Maximum Ride
| Author | James Patterson |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thriller, Action- fiction, Science fiction, Fantasy |
| Publisher |
Headline Doubleday Little, Brown and Company |
| Published | April 11, 2005 – May 18, 2015 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
Maximum Ride is a series of young adult fantasy novels by the author James Patterson, with a manga adaptation published by Yen Press. The series is centered on the adventures of Maximum "Max" Ride and five other characters after their escape from the lab facility known as The School. Their group is labeled the Flock as each of the main characters are avian-human hybrids (they have wings), a result of the Flock's past involvement with The School. The series was inspired by but is not a reboot of Patterson's earlier novels When the Wind Blows and The Lake House.
The first book in the series by James Patterson gives an overview of the Flock: Maximum Ride (the leader), Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. These children, ages 6 through 14, are far from normal. They are only 98% human, while the other 2% is avian, giving them wings and special powers. This book covers some of the back story of the flock, explaining how they ended up on their own in their remote mountain home. It also covered the antagonistic half-wolf, half-human creatures known as Erasers. The youngest flock member, Angel, is abducted by the Erasers and taken back to "The School", the lab where they were genetically altered and raised in cages. Max and the remaining Flock leave their home in an attempt to rescue Angel, but are also captured and placed in dog crates similar to the ones they were raised in. While captured, Angel learns about "The Institute" from reading minds (one of her powers), a place in New York City that may hold some secrets to their past. The flock escapes "The School" and with a happy reconnection of the whole Flock together Max has a "Brain Explosion" and Max has massive headaches and a voice (other than her own) pops up in her head. With the Flock unsure of whether the voice is a friend or foe, Max decides to follow its cryptic instruction. The voice leads Max and the flock to The Institute, where they find a lab similar to The School and information on their unknown parents. The book ends with the flock beginning their journey to Washington D.C., in search of their parents.
The Flock is headed towards Washington, D.C. where they hope to find the answers to their origins. However, after Fang is gravely injured by a flying Eraser and taken to a hospital, the Flock is housed by an FBI agent named Anne Walker on the agreement that she is allowed to examine them "at a distance." The Flock enjoys a rare period of peace, even attending a private school, which is later discovered to have been a former insane asylum. Life is good to them for now, as Max sees it, but they happen to be seeing Erasers often, and the relationships between Max and Sam, and Fang and Lissa (whom Max refers to as "The Red Haired Wonder"), begin to cause tensions within the flock. Suddenly, Iggy finds his long lost parents. He later returns to the flock after he finds out his parents wanted to make money off of him. An ordeal at their school, during which Max is attacked by teachers with Tasers, results in the flock fleeing the school. Angel then suggests that they go to Florida, and for lack of a better plan, Max agrees. Later on, the Flock learns that a multi-national corporation named Itex is plotting to destroy the world, based on what Angel overheard when she was kidnapped back at the School, and is also tracking the Flock's movements. Earlier, Anne had revealed herself as Jeb's boss, therefore also a member of the lab that created the Flock, and seeks to capture them again. Max was captured in a hotel called Twilight Inn shortly after and is replaced by a clone of herself, Max II. Itex (the company that captured her) kept her in an isolation tank. After feeling she had lost her mind Jeb snuck into the tank to try and recover it. Soon after she escapes by playing dead. Afterward, Max faces Max II, and learns she is destined to either destroy Max II or have Max II kill her. However, she proves she is stronger by not killing the clone, saying to the scientists, "I'm stronger, because I'm not going to kill this girl for you. I won't sink to your pathetic level."
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