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    Monsters of Men
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    Monsters of Men
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    Monsters of Men
    Audiobook14 hours

    Monsters of Men

    Written by Patrick Ness

    Narrated by Nick Podehl, Angela Dawe and MacLeod Andrews

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    In the riveting conclusion to the acclaimed dystopian series, a boy and girl caught in the chaos of war face devastating choices that will decide the fate of a world.

    As a world-ending war surges around them, Todd and Viola face monstrous decisions. The indigenous Spackle, thinking and acting as one, have mobilized to avenge their murdered people. Ruthless human leaders prepare to defend their factions at all costs, even as a convoy of new settlers approaches. And as the ceaseless Noise lays all thoughts bare, the projected will of the few threatens to overwhelm the desperate desire of the many. The consequences of each action, each word, are unspeakably vast: To follow a tyrant or a terrorist? To save the life of the one you love most, or thousands of strangers? To believe in redemption, or assume it is lost? Becoming adults amid the turmoil, Todd and Viola question all they have known, racing through horror and outrage toward a shocking finale.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateSep 28, 2010
    ISBN9781441889560
    Unavailable
    Monsters of Men
    Author

    Patrick Ness

    Patrick Ness is the author of seven novels and a short-story collection. His five novels for teenagers have won the Carnegie Medal twice, the Costa Children's Fiction Prize, and has been shortlisted for the LA Times Book Prize and the Arthur C Clarke Award. Patrick's works have been translated into 25 languages and have sold over a million copies worldwide. Born in America, he lives in London.

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    Reviews for Monsters of Men

    4/5

    861 ratings98 reviews

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    • 3/5
      nice conclusion to this sci-fi trilogy.
    • 2/5
      Perhaps I’ve just maxed out on dystopian YA literature. Perhaps this is one of those YA novels that is much more popular among its target audience (i.e., adolescents) than it is among jaded adults like me. Whatever the case, persevering through this bloated 600+ page conclusion to the Chaos Walking trilogy was a slog.My antipathy for the series (and for this novel in particular) may have something to do with the narrative whiplash I experienced. While I generally have no issues dealing with multiple narrative perspectives in a novel, Ness overused the technique. Just three narrators (Todd, Viola, and an alien Spackle first called 1017 and then the Sky—don’t ask) tell this overwrought tale of non-stop battle for the New World on an unnamed planet, yet the narration switches perspectives every 3 or 4 pages—and perhaps the author or the editors supposed it would be helpful to use a unique font for each narrative voice, but that choice—along with the use of a giant font for explosions (BOOM!) and other loud exclamations—simply creates fatigue. I had to exert so much energy trying to keep track of the ever-shifting narration that I soon grew weary of the endless fighting, explosions, betrayals, and fabricated cliffhangers at the end of seemingly every episode.Beneath this narrative clutter lies an earnest metaphor about love, war, communication, empathy, colonialism, cooperation, power, fatherhood, and a host of other “important” themes, but for me it just never came together.
    • 4/5
      This was a very good ending to a solid series. The story moved along at a quick pace with very little filler. I enjoyed the character arcs, although I do wish Wilf was more involved than he was. It seemed like there was far more to him than what was shown.

      My biggest complaint is the use of Todd and Viola, specifically their names, not the characters themselves. They yell each other's names so often that it made me want to pull my hair out.

      All in all, this was probably my favorite book of the series, which is impressive since a good ending is often hard to do.
    • 3/5
      I liked that the third voice of the spackle was added to the mix, but man, was I tired of Mayor Genocide. The rapid scene changes were exhausting. It was a fascinating world and the evolution of the telepathy was interesting, but I'm glad it's over...
    • 4/5
      Terrifically exciting. Deliciously satisfying. A great end to a great trilogy.
    • 5/5
      I LOVED this book!! It was such a perfect end to the "Chaos Walking" trilogy. From the start I was hooked and had it read over a weekend. The action and suspense never let up and you find yourself asking, What would I do in this situation? as the characters struggle with the choices that have to be make and with the monsters living within them, trying to escape. Filled with love and hate, good and evil, atrocities and acts of kindness, heartbreak and suffering, this is one book that is almost impossible to put down once you start. Congratulations Patrick Ness on an incredible series!
    • 4/5
      I still loved the first book the most. There were times I felt the characters were a little to unaware of what was really going on. I don't like when characters miss the obvious for plot reasons. I still loved this series. I would recommend it highly.
    • 5/5
      This audiobook? Is the best. thing. ever. OMG, I think the audio left me more completely GUTTED than reading it did. LOVE THIS SERIES.
    • 4/5
      Could've been roughly 200 pages shorter but still a satisfying ending to one of the darkest, bleakest stories I have read since any of the Song of Ice and Fire books. Also, David Prentiss is my vote for the scariest, creepiest, and most horrible literary villains of all time.
    • 4/5
      This one slowed down a little at the beginning, but the rest was worth it.
    • 4/5
      BEAUTIFUL.
    • 4/5
      A solid conclusion to this initial trilogy.
    • 5/5
      One of the best series I've ever read.

