Ness’s “The New World”

Guest Post by Natalie Hess.

“The New World” is a short story and prequel to the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness. It follows Viola as she first travels from her beloved home ship in space to the new planet where her people are trying to find a new place to call home as their old planet is being slowly destroyed.

It was definitely very strange to read about this being described as such a big opportunity for all of these people, but for Viola to be so against the idea of being the first one to go to this place because of the risks it involved. Her negative attitude throughout the whole story was very obnoxious but relatable at the same time, and the ending made me question my judgement of her throughout the story even more.

This was quite a fun read, and I enjoyed learning about some of Viola’s background. I gave this one 3.75 out of 5 stars.

“The New World” by Patrick Ness. Candlewick Press, September 2010.

Reviewer bio: I’m Natalie Hess and I’m simply a high school student who LOVES reading everything from scifi to romance to nonfiction and everything in between. I also love sharing my thoughts and I hope you enjoy!