Chaos Walking



""The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, man is just chaos walking.""

Chaos Walking is the collective term for Patrick Ness's books The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer, and Monsters of Men. It is a series set on a dystopian Earth-like planet called New World, which human settlers from "Old World" colonised in the hope of starting a new life.

Todd Hewitt knows all too well the history of this plantation. Humanity quickly became engaged in a war with the local sentient species, the Spackle, who released germs that killed all of the women, half the men, and left every living, breathing thing that survived with a condition that causes their thoughts, fantasies, hopes and dreams to be broadcasted in a flood of information known as Noise. This Noise is an inescapable rush of pictures and words that you can't get away from, and it is ever-present and everywhere. Men, without comfort and with this newfound insanity, picked up a gun and ended the war.

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.

A prequel, called The New World, is available online for free. 

All three books were shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, with Monsters of Men winning it in 2011. It was also the second Young Adult novel ever to be shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke science fiction award. In late 2011, Lionsgate bought the rights to bring the trilogy to the big screen.

"Viola: The Mayor’s wrong- He’s wrong forever and ever- It’s not that you should never love something so much it can control you. It’s that you need to love something that much so you can never be controlled."
 * A Chat with Satan: Happens when.
 * A God Am I: In the scene in the waterfall church, Aaron comes out and says that he is a saint. However, we know that Aaron is, in fact, delusional and is Drunk with Power.
 * A Real Man Is a Killer: Todd is the last boy in Prentisstown. Just why is he being chased?  The Mayor says in Monsters of Men that until a boy experiences war, he is still a child.
 * Affably Evil: Mayor Prentiss is a genuinely nice guy to Todd, whom he considers a son, but . The Mayor also does a great job justifying most of the horrible things he does, one notable exception is.
 * Always Save the Girl: 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.
 * Ancient Conspiracy:
 * Animal Assassin: Manchee. He protects Todd every chance he gets, even . And Aaron at least three times, but this ends in  . Has several crowning moments of awesome.
 * Also Angharrad, Todd's horse in Monsters of Men, who  Angharrad saves Viola when
 * Apologises a Lot: Manchee,
 * Archnemesis Dad: Mayor Prentiss to Davy. Really, they don't even like each other.
 * Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: A fairly creepy version crops up at the end of The Ask and the Answer.  To be fair, the Mayor is a bit distracted. But that doesn't make it any less creepy.
 * Armchair Military: Mayor Prentiss for the first book and most of the second.
 * Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other:  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.
 * Badass Preacher: Aaron. He slaps people around for the hell of it. And has a staff.
 * Baddie Flattery: Mayor Prentiss constantly praises Todd for being "humble" and "a good son" and all that. He calls Todd the "truer son" right before.
 * Battle Couple: Todd and Viola.
 * Beast of Battle: The Spackle ride what are called "battlemore". Which are pretty much rhinos.
 * Berserk Button: Viola and Todd both have this when the other is in trouble, to the point that Viola  to save Todd's life.
 * The Mayor seems to lack one until.
 * Big Badass Battle Sequence: Happens several times:, the Spackle mutiny, and   in Monsters of Men. A common motif in this series.
 * Big Bulky Bomb: The Answer, especially when  and.
 * The  from Monsters of Men brings more of this. There are chapters revolving around Big Bulky Bombs, usually accompanied by a large BOOM!
 * Bond Villain Stupidity: Todd. I mean,  and doesn't do a thing about it. Instead, he bargains with the guy!
 * Break the Cutie: Todd gets his first taste of killing when he  and consequently freaks out and pukes. Viola gets this twice: once when   and   in the waterfall church and throws up.
 * Every main character gets a moment of this. Even minor characters display this trope at points, especially in the last two books.
 * At the end of Monsters of Men  Poor, poor, Viola...
