Random Raving 3: More Than This by Patrick Ness

More Than This tells the story of Seth, who dies in the breath-taking first chapter and wakes up in a world devoid of any other people. The time Seth spends alone in this barren landscape is fascinating, and Ness is extremely skilled at grabbing the reader with only one character, and really make them care about what's going on.

Much as with my previous entry, this blog post is about another author who I've had the pleasure to meet, and in this case, actually interview.

Patrick Ness is one of the most highly renowned teen (and more recently, adult) authors currently writing. Bursting onto the scene with the Chaos Walking trilogy (soon to be made into a film) and later 'A Monster Calls', Ness is both best-selling and an award winner.

All of this meant that going into More Than This, his newest book, there was an incredible amount of expectation, and it's safe to say that it absolutely lives up to all of the hype.

Please note - major spoilers will follow!

Seth later meets Regine and Tomasz, two other fantastic characters with individuality and deeply emotional journeys, and the three together start to try to work out what has happened.

The story that unfolds is nothing short of magical. Seth, who is revealed to be gay, is dealing with the anger at a cheating lover and best friend, resentful parents, and even more, the childhood trauma he has endured.

Living near a prison, Seth allowed an escaped prisoner into the house as a young child out of fear, and the situation escalated with Seth's younger brother, Owen, being kidnapped. It's established that the resentment towards Seth stems from this, though Owen was eventually rescued and returned home safely.

This is revealed to actually be false. Instead, Owen was murdered, leading Seth's parents to chose to enter a computerised, dream world to live in where Owen was still alive, and this is the world in which Seth drowns at the beginning of the novel. The world in which he awakens is that left behind by the human race. Seth only returned to the real world because he managed to hit a particular point on his head in his death.

All in all, as poor as my explanation is, the story is absolutely brilliant and expertly told. The novel deals with a lot of difficult subject matter, from suicide, to bullying and familial problems, but it's done with tenderness and care, and never feels forced or 'preachy'.

An excellent read that anyone should pick up, regardless of age, interests or gender.

Rating: 9/10