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Monsters of Men  By  cover art

Monsters of Men

By: Patrick Ness
Narrated by: Nick Podehl, Angela Dawe, MacLeod Andrews
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Publisher's summary

The riveting Chaos Walking trilogy by two-time Carnegie Medalist Patrick Ness.

“This is science fiction at its best, and is a singular fusion of brutality and idealism that is, at last, perfectly human.” (Booklist, starred review)

As a world-ending war surges around them, Todd and Viola face monstrous decisions. The indigenous Spackle, thinking and acting as one, have mobilized to avenge their murdered people. Ruthless human leaders prepare to defend their factions at all costs, even as a convoy of new settlers approaches. And as the ceaseless Noise lays all thoughts bare, the projected will of the few threatens to overwhelm the desperate desire of the many. The consequences of each action, each word, are unspeakably vast: To follow a tyrant or a terrorist? To save the life of the one you love most, or thousands of strangers? To believe in redemption, or assume it is lost? Becoming adults amid the turmoil, Todd and Viola question all they have known, racing through horror and outrage toward a shocking finale.

Listen to more Chaos Walking.
©2010 Patrick Ness (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

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What listeners say about Monsters of Men

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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

Best book of the series.

This book was done very well! Adding the Spackle's point of view really helped progress the story and and gave so much more emotional involvement to the books .

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Best of the trilogy

Fantastic conclusion to this brilliant trilogy. This last book explores mankind's recurring themes through history...self destruction, war, power, vengeance and love performed so well by the narrators! Bravo

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Great Read

Fitting end to a very unique and riveting series! Ness saved his very best for last which rarely happens in literature or movies. Well done!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

good solid read

good solid read - less fake cussing than the first 2. great performance using male and female narrators.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Brilliant and Exhausting

I finally finished Monsters of Men. The voice of the writing is mighty and the the voice of the Land and the planet is fascinating. So then why did Ness and his editors have to torture us with such a ludicrous plot?!

That many forced plot twist in succession is criminal. I cry reader abuse! But I kept reading because the voice and Voice are so brilliant. What a beautiful idea.

The Mayor is the most deus-ex-machina character I've ever read. (Also, potentially the most killable.) 😂 Everything he does works out and he foresees it, not for any discernible logic or brilliance, but because the author makes it happen.

But then there are characters like The Sky and Ben and Wilf (sp? Ah audiobooks...) that are brilliant.

If you’ve come this far in the trilogy, read this one. It has some of the best and worst of the three books. But don’t expect another Knife of Never Letting Go.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

fantastic series, epic final

narrator. story, and writing were simply amazing. if you havent read this series 10/10 reccomend it. it will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end.

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David Prentiss is one of the great characters

fantastic conclusion to the trilogy. Mayor Prentiss is one of the most layered and complex characters in fiction.

i would love a Prentiss town prequel

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    4 out of 5 stars

Great trilogy

Really Loved and connected with this book I like how hard that the narrator's worked they really put effort into performance and they did a phenomenal job the only issue I have is how naive he made some of the characters and I get their younger kids but even young dumb kids will know when a certain Man is too evil to even try to fuck with

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wow, wow, WOW!!

A most brilliant, beautiful, breathtaking conclusion to an amazing series. The narration here was as close to perfect as one can get. I was completely immersed in the story. I read the first two books; yet hearing this third and final installment became a seamless transition thanks to how wonderfully it was performed.

I feel grateful for the experience. Listening to the book took me away from at times a not all that pleasant reality.

The story itself deserves a mention, if only to address an issue others may confront when beginning this final chapter in this stunning trilogy. My best friend of nearly three decades, she and I almost always read the same books. Our tastes are that well matched. Given that she had a similar reaction, I’m betting we aren’t the only ones.

The first two books, they are full of hope, and promise. There’s a foreshadowing throughout that just maybe, things will find a way to settle, such that all the groups at the center of the story will ultimately come to a satisfying compromise. This third book, however, from its very beginning, it buries its readers in violence and cruelty, followed by evil beyond what most of us may have come to expect from the series.

Much of the book occurs in a setting that is rife with such wickedness. There is so much of everything that is BAD and WRONG with humanity reflected in here. My best friend abandoned the book less than 15% into the story. Me personally? I struggled with it all. Whereas the first two books only took me a day or two to complete, this one took over a week. It wasn’t until at least 60% in that I began to trust in Ness, and in the series, enough to know that I would not abandon it until I had read the last page.

I am so very thankful that I stayed with it! It was fantastic. Such a rare treat. Especially given that each book in and of itself was a gorgeous wonder. And the series? Absolutely one of the best I’ve ever read.

So speaking to anyone who may have had similar issues with this final book, I urge them to stay with it, to trust that Ness has his reasons ... that our vicarious suffering for the people in this story for whom we have developed a real affinity, that our emotional investment in them, none of it is misplaced. And the reward of having completed this last book, and therefore the series, it feels great.

An awesome conclusion to an exceptional series.

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1 person found this helpful

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Absolutely Beautiful

This story is so beautiful, so rich with emotion & conflict and the narrators' performances are so true it made me weep more than once.

All the characters are masterfully written, even the animals. I could read it again and again.

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