 * Bling of War: The Office of the Ask requires pretty shiny uniforms that have an 'A' pinned to the chest. It, too, is shiny. Toward the beginning of Monsters of Men, one of the Mayor's officers brings him his general's uniform from the Spackle War and he basically gloats over it.
 * Todd also ends up . It's important.
 * Book Dumb: Todd is almost completely illiterate. This acts as a Berserk Button for him; every time anyone offers to read something for him, he gets unreasonably angry.
 * Boom Stick: The Spackle in the first war were unarmed. Not now, they're not.
 * Carry a Big Stick: Oh, Aaron does. Todd finds this out several times.
 * Can't Hold His Liquor: Inverted with Viola.
 * Catch Phrase: 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 teachings.
 * Challenging the Chief: Todd does this before . Come to think of it, Viola does, too, after Mistress Coyle.
 * Chastity Couple: Todd and Viola.  Slightly justified by the fact that it's a book aimed at young adults and they're both about 14.
 * Chekhov's Gun: The knife. All Todd says is that he wants it, and it ends up being pretty much the entire first book. Also, in the prequel The New World, Viola's friend Bradley gives her a campfire box.
 * Childless Dystopia: New World. Due to the fact that all the women in Prentisstown are dead, there hasn't been a child there in thirteen years--not since the main character Todd was born.
 * Cluster F-Bomb: Todd employs this a lot, usually denoted by "and do you think I said eff?" Contrast with Viola's Precision F-Strike in The Knife of Never Letting Go.
 * Comatose Canary:
 * Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are: Aaron, looking for Todd and Viola.
 * Compelling Voice: The Mayor has one.
 * Corrupt Church: No one's listening to Aaron; they're all praying for help or deliverance. Nice going.
 * Creepy Cathedral: The Mayor lives in one in New Prentisstown.
 * Creepy Cleanliness: The Mayor is nearly always in pristine white clothing . He's also pretty Straight Edge Evil.
 * Dark Messiah: Aaron. He says he's a saint pretty much right before
 * Deadpan Snarker: Todd and Viola. Also Corrine, to an extent, but she's more of an example of My Parents Are Dead.
 * Deceased Parents Are the Best: Cillian, the tough-love dad.
 * Definitely Just a Cold: After the band on her arm makes her ill, Viola hides her illness from Todd even though she's been told the infection is  She tells him its sleep deprivation and when he asks her specifically about it, she admits that she's not feeling well but that she's fine.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?:  but only after Todd hits him a lot.
 * Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: 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.
 * Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: The Mayor invites both Todd and Viola to dinner. Of course, he cancels just in time.
 * Dirty Mind Reading: Viola accidentally catches a rather racy daydream in Lee's Noise involving her.
 * Divided We Fall: If one of us falls, we all fall.'
 * Disappeared Dad: Ben, for most of the series.
 * Disney Acid Sequence: This happens to Todd . The world is all wavy and orange and yellow for a bit. He also hallucinates Aaron and Viola.
 * Do I Really Sound Like That?: Todd asks Viola to do a Prentisstown accent and says that he doesn't sound like that.
 * Doomed Hometown: Prentisstown and Farbranch.
 * Downer Ending:
 * Easily-Conquered World: The citizens of Haven are ridiculed for not putting up a fight when Mayor Prentiss and his army ride through. They simply surrendered.
 * Emotionless Girl: Viola, in her non-talking phase. Shortly after she does begin speaking, she has a Did You Think I Can't Feel? moment and spurns Todd for thinking that she can't hear his Noise.
 * Emotion Suppression: The more time Todd spends around the Mayor, the more time he learns to "quiet" his Noise. In reality, what he's quieting is his own emotions. Even Viola notices at one point that she feels a flicker of emotion in his Noise and then nothing as he "quiets" it.
 * Enemy Mine: The Mayor's forces and the Answer join together  Too bad it doesn't go well.
 * Everyone Can See It: Pretty much everyone has commented on Todd and Viola's relationship at least once, though they don't resolve much of anything until
 * Eye Scream:
 * Fatal Flaw: 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.
 * Fatal Flaw: 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.


