Max: A Maximum Ride Novel

Max: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson

Release Date: March 16th, 2009
Publisher: Little Brown
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 320
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Maximum Ride and the other members of the Flock have barely recovered from their last arctic adventure, when they are confronted by the most frightening catastrophe yet. Millions of fish are dying off the coast of Hawaii and someone-or something--is destroying hundreds of ships. Unable to discover the cause, the government enlists the Flock to help them get to the bottom of the disaster before it is too late.

While Max and her team are exploring the depths of the ocean, their every move is being carefully tracked by Mr. Chu--a criminal mastermind with his own plans for the Flock. Can they protect themselves from Mr. Chu's army of mercenaries and save the ocean from utter destruction?

After reading the Final Warning, I was slightly against reading this book. I did not want to be disappointed yet again in a story I had grown to love.

This book wasn’t as bad as the last one, but not as good as the first three. The plot was a little more defined and back toward what the first ones were about. It still had the environment concern in the story but not as deeply as The Final Warning. However, it just wasn’t a great book.

I feel as if James Patterson is just squeezing the Max story to get every penny out of it. I might read the next one, but I might not. I guess it depends on my reading list when it comes out.

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Maximum Ride: The Final Warning

Maximum Ride: The Final Warning by James Patterson

Release Date: March 17th, 2008
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 256
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Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride and the other members of "Flock"--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like ordinary kids--only they have wings and can fly. It seems like a dream come true--except that they're still being hunted by new threats at every turn.

This time, the US government wants to keep the Flock under observation, offering a safe haven and schooling in return. But after their incredible adventures in books 1-3, Max and Flock have grown to love freedom- -after all, haven't grown-ups always found a way to ruin their lives? After escaping the control of the feds, they are surprised to find themselves allied with a group of environmental scientists who just might be trustworthy. Besides, what enemy could find them in one of the remotest locations on earth--Antarctica--on an expedition studying the effects of global warming up close?

There is one: The Uber-Director-- literally, brains on a stick--an evil being who has developed mechanical soldiers far more frightening than Erasers. Their quest? To retrieve the Flock and sell them in a global auction for billions of dollars. Will the Uber-Director nab them before Max, Fang and the flock succumb to the dangers of the harsh Antarctic wilderness? Kids, parents and educators tuned into the issue of global warming will find this latest episode of the blockbuster Maximum Ride series not only a particularly riveting adventure beyond their wildest dreams, but also a motivating cautionary tale about a real-life peril that may affect their own future.

Okay. This book was a big let down after the first three books. I loved the story the other three books created, and was eager to continue reading about the life of the Flock. However, this book just wasn’t up to par.

It wasn’t the characters or the writing that let me down. It was the overall plot. The story shifted from a huge knot-tying adventure into…saving the world from global warming? Really? Are you really telling me that the purpose that Max was created for was to outlive…global warming.

Then, you get a possible bad guy who could turn the story around and before you know it the story is over. The villain isn’t even really described! It was like ‘This the bag guy. Now he’s dead. The End.’ I didn’t even get enough detail to get worked up over their possible demise this time.

Maybe I’m just slightly against the idea of global warming, but this book was just not what I was expecting at all.

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Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports by James Patterson

Release Date: May 29th, 2007
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 405
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Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride and the other members of the "flock"--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like ordinary kids--only they have wings and can fly. It seems like a dream come true--except that they're being hunted by half-human, half-wolf "Erasers" who can fly, too. 



In Book 3 of the series, the flock members are faced with a new enemy--robots called Flyboys who are stronger than Erasers and have retractable wings. The last thing Max wants is to keep running for her life, but she has to, taking the Flock across the country. There, they meet the sinister scientist Ter-Borsht, who speaks of something called "Re-Evolution," and the "By-Half Plan": the most frightening human experiment they can imagine--a kind of ethnic cleansing of the entire planet.



As fear and tension escalate among the flock members--and a romance starts to form between Max and Fang--they split up, with Max taking the girls to Europe, where they are held captive yet again. The only thing that keeps Max going is that, this time, she might finally meet her mother and father--but she still has to save the world. Max Ride's final flight is like a thrilling roller coaster ride with twists you'd never expect and a landing that can't be anything other than... perfect.

This book is the end in this particular trilogy. It wraps up what Max and her friends were trying to accomplish in the first two books, answering any questions left over by the first two books.

There isn’t much development character wise. We learn things about each of them that we may not have known before, but there isn’t anything surprisingly new with the characters, except for maybe the developing relationship between Fang and Max, which I absolutely adore.

The conclusion to the original book is pretty good in comparison to other books. The story does continue, though taking a different direction with the other books in the series that are basically stand alone novels.

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Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever

Maximum Ride: School’s Out Forever by James Patterson

Release Date: September 1st, 2009
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 409
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Brave bird-kid Max and her flock fly south on a perilous quest to find their parents, after having rescued Angel and recovered secret documents about their origins. But just when they think they've finally escaped the hungry claws of evil Erasers, they're discovered by an FBI agent and forced to face perhaps an even worse nightmare: going to school. There's no such thing as an ordinary day when Max's "homework" includes decoding documents, deciphering when (and how) she's supposed to save the world, and learning to face what may be her greatest enemy: herself. A clone. Max II.

This sequel to The Angel Experiment did not leave me disappointed. It picked up right where the first one left off and was a great book.

The character relationships grew even more in this book, and it is even more evident why these bird-kids stick together instead of going off on their own. Even more twists are thrown at the reader as they try to figure out who the true enemy is in this book. There would be a moment of peace for the reader and the bird-kids until some new challenge was thrown at them.

This is definitely a series to keep one’s eyes on. It’s a new and original story written in an easy, fast pace way.

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Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

Release Date: May 1st, 2006
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 464
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Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it's like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the "flock"--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like ordinary kids--only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time...like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is kidnapped and taken back to the "School" where she and the others were experimented on by a crew of wack jobs. Her friends brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare--this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf "Erasers" in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-figure Jeb--now her betrayed and greatest enemy--that her purpose is save the world--but can she?

The story is a new fairy tale in the making. Every kid who has read it would be ready to make or buy fake wings and pretend to be one of the bird kids in the Flock. Even though it is set for a younger age range, I even feel the need to act the same way.

The characters are new and refreshing. The spunky character of Max is witty and fun loving. Fang is a great counter-part with is silent and brooding manner though you can tell he really cares about the Flock in his own way. Nudge and the Gasman are great comic reliefs to the serious advantage to rescue the gifted Angel. Iggy is a personal favorite because he is just as capable even though he is handicapped.

This was a fun read, and it was easy. The writing was simple, not to difficult at all. It was also written in a way where you feel like part of the adventure. It is also the first in the series and is a great beginning to the story being told.

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