      At a complete loss for words. I won't write a review for this book because I can't. Nothing I write will do this book any justice.

      SO
      MANY
      EMOTIONS
    • 4/5
      It took me a while to finish this book. It is 600 pages. I'm not sure why I was dragging to finish this book, it's actually really good. Patrick Ness is a wonderful storyteller. A powerful storyteller. This series is surprisingly fantastic. I think the third book is probably the best. A lot happens in this book. a lot of unexpected twists and turns. If you're looking for something to read I'd highly recommend this book. I really am not sure what to compare this to.....
    • 5/5
      There's going to be a fourth book, right? Right? LOVED this series!
    • 5/5
      The conclusion to the trilogy is as dark as the 2nd book. Violence and manipulation by those who seek power. An insight into the culture of the planet's natives. A conclusion is reached but will peace hold - the reader doesn't know. I hope for the optimistic view that the 2 species will slowly become one species merged with the planet. I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy and I was very glad I had all 3 ready to read in one go.
    • 5/5
      Seriously, I am so glad I stuck with this trilogy! The first had me banging my head against my desk because it was such a dark, freaky, frustrating read. The second began it's redemption. And the third?!WOW. It all comes together! Todd, Viola, The Mayor/President, Simone, Bradley, Lee, Wilf (LOVE Wilf!), Angharrad (what a horse!), The Spackle/Land/Sky/The Return, Humans/The Clearing....what character development!Half-way through, I felt like I was totally twisted in my thinking of who is good and who is bad. There are wars, peace talks, radicals, insane personalities, an understanding of who the Spackle/Land are and what the Clearing/Humans have done since they have arrived on this planet.In many ways, I felt like it was a futuristic tale based on the the America's being invaded by the English (and more) and how the Native Americans were treated - especially when we learn more about and listen to the Land and the Sky and the Return.Is the Mayor really changing because of Todd? Is Todd becoming more like the Mayor? The tension! The darkness! Loved it over and over again. And if I ever get the horse I was promised by my parents in 8th grade, I will name it Angharrad in honor of this trilogy!
    • 3/5
      Unlike many reviewers I did not love book 3 that much as I did the other 2 books. I guess I got a bit sick of all the fighting and deaths. Constantly the war. maybe I should not have read all 3 books in 1 go.

      It was still a good read, do not get me wrong. I really loved this series and highly recommend it.
    • 4/5
      Wow. I, um, wow. Words? Yes, words to talk about this book? No. Just wow. Okay, I'll try, but I'm reeling and not entirely in this world yet.

      Grim, violent, ugly, gripping, suspenseful- but I expected that. The wild ride with an unexpected twist every time I thought I had the next bit figured out? Maybe I expected that too. But the rollercoaster sure was thrilling, and the message in the chain pulling the little cars to the top of the hill was about monsters, about war, about choices and about love.

      I really haven't anything coherent to say that wouldn't be a spoiler- especially because things change so fast and so completely that there's nothing to say except wow. Oh, and I love Wilf as much as the oxen do.

      Excellent conclusion to the series. Read all three right in a row. Call in sick if you have to. Four and a half stars.

