? And if war makes monsters of men, what terrible choices await? But then a third voice breaks into the battle, one bent on revenge...

Although Monsters of Men is the last instalment in the Chaos Walking trilogy, it is very easy to pick up on the history of the characters and the world without the need to have read the first two books (The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask & The Answer). Through the interactions and relationships between the characters, you are given enough of the back story to be fully clued up on what has happened, but enough it left out to make you want to make sure you read the first two novels. Ness does this without the use of infodumps, and it was satisfying to have to trudge through pages of 'catchup' back story.

By far, the biggest strength of Monsters of Men is the characters. There is an abundance of emotional investment in the characters of Todd and Viola, and the reader can't help but feel for them as their relationship is strained to breaking point as they find themselves on different sides of a war they both don't want. Ness does this in part by using 'Noise', where people's raw emotions are broadcast telepathically. This is used to convey the hatred, fear and lust of the people caught in this war. At first, the constant change in font choice to show this Noise was grating, but it soon became a necessary part of the reading. The telepathic link between the protagonists is such an important part of the their relationship that, when it is severed, creates a silence that is more disturbing that anything that could have been broadcast by the characters themselves.

The setting is a great blend of fantasy and science fiction, with a colonized new world of expansionist humans and a tribe of defensive natives attempting to find some semblance of co-existence and failing at every turn. The Spackle, the oppressed natives of the story, have been liberated from slavery but are then subsequently thrown into this war between rival human factions. Most of the story takes place over a relatively small area of the world, which makes the action quite claustrophobic and you get a deeper understanding of the plight of either side in the conflict.

For a YA novel, Monsters of Men deals with some pretty dark themes. The Mayor of New Prentisstown is a man slowly going insane (or already too far gone) and as his grip on his power begins to slip he becomes increasingly erratic and desperate. The action and pacing of the novel gives everything a very gritty, more realistic feel, and even the lulls are filled with unease and impending catastrophe. Seeing as both protagonists are barely teenagers, the situations they find themselves in mean they have to make some pretty harrowing decisions.

Monsters of Men was a surprisingly dark and complex novel with a rich world and a great focus on the characters and the emotional repercussions of their actions. With the use of some clever devices, Ness has bared the characters souls to the reader, meaning that you aren't just immersed in the story, but you're riding every wave of feeling that comes from each character. A mesmerising read, and a well deserved runner up of the Indie Lit Awards.