Burn - Patrick Ness

Patrick Ness was born in the USA, lived in London from 1999, and now lives in Los Angeles. He writes both novels and short stories for adults and children, but is best known for his books for young adults. His first books for teenagers make up the Chaos Walking trilogy, of which the first book, The Knife of Never Letting Go, won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Booktrust Teenage Prize, followed by The Ask and the Answer, which won the Costa Award. All three titles in the trilogy were shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal, an unprecedented event, and in 2011 the third title, Monsters of Men, won the award. Patrick's sixth book, A Monster Calls, was based on an original idea by Siobhan Dowd and illustrated by Jim Kay. It won every major prize in children's fiction, including the Galaxy National Book Award, the UKLA Book Award and the Red House Children's Book Award. In 2012 it became the first book ever to win both the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal. Patrick has also written the screenplay for the film of A Monster Calls. Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and starring Liam Neeson, Sigourney Weaver and Felicity Jones, the film was released in 2016. The first film in the Chaos Walking series is slated for release in 2020. Patrick Ness's critically-acclaimed novels include More Than This, The Rest of Just Live Here, Release and And the Ocean Was Our Sky.

Wonderful and mind-blowing and exhilarating and heart-stopping.
What a storyteller!
I loved it!
Russell T Davies

I'm completely gripped by this story of revenge, redemption and dragons from the double Carnegie Medal-winner.
The Bookseller - Fiona Noble

A summer blockbuster of a novel: exciting, clever and moving. Somehow, Ness just keeps getting better.
Juno Dawson

With two Carnegie medals to his name, Patrick Ness is a literary giant in young adult fiction, and his books remain gloriously original and unpredictable… Mind-bending in the best possible way.
The Observer (The New Review) - Fiona Noble

Oh man. I loved it. Absolutely loved it... Technically, it shouldn't work because there is just... so, so much. But it does work. And I think that is Ness's greatest talent as a writer. He can keep countless plates spinning but never lose the quality - the themes, the ideas, and the lovely, special moments of sweet clarity and profundity.

It's hard to speak about the themes without giving too much away but Burn talks about American racism, homophobia, international relations and arms races, religion, the possibility of multiverses, creation myths... and yes, see? I told you. It's a busy book! A fabulous busy book.
Also: dragons. What more could a reader want?!