tamaranth | 2026/039: Piper at the Gates of Dusk

2026/039: Piper at the Gates of Dusk — Patrick Ness

The god comes screaming through the trees, shoving them to each side like matchsticks, breaking and burning them as it thrashes its way out of the woods... [opening paragraph]

In the original Chaos Walking trilogy (The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer and Monsters of Men) Todd was thirteen, dealing with life on an alien planet and the constant phenomenon of Noise -- the constant thoughts and feelings of the men (all the women are dead) in the colony -- and the threat of the alien Spackle. Piper at the Gates of Dusk starts a generation later, and focuses on Max and Ben, the two sons raised by Viola and Todd. Their world is very different to that in the first trilogy: Noise has been 'cured', the Spackle are now known as 'the Land' (except by rude racists), the colony is thriving. But then a burning god comes out of the woods, and the children of the colony start having nightmares, and there's something in the sky which might be an alien spaceship.

Ness explores gender with considerably more nuance than before: there's a trans character, and a range of reactions to that character from 'are you sure? is it just a phase?' to all-out transphobia with a religious flavour. There's also more about the natives, the Land: and, this being Ness who does not pull his punches, there are some truly harrowing scenes. Ness riffs on the legend of the Pied Piper -- who stole all the children save one from Hamelin, leaving one boy behind -- and the ways in which stories shape, and are shaped by, the societies in which they evolve.

I really liked Ben and Max, and wanted to howl at the cliffhanger ending. The political elements (a mayor elected by dubious means, who lies and scapegoats and distracts people from the truth) were a little too relevant to be comfortable. And grown-up Todd and Viola are flawed and human, but devoted to their family. I'm very much looking forward to the next in this new trilogy.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review. UK Publication Date is 7th April 2026.