History Literature / ChaosWalking

All three books were shortlisted for the UsefulNotes/CarnegieMedal, with ''[[ThirdTimesTheCharm Monsters of Men]]'' winning it in 2011. It was also the second YoungAdult novel ever to be shortlisted for the [[UsefulNotes/ArthurCClarkeAward Arthur C. Clarke]] science fiction award. In late 2011, Creator/LionsGate bought the rights to bring the trilogy to [[TheFilmOfTheBook the big screen]]; the [[Film/ChaosWalking2021 film adaptation]] was released in 2021.

** For the record, those who do not make it to the end of the series are [[spoiler: Cillian, Manchee, Aaron, Maddie, Mr. Hammar, Ivan Farrow, Simone, Davy, Mayor Prentiss and Mistress Coyle to name a few]].

* TheHerosBirthday: Though it doesn't start on his ''actual'' birthday, the catalyst for the series is Todd's approaching 13th birthday, at which time he'll be considered a man. Though as Viola points out, it's sort of an arbitrary thing...since New World years are slightly longer than Old World years, he's already 13. In fact, he's 14.

* [[HasTwoMommies Has Two Daddies:]] Todd has two fathers in [[SoProudOfYou Ben]] and [[PapaWolf Cillian]]. [[WordOfGod Patrick Ness]] has stated in [[http://www.polarimagazine.com/interviews/crane-wife-patrick-ness/ interviews]] that Ben and Cillian were gay.

%% * CarryABigStick: Oh, Aaron [[SimpleStaff does]]. Todd finds this out several times.

''Chaos Walking'' is the collective term for Creator/PatrickNess's books ''The Knife of Never Letting Go'' (2008), ''The Ask and the Answer'' (2009), and ''Monsters of Men'' (2010). It is a series set on a {{dystopia}}n [[CrapsackWorld Earth-like planet called New World]], which human settlers from "Old World" colonised in the hope of starting a new life.

Todd is the last boy in in Prentisstown, last settlement on the New World, sole surviving town of the war, largely because of its militaristic mayor. Though the war is over, humanity is far from saved -- indeed, with no women to repopulate, humanity is going to die a slow death here, in this small place with a population of "146 men and one almost-man", Todd Hewitt is the only one who has yet to become a man. Men don't associate with boys, and so Todd is alone for the final month leading up to the important occasion, with only Manchee, the dog he never wanted, for company.

One day, while avoiding the Noise in the outskirts of town, he makes a discovery. An important discovery, something world changing, something that simply cannot be: silence--a hole in the Noise. In minutes, everything changes. The world he trusted is turned upside down, and he is forced out of his home to flee from Prentisstown with an army at his heels.

* LeftHanging: [[spoiler: How ''Monsters of Men'' ends. We have no idea if Todd ever comes out of his coma.]] ''Snowscape'' answers this questions. [[spoiler: He does.]]

* NeverLearnedToRead: A touchy subject for Todd. He never learned to read beyond a few words, and he can't even read his own mothers journal. Leads to a heartwarming moment in ''The Knife of Letting Go'' wherein Viola reads out her journal for him.

* OurAliensAreDifferent: The Spackle aren't out to kill anyone [[spoiler: until the events of ''The Ask and the Answer'' take place]]. The Noise germ was just out in the air.

* PoisonAndCureGambit: It's reveal that the Mayor poisoned the bands used to [[spoiler: identify the Spackle and the women]] of New Prentisstown. Unfortunately, these bands start an infection that cannot be stopped and the bands are designed to grow into the skin, meaning they cannot be removed without the patient bleeding to death. Miraculously, he "finds a cure" just after he wins popularity as president. He doesn't charge for it, but it's implied that he's using it as a publicity stunt.

%% * SinisterMinister: Aaron. UpToEleven.

%% * KnifeNut: Todd, but only for the first book; [[spoiler: the knife goes over the waterfall, stuck in Aaron's neck]].

** Also Angharrad, Todd's horse in Monsters of Men, who [[spoiler: he will not leave to die because he cannot face losing her as he lost Manchee]]. Angharrad saves Viola when [[spoiler: a half-crazed 1017, bent on revenge, attacks her with a knife]].

* NotSoDifferent: The Mayor explains at the end of Monsters of Men that Todd has the potential to be as powerful and as cruel as he is, but he knows that Todd will make a different choice.

