Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel

My cousin recently came back from vacationing in malaysia and brought back the latest Maximum Ride novel with her. She introduced me to the series about flying mutant kids a few years back and we're both hooked. I'm usually not into the sci-fi, aliens, mad-scientist books but this one was way more than that, the author combined a lot of different themes into one series. The main focus is action, which is okay with me, but it also has humor, drama, and a bit of romance thrown in towards the end.

Quick Summary of the Series:

The main character is Maximum, or Max, who is a winged teenager who is always on the run from evil scientists trying to trap and experiment on her and her flock. There's Fang, who's her "right-hand man", Iggy who is the cook (also blind which is good since that makes his reflexes better than the rest of the flock), Nudge the 11 year old fashion crazed pre-teen, Gazzy "The Gasman" who is the demolitions expert, and last but not least Angel, the baby of the flock at 6 years old, she reads minds, sends telepathic messages, can use mind control, breathe underwater and talk to fish. It seems that with every book that comes out Angel acquires a new super-talent.

Blurb from Goodreads.com:

Being a kid with wings--constantly on the run--has never been easy, and Max and her flock are getting tenser than ever. First, on a trip to Africa, they meet a mysterious billionaire whose intense scrutiny of the Flock makes her fear the worst. And as if an impending apocalypse weren't bad enough, canny birdkid Angel makes a dire prophecy about Max's soul mate: Fang will be the first to die. Max's desperate desire to protect Fang brings the two closer than ever. But can the team weather the storm, or will the turmoil rip them apart for the last time?

This Book:

This book was mostly about, you guessed it! Fang! The taciturn teenager who has a love-connection with Max starts off the book as his usual self. But when Angel predicts that he will be the first to die out of the flock and that his death will be soon he starts to spend more and more time with Max, making the rest of the flock resent the new situation. Tempers heat up and quite a few changes take place for the flock to adjust to. If you leave out the ending, I think this one is the best maximum ride books out yet. The writing style, which I have never been fond of, has slightly improved in Fang...no glaringly obvious weird sentences that can take the fun out of reading the book like *some* of his other books have. I wont spoil anything for anyone, but I will say that if you're willing to wait for "Angel" to come out, it'd be less of a cliff-hanger for you to read both at once. Of course I don't know if the ending to Angel will be an even bigger cliff-hanger...

The Verdict:

It wasn't my favorite of the series but I liked it all the same. Easy to read, flows nicely, quite a few scenes for all you Fax supporters, the book is kind of focused on how their relationship makes Max a worse leader. Pretty loud hints that a love triangle is coming soon, not really looking forward to sludging through that in the next book.

Ever yours ~

The Know-it-all