Dim's Write Stuff

There’s no question, Patrick Ness's narrative is one hundred per cent magnetic. I was drawn in from Bathsheba's first words so cleverly echoing another unforgettable classic, Moby Dick. And The Ocean Was Our Sky is a magnificent example of fusing an acknowledged convention, as defined by classic tales of the past, with an equally formidable retelling. This time around, it is the whales, or rather one spirited conflicted whale, Bathsheba that voices this unique saga. The prose is easy to read, the premise made apparent through Bathsheba's descriptions and internal thoughts, opinions she is reluctant to share because they describe a differing of beliefs. This tale of two worlds continually at conflict, warring and waging revenge is as old as the seas, yet this time we are experiencing the hunt from a dramatically different point of view, from the gigantic eyes of the masters of the oceans, the whales. In their world, ours is literally upside, in an abyss that