* FamousLastWords:
** ''The Knife of Never Letting Go'':
*** "Todd?!" [[spoiler:Manchee]]
*** "No, Not you," in [[spoiler:Aaron]]'s Noise
** [spoken] "Pa," [in his Noise] "Please." [[spoiler:Davy Prentiss]] in ''The Ask and the Answer''.
** "This world will be shaped by the two of you for years to come, Todd... And I, for one, am glad that I shall never have to see it." [[spoiler:Mayor Prentiss]] in ''Monsters of Men''.

All three books were shortlisted for the UsefulNotes/CarnegieMedal, with ''[[ThirdTimesTheCharm Monsters of Men]]'' winning it in 2011. It was also the second YoungAdult novel ever to be shortlisted for the [[UsefulNotes/ArthurCClarkeAward Arthur C. Clarke]] science fiction award. In late 2011, Creator/LionsGate bought the rights to bring the trilogy to [[TheFilmOfTheBook the big screen]]; the [[Film/ChaosWalking2021 film adaptation]] is was released in 2021.

Todd is the last boy in in Prentisstown, last settlement on the New World, sole surviving town of the war, largely because of its militaristic mayor. Though the war is over, humanity is far from saved-indeed, with no women to repopulate, humanity is going to die a slow death here, in this small place with a population of "146 men and one almost-man", Todd Hewitt is the only one who has yet to become a man. Men don't associate with boys, and so Todd is alone for the final month leading up to the important occasion, with only Manchee, the dog he never wanted, for company.

* FunetikAccent: The books are told in the first person point of view. Chapters with Todd's viewpoint reflect his drawl (and possibly his illiteracy).

* BookDumb: Todd is almost completely illiterate. This acts as a BerserkButton for him; every time anyone offers to read something for him, he gets unreasonably angry.
* BoomStick: [[spoiler: The Spackle wielded simple, primitive weaponry when humanity first fought them. These days, they've got rifles (described repeatedly as 'white sticks') that fire ''acid''.]]

* ActionGirl: Viola after [[TookALevelInBadass Taking a Level in Badass]].
* ActionSurvivor: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] regarding Lee.
* AffablyEvil: Mayor Prentiss is a genuinely nice guy to Todd, whom he considers a [[TermsOfEndangerment son]], but [[spoiler: he treats his real son like garbage, and kills him the instant he starts to wriggle out of his father's control]]. The Mayor also does a great job justifying most of the horrible things he does, one notable exception is [[spoiler: killing all the women in Prentisstown, which he never adequately explains]].
** [[spoiler: The Mayor seems to be a deconstruction of this, because of the way the final book actually ends, which has him killing himself for Todd and the good of the world, having realized what a terrible person he is.]]
* AfterActionPatchUp: Frequently.
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Viola and Todd are like this concerning each other. It leads to the question of whether saving the person you love is more important than the lives of thousands of other people.
* AncientConspiracy: [[spoiler: The Answer.]]
* AnimalAssassin: Manchee. He protects Todd every chance he gets, even [[spoiler: going after a guy with a machete in Farbranch]]. And Aaron at least three times, but this ends in [[spoiler: Aaron snapping his neck]].

* ApologisesALot: Manchee, [[spoiler: after Matthew Lyle hacks off half his tail in a fit of MacheteMayhem.]]
* ArchnemesisDad: [[OffingTheOffspring Mayor Prentiss]] to [[JerkassWoobie Davy]]. Really, they don't even like each other.

* ArmchairMilitary: Mayor Prentiss for the first book and most of the second. [[spoiler: He gets out of the armchair in the third book because things are ''that bad''.]]
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: [[spoiler: Todd and Viola finally kiss in ''Monsters of Men''.]] Viola risks her life for Todd's several times, the first being on the bridge. Throughout the rest of the books, they're always saving each other.
* TheBarnum: Mayor Prentiss.
* TheBaroness: Mistress Coyle.
* BadassPreacher: Aaron. He slaps people around for the hell of it. And has a staff.

* BattleCouple: Todd and Viola.

* BigBadassBattleSequence: Happens several times: [[spoiler: the battle in Farbranch]], the Spackle mutiny, and [[spoiler: the bloody war against the Spackle]] in ''Monsters of Men''. A common motif in this series.
* BigBulkyBomb: The Answer, especially when [[spoiler: they blow up the signal tower]] and [[spoiler: they launch a Thrace bomb into the monastery where Todd is working]].
** The [[spoiler: scout ship]] from ''Monsters of Men'' brings more of this. There are chapters revolving around {{Big Bulky Bomb}}s, usually accompanied by a large BOOM!
* [[spoiler: BittersweetEnding: The Mayor is dead, the convoy is landing, and peace has been reached with the Spackle. But most of Haven's been destroyed, thousands are dead, and Todd's in a coma.]]

