Noble Conflict - Malorie Blackman

I was first introduced to Malorie Blackman when I stumbled across Noughts and Crosses in a bookshop, really loved the first few pages and then fell in love with that series. And any British teenager in their late teens will remember the CBBC series of Pig-Heart Boy, an adaptation of one of her books!? I was both amazed and creeped out by it.
I actually met Malorie Blackman at my local library about 2 years ago with my friend which was like reliving my childhood - she was so lovely too. She mentioned at the time she was working on something a lot like Noughts and Crosses but a bit different which I knew would appeal to me when it was released. So when I first heard about NOBLE CONFLICT and then *dun, dun, dun* saw it on Netgalley, it was like I was 8 again.

Synopsis: Kaspar has grown up in a world founded on peace and harmony after a bitter and destructive war that destroyed much of the world. The rebels on the outside of the city still attempt to cause war and take back the land that they think is theirs. Kaspar is part of an elite fighting force called the Guardians who protect the city, its inhabitants and the High Council but without destructive or violent weapons. Soon after Kaspar joins, he meets a rebel face to face. But this rebel is a lovely girl called Rhea. From this moment, he is haunted by memories and visions that do not belong to him as he starts to realise the secrets that have been hidden about the rebels and what Kaspar is actually fighting for.

Review: With the amount of dystopians on the market, you would think another one - like NOBLE CONFLICT - would get boring. But in all honesty, this is one of the most original I've read.
Everyone would like a peaceful world where society was based on non-violent actions and this is what Blackman plays upon.

I completely think this book justifies why Malorie Blackman is Children's Laureate. I mean, some of the surprises I didn't see coming at all, some I did (mostly because she hints SO MUCH along the way plus I have weird 'read between the lines' English skills). There are so many twists and turns throughout the story that do keep the narrative moving mostly as well as interesting. There are some really thought provoking incidents and moments and I can see a lot of issues that can be translated to present day - much like in Noughts and Crosses.

The characters are well-built and react well off one another. The novel is written in third person which for some I can see they would not particularly connect with Kaspar then. However, I found this didn't hindrance anything and actually allows the reader to see the action from more than one point of views yet without confusion. Kaspar is a character that many may find annoying  - he has grown up thinking he knows the right thing but this is soon changed. For me, I found him engaging, strong, determined and someone who was just misled. Actually, he reminded me a lot of June from the Legend series by Marie Lu. There are some good secondary characters too - Voss, Mac, Rhea, Dillon. Even when bad things happen to them, despite the third person, I still felt emotion for them.

In spite of this, not every book is perfect. The thing that stood out for me was that this book was slow in pace and in all fairness, the real action was in the last quarter of the book. The first part was great with the superb world-building that is some of the best I've seen. Then there's a lull. A big incident happens. Rhea appears. And then, pow, it all slows down. I actually found some of the middle part quite hard to read because in all honesty, I got a little bored.
So reasons? Well, I have two. Number One - there are two main storylines or issues running throughout the story. The discovery of knowledge about the founding of the city, the High Council and the rebels and then running parallel is the strange problem of Rhea and the whole memory thing. About halfway through the discovery/lies thing comes to the foreground.
Then, because of reason Number Two, this book is written in third person which works for the majority of the book but in this bit in the middle, not so much. It is interesting and kind of essential to the plot but I just think it did let the book down a little bit. I don't know - maybe I just anticipated this book too much.

I did like this book, I assure you and it was a true Malorie Blackman novel. Despite some of my writing issues as well as the humour seeming quite forced at times, this novel (literally and metaphorically) explodes in the final chapters turning everything on its head and leaving the reader with this sense of both a closed ending with Kaspar's story ending far beyond the last page. This is certainly far from Noughts and Crosses (but can anything be better than those books?) but it's not far off.
It's just so great to see a British author finally on the young adult dystopian scene.

I give it a 4 out of 5

Author's Website: http://www.malorieblackman.co.uk/
Pages: 368
Publisher: Random House
Challenges: BBC

Related Reviews:
Legend - Marie Lu
The Declaration - Gemma Malley
The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness

A-Z Authors - B

I found out about this through Phanee from funny wool and is hosted by Heather at Proud Book Nerd. I thought it looked quite fun so this month, I shall be doing a post every day (except Sundays) where I shall tell you about amazing authors that have surnames beginning with that letter. I hope you enjoy and tell me if you know any more with that letter and I'll add it to the post! Thanks.

NOTE: As I am doing my exams at the moment, I may miss days so shall combine letter together, I'll say if I do in the title - Thanks.

Here we go....

B

Malorie Blackman

   Malorie Blackman used to write children books for much younger children until 1992 when she decided to write for young adults and published Thief! after 18 months of writing and editing her first young adult book. She is most famous for the Noughts and Crosses series which targets racism of whites instead of the more traditional racism towards blacks.

   I met Malorie Blackman last week actually and she is the loveliest person to talk to and made me and my friend laugh so much and was really interesting to talk to. She is one of the authors that I have grown up with and I loved her Noughts and Crosses series a lot, especially the first book. 

Other Books: Hacker, The Stuff of Nightmares, Boys Don't Cry

Robin Benway

   I have only read Robin Benway once with Audrey, Wait! which I fell in love with and enjoyed a lot. It is one of the best books I have read this year so far. It is funny (sometimes 'Laugh Out Loud' funny) and just so enjoyable and entertaining! She is a must for any teenage reader with it being enjoyable yet really good writing.

Other Books: The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May and June.

N.M.Browne

I have read Shadow Web the total of about 3 or 4 times, I love it so much. I have no idea why but I just love her writing, the way its such an original idea and how enjoyable to read it is. I love the blend of modern and old in the story and also, the fact it's set rather near where I live (that does help...). I haven't ever read anything else by her (although I really should) as for some reason I think it will ruin Shadow Web for me...I don't know why. But anyway, this is one of the books I read annually.

Other Books: Hunted, Basilisk, The Story of Stone

Malorie Blackman Signing

Last night, I was lucky enough to go to a signing and interview with Malorie Blackman at my local library with my best friend, Tijana (yes, the one that got me Looking for Alaska). Tijana has seen the poster about it when she was in there the other week and rushed home (well probably not but she informed me quickly afterwards) about it and we decided to go.

Malorie Blackman is the author of many, both Children and Young Adult, books such as Thief!, Pig Heart Boy, Boys Don't Cry and the Noughts and Crosses triolgy/quartet. I became involved in her reading at about 10/11 when I joined secondary school when Noughts and Crosses first came out. I read it as a library book and then got given a copy for Christmas 2006 by my family which is the one I got signed.

It was really intesting to hear about where she gets her ideas for books, what inspires her and how her past has impacted on her books now. I learnt a lot of things and she is such a talkative, funny, bubbly person and for me, you can really tell she loves what she does and loves any praise for her books.
She was such a lovely person to speak to and for us, you can tell she loves writing children's literature.
I really enjoyed the evening, it was nice to see an author that I've kind of grown up with. For anyone that's never read her books, take a look at Noughts and Crosses. This is one of the best written novels I have truly read. Great evening.

Here are some pictures!

Tijana, Malorie, Me (above, below)

My Signed book!

Then on the way home from the library, we had a lovely walk over the river and saw this view of the sun setting. I had to make it darker to see the redness, it was much more lighter than this picture shows.

 Have a lovely weekend everyone!