    • 5/5
      Damn you Patrick Ness for making my cry in my car, alone. *shakes one fist at the sky while sobbing into the other*
      As you can imagine the close to the Chaos Walking series was all that I expected it to be. Violent, maddening, emotional and heartbreaking. The story of war and divides has such resonants that I could see a teacher using this book as a companion to so many units on history of war and conflict.
      But still Ness, screw. You. Nobody makes me cry my own tears.
    • 4/5
      Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh. I read a few reviews of this series and I must not be as intellectual as most of you because I didn't read this to learn any lessons or let any of what was happening really sink in except to say - ooooooh - that is scary, what could possibly happen next. What really drew me in were the emotions of Todd and Viola and that is what carried me through and swept me up in everything. And I loved it. Loved it. My only complaint is the ending, which I guess ended pretty well except I feel like it's so open there could be another book coming. Is there? Was the end just a tease, Patrick Ness? I hope so.
    • 4/5
      Great series, fantastic audio. I was very, very impressed with the ballsy way the book ended, until about 10 minutes later (in audio time, probably only a few pages) that remarkable thing was completely undone. It didn't need to happen that way. Sigh.

      Anyway. I can see this being another Hunger Games-type book, in its general themes of the effects of war on children. But also the effects of colonizing in a new place, of moving, of growing up... there's a lot of discussion fodder here, and a lot to think about.

      But mainly, the audio performance is awesome.
    • 5/5
      After falling completely in love with the first two books in the Chaos Walking Trilogy, it made perfect sense for me to seek out the final installment asap. And I must admit, my immediate thoughts were mixed. This book doesn't share the fast pace of 'The Knife Of Never Letting Go' and doesn't put as much emphasis on the shock factor like 'The Ask And The Answer'. But it delivered beautifully in a way I could never have imagined.

      Firstly, I've never been a huge fan of swapping the narrative repeatedly from person to person, but not only does Patrick Ness make it enjoyable, he also makes it necessary. The introduction of the third perspective and it being good old 1017, hell bent on vengeance, is just incredible. I like the careful way Ness makes the lines between heroes and villains very blurred. Is Madame Coyle a freedom-fighter or a terrorist? Are a few innocent lives worth casting aside if what you're trying to achieve benefits the larger numbers? This book is a political statement as well as a great adventure story. A question against the nature of humanity as well as a vivid, entertaining read.

      Ness constantly delivers surprise after surprise. I don't want to say too much about that and ruin the novel but the ending was the most shocking one I have read in such a long time... I cried. Literally cried and I just couldn't believe that it happened. You would never expect it in a million years.

      This is an astonishing, thought-provoking, important novel. It simply does not deserve to be categorised as a children's book. It will stay with me for a very long time.
    • 3/5
      I thought the first two books were brilliant, especially the second, but this one dragged, and I really didn't like the short chapters of alternating POVs. I also had a big problem with their ages -- the stuff that happened in the last two books the fact they were 13 bothered me, and I wish they'd been older. It kept throwing me out the story, especially with how ~in love~ they were supposed to be.