 * First-Name Basis: Todd and Davy. At first, Todd is taken aback when Davy calls him "Todd" instead of "pigpiss", but gets used to it.
 * The Mayor ("Call me David") attempts to be on this with Todd. Never sticks.
 * Ditto the Mayor and Viola. The Mayor calls Viola by her first name, which upsets Todd, but Viola refuses to ever call him by his.
 * Fisher King: The Mayor lives in a freakin'.
 * Eventually, everyone in New Prentisstown just follows the rules. Except Todd and Viola.
 * Forced to Watch: Todd is forced to watch Viola being tortured for answers. He doesn't take it well.
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: The Mayor, who was originally just the head of the military and a pretty nice guy. Then he staged a mutiny and slowly started to go insane. It was all downhill from there.
 * Get It Over With: Todd tells Aaron to do this when he's lying in the mud.
 * Grey and Gray Morality: "There are no sides, my girl." No one is completely good or completely evil.
 * Has Two Mommies: Inverted; Todd has two fathers in Ben and Cillian.
 * Heel Face Revolving Door: Ivan always goes to the side that has more power.
 * Heroic BSOD: After  gets shot, Todd realizes he has nothing left; he is then snapped out of it by Viola.
 * Hive Mind: 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 even 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).
 * Hive Queen: 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.
 * Holy Hitman: Aaron.
 * I Can Still Fight: Viola has this attitude even though she is
 * I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Given that Prentisstown was a Crapsack World, New Prentisstown must be better!
 * I Have No Son: Subverted, because the Mayor freely acknowledges that  and possibly regrets it. He is convinced, though, that Todd will become his true son in all but name.
 * I Have Your Wife: The Mayor often threatens Viola's safety to get Todd to do what he wants.
 * I Lied: The Mayor does this quite often and seems kind of happy about it.
 * I Will Protect Her: Todd to Viola. He spends a good deal of time threatening to kill anyone who dares look at her wrong. Also, totally works in reverse.
 * I'll Kill You!: For a guy who can't stomach death very well, Todd sure does spend an awful lot of time threatening to kill someone or other. To be fair, he usually only threatens death (and slow, painful death at that) when someone threatens Viola.
 * I'll Never Tell You What I'm Telling You: Happens when Todd.
 * Implacable Man: Aaron, getting eaten by a crocodile? Drowning in the swamp? No, it takes
 * Improbable Age: The entire premise of the book fits into this, but it's explicitly stated at one point that the adults expect Viola and Todd to run the New World once the war is over. They're 14.
 * It is partially justified in-universe that the threshold for adulthood is much lower, which may have been the result of the original settlers needing more workers. Viola and Todd meet a four-year-old boy whose father asks him to milk the goats. Viola thinks this is odd...he's too young to be milking goats by himself. Todd points out that it's not that unusual in the New World. But to readers, the extreme responsibility shoved onto two young teenagers is a little weird.
 * Also, the years are longer there,so Todd, at least, is older than 14, though not by much.
 * Info Dump: Can't help it in Noise, can ya? This happens after Todd comes back from the swamp, thinking about the patch of silence there,.
 * It Got Worse: On the way to Haven, Viola . Todd takes her into Haven,.
 * Frankly, Chaos Walking could be called It Got Worse: The Series. Every single Hope Spot is obliterated into nothingness within pages, except for the one at the very end of Monsters of Men. And that one was ambiguous as hell, too.
 * It's Personal: Todd, when Aaron comes after him and . Also a little bit of when Todd is chasing him down.
 * Kick the Dog: Aaron and the Mayor, and to an extent, Davy; he later does an almost complete Heel Face Turn when he realizes that he and Todd . Also happens literally: both Aaron and Davy kick Manchee in the face.
 * Kick Them While They Are Down: Aaron and Mayor Prentiss.
 * Knife Nut: Todd, but only for the first book;.
 * Left Hanging:
 * Living Emotional Crutch: Todd and Viola to each other, though it's played in a positive rather than a negative way.
 * Love Is a Weakness: The Mayor, after figuring out Viola is Todd's weakness, tells him never to love something so much it can be used to control you.
 * Love Triangle: Todd, Viola, and Lee.
 * This is more of an Imaginary Love Triangle. Lee never stood a chance in the first place.
 * Machete Mayhem: Let's have an honorable mention for Matthew Lyle!
 * Manipulative Bastard: The Mayor is this trope.
 * And the trope is him!
 * Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Davy Prentiss, Jr.
 * More Hypnotizable Than He Thinks: Todd, during his time with the Mayor.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: This is Todd's reaction after he  in the first book. Viola has a similar reaction after she
 * My Parents Are Dead: Viola's parents . And Todd, to a degree; his mom is dead, and Cillian  . Ben is MIA, supposedly dead. Until the end of Monsters of Men;.
 * Narrative Profanity Filter: Todd uses this a lot.
 * Non-Human Sidekick:
 * Manchee
 * Angharrad and Acorn in Monsters of Men, too.
 * Normally I Would Be Dead Now: Aaron. As stated above,.
 * Not So Different: 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.
 * Not Quite Human: The Spackle look like distorted men and grow lichen on their bodies in place of clothes.
 * No Woman's Land: Prentisstown.
 * Offing the Offspring: The  does this to his son.
 * Our Aliens Are Different: The Spackle aren't out to kill anyone . The Noise germ was just out in the air.
 * Pet the Dog / Kick the Dog: 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 journey of the two off them repeatedly blowing the dog up (literally), picking up the pieces, petting them back into shape, and kicking them again. However, this does play off as massive character development on the Mayor and Mistress's part.
