When Patrick Ness wrote the amazing Chaos Walking series, he took young adult fiction to a new level and inspired a legion of readers and writers of all ages. The series won many awards including the Guardian Children’s fiction award, the Costa award and the most prestigious children’s book award: the Carnegie medal. His haunting follow up novel A Monster Calls won the Carnegie medal and also the Kate Greenaway medal for its illustrations.
The story begins with a boy Seth, nearly seventeen, walking into the ocean. The water is freezing, the waves enormous and he is soon overcome by their ferocity. His body is smashed into rocks and he drowns. He dies. Then he awakens and finds himself in a place entirely different to the one he just left, and yet, in the back of his mind, strangely familiar. And he is alone, completely alone…
Reading More Than This is like going on a journey into another world, where you open your mind to a myriad of possibilities of what reality is, or could be. What actually does happen when we die? Is there an afterlife? Is there a Hell? Are we held accountable for our actions in this life? All these and more philosophical questions are explored within this beautifully written novel. On another level, it is an exciting and captivating page-turner that would appeal to readers of science fiction, fantasy or just great adventure. There is no doubt that this book will make you think and keep you guessing until the end.
Ness’s novels strike such a chord with young adult and adult readers alike, not only because his writing is, to quote author John Green, “insanely beautiful”, but also because he is a masterful storyteller. He creates real and complex characters that become like friends to the reader. We really do care what happens to them. Seth, our hero in More Than This is a fine example of this. We are right there beside him on his incredible journey that is fraught with pain, confusion and heartache and we’re right there with him when he discovers that, no matter how intensely difficult life can become, there really is more…and more and more.
Patrick Ness really has a lot to say about life, the universe and everything. Thank you Patrick Ness, we could not have asked for more than this.
Purchase a copy of Patrick Ness’ new novel More Than This to go in the draw to win a set of the Chaos Walking series signed especially for Books in Print. A signed copy of A Monster Calls is also up for grabs as a runner-up prize.
With each purchase of More Than This comes a letter from Patrick Ness exclusive to his Australian and New Zealand fans - but only limited number are available!
