About the Book:
It’s been twenty years since the monstrous war that almost tore New World apart, and there’s a new generation on the planet. Todd and Viola’s sons Ben and Max have known only peace growing up on the family farm outside a bustling human settlement. They dream of the usual things, like school and adventure, until the nightmares begin . . .
A sudden sickness has infected the young people of New World with Noise in the form of their worst thoughts about themselves. Some suspect the Spackle, the indigenous people with whom humans have a very uneasy truce. Others wonder about a connection to a mysterious object looming in the sky. And then, one by one, the children of New World begin to disappear.
Ben, with his mother’s logical mind, and Max, with his father’s courageous heart, become caught up in separate quests for answers, journeys that will test their beliefs in their parents, each other, and in their very existence on the planet.
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org UK (affiliate link).
About the Author:
Patrick Ness is the multi-award-winning author of books for adults, young adults and children. A Monster Calls, inspired by an idea by the late Siobhan Dowd and which Patrick also adapted for the screen (2016, starring Sigourney Weaver, Liam Neeson and Felicity Jones), is published in 40 languages. An adaptation of the first in his Chaos Walking trilogy – starring Tom Holland (Spiderman) and Daisy Ridley (Star Wars) – was released in 2021. Patrick has won every major prize in children’s fiction, including the Carnegie Medal twice, as well as winning the Olivier Award for the stage adaptation of A Monster Calls. He created and wrote the eight-part BBC Doctor Who spinoff Class and as a screenwriter has written for Fox, Lionsgate, Apple, Warner Brothers and Entertainment One. The first book in his new middle grade series, Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody, was published by Walker in September 2024 and sees Patrick nominated for the Carnegie a third time. The second book in the series, The Hat of Great Importance was published in June 2025. Piper at the Gates of Dusk, the first in Patrick’s new Chaos Walking trilogy, will be published in April 2026.
Interview:
What made you want to return to the world of Chaos Walking?
It was purely the idea. I had been very clear in my head that Chaos Walking was finished, although I always said ‘never say never’ when people asked if there would be more, while secretly thinking probably never. But then I got an idea centred around the Pied Piper, and I thought, oh, that feels really interesting and honestly, a little terrifying, because I didn’t want to go back to the trilogy and potentially screw it up. Being fruitfully nervous is the best way to write for me, because the worry that I’m going to mess it up means that I will really, really pay attention.
Can you introduce Piper at the Gates of Dusk to us in your own words?
Piper at the Gates of Dusk is the first book in a new trilogy that is set about 20 years after the original Chaos Walking trilogy. It’s about the sons of our heroes from the first trilogy Todd and Viola, Ben and Max. Something approaches in the night sky, and it’s sending a signal that may be causing some real problems on New World… It turns out that there is an even bigger threat than they thought.
Did you consciously use any particular tropes in Piper?
I think trope is a word where joy goes to die. I think that it is not helpful as a writer, and so I do not think about tropes. I just want to tell a story, and it probably does have tropes in it, because that’s what tropes are, but I never start from that point of view. Write free, and those things will show up later.
What do you love most about Piper? AND/ OR – What do you hope others love most about Piper?
What I love most about Piper At The Gates of Dusk is Ben & Max. You know, it’s just so satisfying to work to get a character to come to life and I really love them both. I think they’re both very, very different and both very, very brave and flawed in their own ways. I understand both of them and that feels great to me, and I’m really proud of them. I hope people love them, that’s what I’ll say. I hope people love them.
Do you have a favourite passage from Piper, or favourite moment?
I think the best snippet is the opening, because it’s all the weirdness and then it’s the opening insight into their relationship. It’s Ben’s voice and it’s his relationship with Max.
Could you recommend a UKYA book you’ve loved / read recently?
There’s a book coming out, I think in the same week, called The Last Death Poet* by Stephen Daley, which I think is a really sweet book, I think people are going to really like that book.
Thank you, Patrick!
*Affiliate link
#UKYASpotlight 
Leave a comment