 * Pistol-Whipping: 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.
 * Poison and Cure Gambit: It's reveal that the Mayor poisoned the bands used to  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.
 * Poisoned Weapons: Todd's knife.
 * Power of Love: Literally:
 * Precious Puppies: Manchee. He licks Todd's face when he knows Todd is feeling down and goes to great lengths to protect him.
 * Pursued Protagonist: Todd. Often pursued by the Mayor on Morpeth, along with  in the first book.
 * Rage Quit:
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: Todd and Viola.
 * Romantic False Lead: Lee.
 * Saying Too Much: Todd can't help it in the beginning, nor when . He gives a piece of vital information to try and save her.   And Manchee, too; he burbles on and on, and sometimes things come out.
 * Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: President Prentiss. Sneaky, underhanded bastard.
 * Secret Weapon: Todd thinks that the Mayor is making one of these in The Knife of Never Letting Go. He'd be right, of course.
 * Selective Slaughter: In the Mayor's case,.
 * Sense Loss Sadness: 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.
 * Ship Tease: 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.
 * Sinister Minister: Aaron. Up to Eleven.
 * Sir Swearsalot: Todd. "The effs, Todd? And the geedees? God hears..."
 * Space Amish: The first settlers try his - they left Earth for a simpler, more religious life, which explains their primitive technology level for a sci-fi set on another planet. And the they get into a few wars. But the intention was there.
 * Still the Leader: Todd. He picks up the slack where Davy leaves it, and ends up.
 * Stuff Blowing Up: Basically what happens throughout the second and third books.
 * Someone Has to Die: Manchee, . Followed almost immediately by Todd's Big No. Well, he was extraordinarily loyal to Todd, even though he didn't want Manchee. Also a Right-Hand Attack Dog and the requisite Talking Animal.
 * Sugar and Ice Personality: Viola. At the outset, she seems to have no feelings whatsoever. However, when Todd thinks she isn't able to hear him, she gives him the silent treatment.
 * Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum:
 * Taking Over the Town: Mayor Prentiss, hell bent on taking over the world, loves to do this. Prentisstown used to be called New Elizabeth before he took over. When he takes over Haven, he renames it New Prentisstown (which, not surprisingly, is not an improvement on the old Prentisstown).
 * That Liar Lies: Todd, mostly referring to the Mayor. Which is true; the Mayor is the Manipulative Bastard of the series...
 * Telepathic Spacemen: The Spackle, who were the first ones to have the Noise.
 * The Barnum: Mayor Prentiss.
 * The Dog Bites Back: Manchee, who
 * The Evils of Free Will: The Mayor's entire philosophy. He uses More Than Mind Control to achieve his ends a lot of the time.
 * The Mutiny: First starts in New Elizabeth,, when the women tried to escape. Happens again in New Prentisstown, but no one knows what the hell to do. Except Todd, who.
 * The Only One I Trust: Viola and Todd trust each other completely without question, but do not trust anyone else.
 * The Plague: The Noise germ. Haven had developed a cure for it,.
 * The Tower: It's where Todd and Con Ledger end up living. And it smells; not exactly a bastion of strength.
 * The War Room: A rather crappy version exists  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!
 * They Have the Scent: Right before  Manchee claims to know where she is. Todd is skeptical at first, but Manchee is sure.
 * Thinking Out Loud: Literally. Noise is unavoidable,.
 * Time Bomb: The Answer's only form of offensive power.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Viola. Once when, again when  , and several more times besides.
 * Trigger Happy: Davy in . Todd sees him firing his gun into the air "when there's nothing else for him to shoot". If you look at who his father is, it's not a big surprise.
 * Tsundere: Todd, when he first met Viola in the first book and when he started working with Davy in the second book.
 * Viola too. A type B, rather.
 * Twang! "Hello.": There are several variants: Aaron with his staff, Viola with her, the Spackle, the Mayor's  , the Answer's Big Bulky Bombs, and Manchee.
 * Tyrant Takes the Helm: See The Mutiny, above.
 * Unbroken Vigil: Todd and Viola with each other at various points in the series.
 * Under New Management: See The Mutiny, above.
 * War Is Hell: It seems to be swinging this way, but it's more of a cautionary tool against war.
 * We Come in Peace, Shoot to Kill: The settlers, upon discovering the Spackle and just generally being asshats, slaughter them and almost completely annihilate the species. They start fighting back in The Ask and the Answer, 1017 especially.
 * We Have Ways of Making You Talk: Pretty much the point of the Mayor's Ask organization. They torture people suspected of helping the "terrorists." Viola is tortured at one point and comes away with two broken ankles and more.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: Davy just wants his dad to like him. Oh well, at least he expresses pride in his son several times.
 * Whew That Was BOOM: Frequently.
 * What Measure Is a Non-Human?: This questions comes up constantly for Todd in terms of fighting the Spackle.
 * Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: Happens a lot in The Ask and the Answer.
 * Wicked Cultured: Mayor Prentiss. Mistress Coyle could also be an example.
 * Will They or Won't They?: Happens all the time with Todd and Viola.
 * Yandere: Todd seems to be really threatening whenever Mayor Prentiss or anyone tries to question Viola. Not to forget, his face went blank when . He also refers to Viola as "Good girl" or "That's my girl".
 * To be fair, Viola acts the exact same way in terms of him.
 * Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Every time the Mayor says that Todd is Like a Son to Me, or even that he is proud of his actions, Todd usually follows up with denial and then just ignores it.