      Mostly I felt like this book could've been cut in half and the same story would've been told.
    • 5/5
      OK, I finished the last few pages of the Ask and the Answer this morning, and then as soon as I finished work (and all through lunch) I just read this furiously. I could not put it down. It gets the extra half star over the other two for actually being a book with an ending ;-)Aside from that, I'm not sure if it actually is better. The Knife of Never Letting Go has better world building. The Ask and the Answer has more moral ambiguity. The first half of this book is very much a war story, with battles and bombs and people running around attacking each other in a three way fight. I'm never very interested in war stories. But the second half of the book, the story of how we build peace after war... that was riviting.I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed cathartically at the end of it all. Actually, I felt slightly cheated, like Ness was trying to have his cake and eat it. He wants the heartbreaking dramatic ending (His Dark Materials muchly?) and then at the last moment hope shines through, and life comes back. I mean, obviously I prefer an ending where Todd heals and he lives happilly ever after with his Viola, but at the point where Viola said Todd was dead I felt such a painful truth of the story - that Todd had become enough like the Mayor that he too had to die for peace, that he had been killed by the combination of his own mistakes and his own mercy - that the whole 'oh look! He wasn't really dead after all, sorry folks!' happy ending rang a bit shallow.So what do we learn from the ending? Oh, the Mayor! Complex and ambiguous until the end, so talented, so intelligent, so evil, and yet with such shafts of hope of all the good he could do. I kept hoping and hoping that in this novel of redemption he would be redemed even after so much. The joy he feels when Todd saves his life, and the heartbreak he goes through when Todd runs back to Ben and he realises his relationship with Todd is not Todd's relationship with him. And the braveness with which he finally sets Todd free from having to kill him (or is his suicide bravery or cowardice?) Always fighting, always seeing hope and a way to get what he wants out of the bleakest situations, even if what he wants is dark and twisted and bad...And oh, how fragile peace is, how one person's stupid actions can ruin it for them all. How to make a better world you have to be brave, and not lash back even when you have been hurt so much that to lash back is fair and deserved.And if the Mayor had to die for the peace, did that make what Mistress Coyle tried to do right after all? Viola and Todd's relationship in this book, passing through a sour patch where they both block each other out, keep secrets from the other, feel distant from the other... and how their love gets through that, and they hold on to trust and hope, and eventually come back together again.That final choice shown us, of opening up like Ben to information, to pain, to feeling, to noise, of rolling with it and becoming truly one with those you love and with the planet, or of closing off like the Mayor, to discipline, to control, to emptyness and loneliness and shutting people out even as you think you have power over them...
    • 4/5
      Monsters of Men is the last part of the Chaos Walking trilogy, and cannot be seen as separate from the first two books. The book simple continues where The Ask and the Answer left of, in the midst of a war. Except now, a third party is added, as well as a third voice, that of a Spackle. I liked this addition very much, and the three narrators kept me reading, because I wanted to know what happened to each of them next. I like how all of the books show a lot of grey areas between good and evil. I also actually enjoyed the ambiguity of the ending, because nothing in life is simple and easy. For me, the whole series was a very enjoyable reading experience, which I would recommend to any fantasy/science fiction fan.
    • 4/5
      Ness, P. (2010). Chaos Walking: Monsters of Men. London: Walker Books.9781406310276603 pages.Appetizer: This is the final book in Ness's Chaos Walking trilogy. Let me tell you, I had a PAIN of a time remembering exactly what had happened when the last book ended. In fact, I had a bit of a conversation with myself trying to figure it out:The dog died? No that was midway through book one. ...And that SUCKED.They arrived at the town?End of book one and start of book two. Have you completely forgotten about The Ask and the Answer?That one undying dude falling over a waterfall?Book two...some time? Book one? No, two, I thinkOh, right, right, right. The main dude was working for the bad guys and what's-her-name was working for the healers.Yes, but that's not the ending.Kay, whatever. This book is over 600 pages. Peeps are fighting. Remember the sides as you go. Just start reading!Monsters of Men picks up right when the last book left off. Thus causing my above conversation with...me. Of course, had I read beyond the first two paragraphs I would have realized the following paragraphs would summarize the impending dramas.And by "impending dramas," I mean war. The first 70 pages or so go back and forth quickly between the points of view of Todd (who is preparing to fight an army of Spackle) and Viola (who is going to tell the arriving humans the truth of the planet's situation). It's an intense, don't you dare put this book down, section of text.There's also a third perspective given voice in this book, that of 1017, the only surviving Spackle from the execution of all the Spackle slaves. While a little confusing at moments, the character has a strong voice.As I was reading the book, my mind kept going to World War II. There are a lot of parallels in terms of a genocide, forming alliances, deciding whether not to drop bombs, etc. Of course, the fact that the Spackle employ guerrilla tactics draws parallels to the Vietnam War. Lots of wars.There were also a lot of character foils. You can compare Todd to the Mayor. Todd to Lee. The Mayor to Ben. Todd to 1017. Viola to 1017. Viola to Mistress Coyle. And on and on.The pacing of the book is very impressive. Throughout the entire series, Ness has known how to keep the pressure on (although a portion of the