Malorie Blackman’s latest book, Chasing the Stars is her take on William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello.
It is set in space, in the year 2164, 600 years after Shakespeare’s birth. Vee is a teenage girl and represents the Othello character. She is captain of the space ship Aidan.
I am going to try not to give too much away, but basically Vee and her brother rescue a group of survivors from a planet that is being ravaged by the Mazon (the evil aliens). One of them is a miner called Nathan. He and Vee secretly like each other, but can’t tell anyone else.
Vee is a very strong female lead character and I think she will be one of those characters readers remember for a very long time. I would say you do not have to know the story of Othello to understand Chasing The Stars. Part of the story reflects what is going on in the world today, including the refugee crisis.
This is a story about revenge, love, loss and hate. If I had to rate this book, I would give it a 10/10 because of the amazing and gripping plot. It had me carrying my copy of the book around my school all day; I just couldn’t put it down. I would recommend it for ages 13+ because of strong language and frequent adult themes (even though I’m younger and had to skip a few bits because they were a bit too much for me!)
I had the chance to meet Malorie Blackman at the launch of Chasing The Stars so I had my proof copy from Guardian Children’s Books signed. Malorie let slip that there will be a sequel at some point in the future and I can’t wait for that!
Happy reading!!
- Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop
