Title: The New World / The Wide, Wide Sea / Snowscape (Chaos Walking series)
Author: Patrick Ness
Edition: Kindle
Rating: 4/5 – 5/5
Three short stories, designed to be read alongside the Chaos Walking books. They all contain spoilers, so it is really hard to review them properly, but each one adds an extra dimension to the Chaos Walking trilogy.
The New World gives us Viola’s take on the opening chapters of The Knife of Never Letting Go. It should be read after the novel to avoid spoilers, but if you’ve finished the novel, you’ll know what happens. Experiencing the events through Viola’s eyes is vivid and heartbreaking, but it gives the reader a valuable and emotional insight into her backstory. 5/5.
The Wide, Wide Sea is a story of forbidden love, set alongside the events of The Ask and the Answer. It’s another heartbreaking story, this time touching on injustice, prejudice, and the cost of fighting for what you believe in. 4/5.
Snowscape is set after the end of Monsters of Men, and the spoilers are everywhere! Definitely save this story until you’ve finished the trilogy. It clears up some unfinished business from the end of the final book, but also explores a sinister side of the New World that isn’t addressed in the novels. 5/5.
All three stories offer neat, well-crafted insights into the world and the characters of the Chaos Walking books, and all three are worth reading – just don’t jump in until you’ve read the associated novels, as the spoilers are brutal.
Have you read the Chaos Walking short stories? What did you think of the glimpses into the New World? Click through to the full blog to access the comments section, and share your thoughts! No spoilers, though – you can post those on GoodReads!
Review cross-posted to GoodReads.
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