second book did drag for me a little). In this book there are waves of intenseness that make you go "Oh, shiz! Can't stop reading." But even during the calmer moments, the story is building tension for that next wave of chaos. As a writer, it'd be worth studying how Ness accomplishes this so well.The end of the book, of the series, is a satisfying one. As a whole, I don't like to think of this trilogy as a series. I think the story is really just one ginormous, gigundo, HUGE book. An INTENSE ginormous, gigundo, huge book.Dinner Conversation:"War," says Mayor Prentiss, his eyes glinting. "At last.""Shut up," I say. "There ain't no at last about it. The only one who wants this is you.""Nevertheless," he says, turning to me with a smile. "Here it comes."And of course I'm already wondering if untying him so he could fight this battle was the worst mistake of my life--" (p.1)."I only ever been down here once, when I ran thru it the other way with Viola in my arms, carrying her down the zigzag road when she was dying, carrying her into what I thought was safety, but all I found was the man riding by my side, the man who killed a thousand Spackle to start this war, the man who tortured Viola for informayshun he already knew, the man who murdered his own son--"And what other kind of man would you want leading you into battle?" he says, reading my Noise. "What other kind of man is suitable for war?"A monster, I think, remembering what Ben told me once. War makes monsters of men" (pp. 10-11)."He is worse than the others, I show. He is worst of all of them.Because-Because he knew he was doing wrong. He felt the pain of his actions-But he did not amend them, shows the Sky.The rest are worth as much as their pack animals, I show, but worst is the one who knows better and does nothing" (p. 84)."And if you didn't make personal decisions, you wouldn't be a person. All war is personal somehow, isn't it. For somebody? Except it's usually hate" (p. 288).Tasty Rating: !!!!
    • 3/5
      In The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness created an intriguing sci-fi/fantasy world, full of interesting ideas and promising characters. The Ask and the Answer was a truly great follow-up: the violence was even more brutal, but less gratuitously over-the-top; it was more about thoughtful thematic and character development, as the characters learned what it means to be adults.Unfortunately, it all kind of falls apart in this final installment. There are some ideas that could have gone somewhere---the Spackle character 1017 had a lot of potential, particularly the issue of whether his species' "groupthink" way of life is good or bad (or good for them but not for us, or what), and Ness examines the question of the role of personal values in physical conflict (whether it's right or wrong to "make war personal", as he puts it)---but in the end he not only doesn't answer these questions, but the final resolutions of the plot conflicts simply have nothing to do with them...plot and theme are not integrated in the end, and the whole exercise thus becomes somewhat pointless. Indeed, Ness ends up equivocating on or vaguely passing over most of the deeper issues he had raised throughout the series. In short, he made a lot of promises and failed to deliver.Still, though this last book in the series is a disappointment after the excellent middle installment, it's still better than a lot of young adult fiction out there, and the series as a whole is definitely worth a read.
    • 3/5
      If you read my reviews of The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer, you'll find that I was a smitten kitten with the Chaos Walking series. In the carbon copy world of young adult literature, these are inventive books with powerful themes resonating throughout. I have been anticipating the moment when I would be able to finish the last book in the trilogy, expecting to savor the return to Todd and Viola's world. So what effin' happened that led to a tepid 3 star rating? I'm still trying to figure it out.Maybe it was series fatigue or maybe I waited too long between reading book 2 and 3 (I hate getting locked into series books, so that is a possibility). For whatever reason, Monsters of Men never grabbed me in the way the first two books did. It felt repetitive. War with the Spackle, conflict between Mayor Prentiss and Mistress Coyle, Todd and Viola don't know what to do, and on and on it goes. Each time I picked up the book, I felt like it was Groundhog Day--I could have sworn I read the same damn thing yesterday. The war was somewhat anticlimactic and I never felt any real tension. I'm rather out of sorts about this because I feel as though I somehow let down the book instead of the book letting me down. Did I miss something? Is there something I'm just not getting? These are the thoughts that plague me because I wanted, nay, needed to love this book. And I just didn't. Todd and Viola's angst over being separated was irritating to me because I could not for the life understand why they insisted on being apart ("Just walk your ass up the damn hill, Todd," I kept encouraging him throughout, but he never listened), Mayor Prentiss didn't seem like that big of a bad ass threat, and the one twist I felt like the novel was relying on was fairly predictable.Despite this, I liked the addition of the narration from 1017's point of view. Told in the language of the indigenous people of New World, I thought Ness does a good job of making the voice seem alien and foreign. These chapters are somewhat difficult to read in terms of adjusting to the syntax and invented phrases, but I thought it added to my ability to believe in the Spackle as a separate sentient species from humans. Also, the questions of morality in war, what makes a terrorist, how do we know when we can trust our leaders, is violence ever justified are complex and worthy of our attention. Ness skillfully asks these questions without glorifying war nor necessarily vilifying it, which makes this an above average young adult read.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful series in all. I couldn't put it down. Emotionally draining but makes you think and question your own decisions and how we deal with other people. The series and this book are quiete dark so beware for younger readers but well worth the read