“Three armies march on New Prentisstown, each one intent on destroying the others. Todd and Viola are caught in the middle, with no chance of escape. As the battles commence, how can they hope to stop the fighting? How can there ever be peace when they're so hopelessly outnumbered? And if war makes monsters of men, what terrible choices await? But then a third voice breaks into the battle, one bent on revenge...”My review of the previous book in this trilogy can be found Here. The wonderful world building and moral trials continue in this final installment.
There are so many positive aspects to this book, that I'm unsure if I can describe how I felt and still do it justice. I've had it on my bookshelf for a couple of months and even though I really wanted to own it, I hadn't yet felt in the mood to read it. I knew that it was going to be deep and painful and quite emotionally exhausting to immerse myself in that world again. Though when I did, time flew by. I read solidly for 6 hours without stopping. I could see it all, the suffering, the hard choices, how when people are at war nobody is innocent and everybody believes that they are fighting for the right reasons.
There are so many different sides to this book that it can make your head spin, but at the same time creates such a rich depth that you can fall into the world and be dragged through the emotional grinder along with all the characters that it follows. I loved the new perspective of the “Spackle” 1017, or The Return as he is known amongst his own people, “The Land”. His drive for revenge after the genocide at the end of the second book in this trilogy prompted The Land's entry into this war. His voice is the most raw and brutal one of this story, a voice of single minded vengeance , all aimed at Todd. The way The Return projects all of his rage at Todd, who he calls “The Knife” creates a pulse increasing, mind spinning ride that you can barely keep up with. His character is so three dimensional as he is portrayed as just one of the villains in this novel. His motivations and drives are so deep that you want him to get peace, you feel righteous indignation on his behalf. He deserves justice, but revenge against Todd is just unthinkable. The genocide of The Spackle was an awful moment, and Todd pulling 1017 out of a pile of the corpses of his fellow species is an amazing example of how dark and gritty this trilogy can be.
The continuation of the separation of Todd and Viola in this book was very well done. It allowed for both of their perspectives to be used and to provide opposing views from the different sides of the war, even though they were still technically on their own side, the side that wished for peace.
I love the whole idea of the series, as summarised by the title of this book, that in war nobody is innocent, everybody has to do things that they're not happy about or that goes against their morality for “the greater good”. War does indeed make monsters of men. Todd sees this better than most when he is involved in a rather brutal battle, fighting with the Mayor's men against “The Spackle”. Their weapons are intense and the men are nearly annihilated. Todd sees men burst into flames in front of him, he smells their flesh melt and sees their dying thoughts, the pain they feel at never seeing their loved ones again. Because of this when the tide turns and the surviving enemy is left to run away, Todd feels the buzz of defeating them. He experiences the thrill of chasing a losing enemy, of wanting to fire into their backs whilst they are fleeing. It's only when he sees the Spackle he was aiming at trip over the corpses of his people that his conscience returns, and he is reminded who he really is.
This book manages to show the opinions and morality of multiple characters, all with different tactics and limits and yet with each of them you can see them as human, see what has driven them to where they are now. You can see the horrible things that they do, and you can see how they justify their actions, and a lot of the time, you agree with them. You become so involved with this world and the people in it that you can understand and relate, and no matter what horrible things they do, in some ways you can't quite see what you would have done differently.
This book pulls you in and doesn't let you go until the very last page. You're dragged along with these characters and it hurts. You fear for them, you fear for their physical safety and for their identities when they risk compromising who they are. You'll gasp and you'll cry and when finished you'll feel exhausted, relieved and still slightly on the edge of your seat. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes stories that aren't black and white, and where the enemy of the tale is relative depending on which side of the war you're on.
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