* BreakTheCutie: Todd gets his first taste of killing when he [[spoiler: attacks a Spackle on the basis that its species "killed all the women"]] and consequently freaks out and pukes. Viola gets this twice: once when [[spoiler: her scout ship crashes, killing her parents]] and [[spoiler: when she stabs Aaron to death]] in the waterfall church and throws up.

* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler: Cillian]] is one of the first people to die in the series.
* CarryABigStick: Oh, Aaron [[SimpleStaff does]]. Todd finds this out several times.
* CantHoldHisLiquor: Inverted with Viola. [[spoiler: But it turns out that she didn't drink beer at all...]]

* CatchPhrase: Among others, "I am the Circle and the Circle is me," "TODD HEWITT," "God hears," and "I am not your enemy". However, most of those are Aaron's [[MadnessMantra teachings]].
* ChallengingTheChief: Todd does this before [[spoiler: tying the Mayor up and threatening him]]. Come to think of it, Viola does, too, after Mistress Coyle [[spoiler: abandons her in the house of healing]].

* ClusterFBomb: Todd employs this a lot, usually denoted by ''"and do you think I said eff?"'' Contrast with Viola's PrecisionFStrike in ''The Knife of Never Letting Go''.
* ComatoseCanary: [[spoiler: Todd. He hears Viola's voice and the end of ''Monsters of Men'' is him talking. In his mind.]]
* ComeOutComeOutWhereverYouAre: Aaron, looking for Todd and Viola. [[spoiler: They're hiding in a church behind a waterfall.]]
* CompellingVoice: The Mayor has one. [[spoiler: Doesn't exactly help that he can control people using his Noise, either.]]
* CorruptChurch: No one's listening to Aaron; they're all praying for help or deliverance. Nice going.
* CreepyCathedral: The Mayor lives in one in New Prentisstown.

* DeadpanSnarker: Todd and Viola. Also Corrine, to an extent, but she's more of an example of MyParentsAreDead.
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: [[spoiler:Cillian]], the tough-love [[PapaWolf dad]].
* DeclarationOfProtection: Todd to Viola. He spends a good deal of time threatening to kill anyone who dares look at her wrong. Also, works in reverse.

* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: Happens a lot in this series. Viola, at first, reacts to everything she sees in Todd's Noise. Subverted with Todd and the Mayor, whose noise is nearly always unhearable. Todd reacts to what he ''thinks'' is in the Mayor's head.
** It also happens with Bradley, who [[spoiler: arrives in the scout ship and develops the Noise for the first time]].
* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: The Mayor invites both Todd and Viola to dinner. He cancels just in time [[spoiler: to begin a war]].

* DisappearedDad: Ben, for most of the series. [[spoiler: He comes back in ''Monsters of Men'', though.]]
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Aaron.

* DividedWeFall: ''If one of us falls, we all fall.''

* DoomedHometown: Prentisstown and Farbranch.

* TheDulcineaEffect: Todd, saving Viola approximately 5 seconds after meeting her.

* EmotionlessGirl: Viola, in her non-talking phase. Shortly after she does begin speaking, she has a DidYouThinkICantFeel moment and spurns Todd for thinking that she can't hear his Noise.

* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: The Mayor's entire philosophy. He uses MoreThanMindControl to achieve his ends a lot of the time.

* FatalFlaw: Todd and Viola's love for each other. Todd is unable to kill, much less do anything that would cause him to "lose her".
** By the end of the second book, that same flaw turns into their greatest strength.

*** Except now it just means that they're both willing to do terrible things in the name of the other. Example: [[spoiler: Viola admits that she would have been willing to commit genocide against the Spackle if it meant saving Todd.]]
* FirstNameBasis: Todd and Davy. At first, Todd is taken aback when Davy calls him "Todd" instead of "pigpiss", but gets used to it.

* FisherKing: [[DrunkWithPower The Mayor]] lives in a freakin' [[spoiler: PALACE]].
** Eventually, everyone in New Prentisstown [[FisherKingdom just follows the rules]]. Except Todd and Viola.
* ForcedToWatch: In ''The Ask and the Answer'', Mayor-turned-[[spoiler:President]] Prentiss tortures [[spoiler:Viola]] while a horrified Todd watches on behind a soundproof one-way mirror. [[spoiler:Todd]] breaks first and gives Prentiss information about the upcoming invasion by the Answer.

* GetItOverWith: Todd tells Aaron to do this when he's lying in the mud [[spoiler: right before Aaron stabs him and takes Viola]].

* GreyAndGrayMorality: ''"There are no sides, my girl."'' No one is completely good or completely evil.

* TheHerosBirthday: Though it doesn't start on his ''actual'' birthday, the catalyst for the series is Todd's approaching 13th birthday, at which time he'll be considered a man.
** Though as Viola points out, it's sort of an arbitrary thing...since New World years are slightly longer than Old World years, he's already 13. In fact, he's 14.
* HiveMind: While capable of independent thought, action, and emotion, The Land consider themselves to be part of a greater whole with shared access to the knowledge, memories, and sight of each other. Because of this, any given individual is simply referred to as "The Land", with a few exceptions (e.g. The Sky, The Return).
* HiveQueen: The Sky is the leader of The Land, and as such is considered a separate individual. S/he's charged with making decisions for The Land, and can go so far as to force them into action against their better judgment. Naturally, this can cause problems.
* HolyHitman: Aaron.
* ICanStillFight: Viola has this attitude even though she is [[spoiler: suffering a fatal infection caused by an identification band on her arm.]]

* ILied: The Mayor does this quite often and seems kind of happy about it.

* IllNeverTellYouWhatImTellingYou: Happens when Todd [[spoiler: tells the Mayor when and where the attack will be]].

* InfoDump: Can't help it in Noise, can ya? This happens after Todd comes back from the swamp, thinking about the patch of silence there, [[spoiler: which starts this whole war process rolling]].
* ItsPersonal: Todd, when Aaron comes after him and [[spoiler: kidnaps Viola]]. Also a little bit of [[TheHunterBecomesTheHunted when Todd is chasing him down]].
* {{Jerkass}}: The Mayor, Mistress Coyle and Davy come to mind as well as Viola and Todd at times.

* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Aaron and Mayor Prentiss.

* KnifeNut: Todd, but only for the first book; [[spoiler: the knife goes over the waterfall, stuck in Aaron's neck]].
* LastVillainStand: [[spoiler: Mayor Prentiss' death. Mistress Coyle's as well.]]
* LeftHanging: [[spoiler: How ''Monsters of Men'' ends. We have no idea if Todd ever comes out of his coma.]]
** ''Snowscape'' answers this questions. [[spoiler: He does.]]
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Todd and Viola to each other, though it's played in a positive rather than a negative way.

* LoveTriangle: Todd, Viola, and Lee.
** This is more of an ImaginaryLoveTriangle. Lee never stood a chance in the first place.
%% * MacGuffinTitle: ''The Knife Of Never Letting Go''.
* MacheteMayhem: Let's have an honorable mention for Matthew Lyle!
* ManipulativeBastard: The Mayor is this trope.
** And the trope is him!
* MayorPain: A dual example: Mayor Prentiss is the Evil variant, [[spoiler: Mayor Ledger does double duty as both the Incompetent variant ''and'' the Evil variant before he gets blown up]].

* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: Davy Prentiss, Jr.
* MoreHypnotizableThanHeThinks: Todd, during his time with the Mayor.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: This is Todd's reaction after he [[spoiler: kills a Spackle]] in the first book. Viola has a similar reaction after she [[spoiler: kills Aaron]].

* NonHumanSidekick:
** Manchee
** Angharrad and Acorn in ''Monsters of Men'', too.
* NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow: Aaron. As stated above, [[spoiler: it takes a knife through the neck and a drop from a waterfall that's God knows how high up to kill him]].

* NoWomansLand: Prentisstown. [[spoiler: The Mayor set off a DepopulationBomb and committed {{Gendercide}}.]]

* OffingTheOffspring: The [[spoiler: Mayor]] does this to his son.
* [[spoiler: OmnicidalManiac: In the end, the Mayor wants the world to be ''silent''.]]

