From Powells.com
Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.
Synopses & Reviews
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Monster Calls comes a richly illustrated and lyrical tale, one that asks harrowing questions about power, loyalty, obsession, and the monsters we make of others.
With harpoons strapped to their backs, the proud whales of Bathsheba's pod live for the hunt, fighting in the ongoing war against the world of men. When they attack a ship bobbing on the surface of the Abyss, they expect to find easy prey. Instead, they find the trail of a myth, a monster, perhaps the devil himself...
As their relentless Captain leads the chase, they embark on a final, vengeful hunt, one that will forever change the worlds of both whales and men.
With the lush, atmospheric art of Rovina Cai woven in throughout, this remarkable work by Patrick Ness turns the familiar tale of Moby Dick upside down and tells a story all its own with epic triumph and devastating fate.
Review
“An excellent, stirring counterpoint to the original text, rife with questions about the inexorable nature of belief and violence.” School Library Journal (starred review)
Review
“The whale epic, particularly Bathsheba’s discussions with the human hostage, mounts an exploration of inherited prejudices, violence justified, and the far-reaching consequences of war.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Review
“In his latest, the critically acclaimed and wildly divergent Ness, never one for convention, takes the story of Moby-Dick, pares it down to its basic parts, and quite literally inverts it...Ness’ writing — spare, thought provoking, and already dramatic — is utterly enhanced by Cai’s breathtaking artwork.” Booklist (starred review)
About the Author
Patrick Ness is the author of ten novels, including his New York Times bestselling The Rest of Us Just Live Here, the Chaos Walking trilogy, More Than This, A Monster Calls, which was made into a major motion picture with a screenplay adaptation by Patrick himself, Release, and And The Ocean Was Our Sky. Born in Virginia, Patrick lives in London.
Rovina Cai draws from a studio in a nineteenth-century convent. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators and Spectrum Fantastic Art and the Children’s Book Council of Australia. She has illustrated And The Ocean Was Our Sky, by Patrick Ness, and the picture book Tintinnabula. She lives in Melbourne, Australia
Patrick Ness on PowellsBooks.Blog
My new novel is called
And the Ocean Was Our Sky, illustrated (breathtakingly) by Rovina Cai. It started with the almost joking question to a friend of mine, “What if
Moby Dick were told by the whale?” and it got weirder from there. Bathsheba is a whale, an apprentice hunter, in a world where whales and men have hunted each other for centuries...
Read More»