The Ask and the Answer: Chaos Walking: Book Two

This book is one of the best books i ever read. It was so unpredictable and surprising...in a good way. Eveything you this you know is not true. The characters seem to be so real. I mean, i can imagine them as real people. I loved Todd and Viola so much and forgave them evrytime they made a bad decision. This book reminds me of Lost in many ways...which makes it much much better. you will never...more

This book is one of the best books i ever read. It was so unpredictable and surprising...in a good way. Eveything you this you know is not true. The characters seem to be so real. I mean, i can imagine them as real people. I loved Todd and Viola so much and forgave them evrytime they made a bad decision. This book reminds me of Lost in many ways...which makes it much much better. you will never regret reading this one. Trust me.   hide

Excellent follow-up! Even more gut-wrenching than the first. This guy really knows how to write a cliffhanger ending.

Lovely to read in the sun! Totally addictive. Love it! Can't wait to read Monsters of Men!

Definitely reminds me of Kafka, but has a broader story line which would make it appealing to a larger audience. Through fantasy and realism, the plot unfolds with the main characters in a world where goodness is illusive, existence is tenuous, you don't know whom to trust, and you do not have control over your life. Will definitely read the first and third books!!

This book is a phenomenal sequel to an incredible, intense first book in this trilogy. Tod and Viola's story continues with as much tension as the first book, and I was just as riveted!

More entertaining as you read but not as big of a revelation as the first book.

"The Ask and the Answer" is an absolutely stunning follow-up to the already brilliant first book of the "Chaos Walking" series. Though this second book now comes from both Todd and Viola's perspectives, it is multi-layered and dynamic, with wonderful fully formed characters and a plot that keeps you breathless with anticipation. Upon arriving at the City of New Haven, Viola is on the brink of...more

"The Ask and the Answer" is an absolutely stunning follow-up to the already brilliant first book of the "Chaos Walking" series. Though this second book now comes from both Todd and Viola's perspectives, it is multi-layered and dynamic, with wonderful fully formed characters and a plot that keeps you breathless with anticipation. Upon arriving at the City of New Haven, Viola is on the brink of death and Todd is furiously running to save both their lives...until he finds out that reaching New Haven is a trap that he and Viola have unwittingly fallen into. With the former Mayor of Prentisstown (the hometown Todd fled from in the first book) now the "President" of New World, terms like "equality' and "prosperity" are now adjectives of the past. Todd and Viola are separated into opposite camps and not permitted to see each other. President Prentiss acts the benevolent ruler, until he starts his oppression campaigns, in which he alienates so many people that a small band of women begin their own revolution....a guerilla group called "Answer". Viola is forced to flee with the "Answer" and Todd is forced to serve the new Presidents "Department of the Ask". As the rebels begin their strikes against the President and his army, the President, in turn, begins ratcheting up his sadistic and militaristic tactics to find information about his new enemies. While the story focuses on the New World's civil war problems, at the center is the tender hope, desperation and urgency both Viola and Todd feel towards finding each other and escaping the mayhem, despite the odds. This is a powerful story that most certainly defies the boundaries of what is considered a "young adult" classification. And though I've written quite a bit about how much I enjoyed this story, mere words still cannot describe my thoughts and emotions. You just have to read it for yourself to see.   hide

I didn't think the tension could get much higher than the environment in Ness' first book of this trilogy, The Knife of Never Letting Go. I was wrong. Twists, turns, leaps of faith, betrayal, power-games and...oh yeah...aliens.

This book was even better than the first one. Ness's character development is superb, and his ability to create suspense is...ok, it's superb, too. Great book; highly recommended!