* PetTheDog / KickTheDog: ''So'' many time by both Mayor Prentiss and Mistress Coyle. With Todd and Viola being the dog, respectively. The last two books seems to be a massive competition between the two of them repeatedly blowing the dog up, picking up the pieces, petting them back into shape, and kicking them again. However, this does play off as major character development on the Mayor and Mistress's part.
* PistolWhipping: Davy seems to like doing this; he attacks Todd this way, as well as the Spackle in the monastery. Todd also uses his rifle to hit the Mayor in the ear after [[spoiler: the Spackle attack the water tank]].
* ThePlague: The Noise germ. Haven had developed a cure for it, [[spoiler: but the Mayor burned it all]].

* PoisonedWeapons: Todd's knife [[spoiler: after he kills the Spackle and gets stabbed with the same knife]].

* PreciousPuppies: Manchee. He licks Todd's face when he knows Todd is feeling down and goes to great lengths to protect him.
* PrecisionFStrike: From [[spoiler: Viola]] to Todd, towards the end of Book 1. Particularly unexpected because of how many times the phrase 'effing' has been used up until then.

* RageQuit: [[spoiler: First with Mistress Coyle's bomb for the Mayor after she knew she lost, and then the Mayor after he knew he lost Todd to Ben.]]

* RedOniBlueOni: Todd and Viola.

* RomanticFalseLead: Lee.

* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem!: President Prentiss. Sneaky, underhanded [[MagnificentBastard bastard]].

* SelectiveSlaughter: In the Mayor's case, [[spoiler: it was {{Gendercide}}]].
* SenseLossSadness: With a twist. When Todd learns to quiet his Noise, it's not him who is upset. It's ''Viola''. She's worried because she can't read him like she used to. This is made even more worrisome for her because the more time Todd spends around the Mayor, the more his personality changes. She worries at one point that "her Todd" is gone.
* ShipTease: Viola and Todd, constantly. It's actually rather odd to have such an intense romantic subplot in a young adult series, and especially one that is as teased to death as this one.
* SinisterMinister: Aaron. UpToEleven.
* SirSwearsALot: Todd. ''"The effs, Todd? And the geedees? God hears..."''
* TheSociopath:
** Davy begins as this.
** [[spoiler: Viola]] can come off as this at her worst moments [[spoiler: most notably choosing to bomb the Spackle and include a fourth party in the war]]. {{Justified|Trope}} considering her age and situation.

* SmugSnake: Ivan.

* StuffBlowingUp: What happens throughout the second and third books.

* TakeAMomentToCatchYourDeath: Frequently.

* ThatLiarLies: Todd, mostly referring to the Mayor. Which is true; the Mayor is the ManipulativeBastard of the series...

* TimeBomb: One of [[WellIntentionedExtremist The Answer]]'s only forms of offensive power.

* {{Tsundere}}: Todd, when he first met Viola in the first book and when he started working with Davy in the second book. [[spoiler: He's also rather deredere with Davy.]]
** Viola too. A type B, rather.
* TwangHello: There are several variants: Aaron with his staff, Viola with her [[spoiler: ship signal]], the Spackle, the Mayor's [[spoiler: Noise weapon]], the Answer's [[BigBulkyBomb Big Bulky Bombs]], and Manchee.
* TyrantTakesTheHelm: See TheMutiny, above. [[spoiler: The Mayor does this to New Elizabeth, which results in a DepopulationBomb and {{Gendercide}}.]]

* UnderNewManagement: See TheMutiny, above.

* WarIsHell: It seems to be swinging this way, but it's more of a cautionary tool against war.
* TheWarRoom: A rather crappy version exists [[spoiler: after the Mayor's palace gets blown up.]] There's a campfire in the middle, but the army's just ''laying around in there''. For God's sake, it's almost its own town!

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: This questions comes up constantly for Todd in terms of fighting the Spackle.

* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: Happens a lot in ''The Ask and the Answer''.
* WickedCultured: Mayor Prentiss. Mistress Coyle could also be an example.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Happens ''all the time'' with Todd and Viola.
* WomenAreWiser: {{Played with}} regarding Mistress Coyle and the Answer, seemingly played straight Viola [[spoiler: until ''Monsters of Men'']].
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds:

* {{Yandere}}: Todd seems to be really threatening whenever Mayor Prentiss or anyone tries to question Viola. His face went blank when [[spoiler: Viola "left" him]]. He also refers to Viola as "Good girl" or "That's my girl". [[spoiler: He'd also "do anything" for the Mayor to keep Viola safe.]] To be fair, Viola acts the exact same way in terms of him.
** The Mayor can be seen as this with Todd. Specifically, when Ben is involved.