The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go is a 2008 young adult novel by Patrick Ness. It is the first in the Chaos Walking series, and is followed by The Ask and the Answer. The series is set on a foreign planet that has been colonised by humans, despite the presence of an indigenous intelligent species, the Spackle. It also deals heavily with gender issues, and was the co-winner of the Tiptree Award for 2008.

Plot overview

The Knife of Never Letting Go is the story of teenagers Todd and Viola. Todd is born on a foreign planet in a town called Prentisstown, where no women live, and the men can all read each other's thoughts, and that of the world's animals, through what is called the Noise. Todd has been raised to believe that the Noise was caused by a contagion that also killed all the women on the planet, and that this contagion was released by the Spackle, who are the planet's native intelligence.

Viola has crash-landed on the planet as part of a scouting party, sent ahead of a group of settlers. Todd meets her after he has been told by his 'parents' Ben and Cillian to flee Prentisstown prior to his coming of age. He is astonished to discover that Viola, unlike everything else he has known, has no Noise. She and Todd travel together, as Todd is pursued by the men of Prentisstown.

Contrary to what Todd has been led to believe, Prentisstown is not the only remaining settlement on planet, and the women have not all died either. They all have no Noise though, and this is a source of conflict between the sexes. Todd and Viola continue to travel, with the aim of reaching the town of Haven, where they are said to have a cure for the Noise. However at the same time, Mayor Prentiss is putting together an army, with the intent of being President by the time Viola's people arrive.