Maximum Ride Series

2 articles tagged as Maximum Ride Series

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, by James Patterson, tells the story of a group of genetically altered kids on a mission to save the world. This concept probably sounds similar to things you’ve read before.

But what makes this book (and the series) different is that Max and her ‘family’s’ DNA was spliced with bird DNA, giving them bird bones, a fast metabolism, and wings. In addition, extra ‘talents’ show up every so often, just to keep things interesting and add a bit of aid to the Bird Kids when things get tough.

I’m not going to lie. It took me a while to get into this book. I started reading it about this time last year but kept putting it down. Once I got past the first couple of chapters, I found myself wanting to know what was going on behind the scenes, how the mystery would play out. And I wasn’t all-together disappointed.

Where I was disappointed was in the main character, Max. She seemed to fit too neatly into the hardcore heroine mold that, in my opinion anyway, has been a bit overdone. Whereas Katniss in The Hunger Games managed to merge her hard edge with a realistic vulnerability, Max’s vulnerabilities felt a bit forced; she lacked the honesty found in some of the more memorable characters I’ve encountered in my reading life.

Another problem I had with the book was that sometimes the action became a bit confusing and, at times, forced. I don’t want to go into specifics and give away important scenes, but, like with Max’s character, the writing was not as honest as I would have liked.

All that being said, I read the second and third books in the series and, while I did not find that my general issues with the writing and character development improved with the series, I still found the books to be an entertaining read. If you are in need of airplane or beach reading, give this book (and the series) a try. If you want to recapture the feeling you got reading The Hunger Games, you may want to try something else.

Phew. The last day of November. I just uploaded my 50K+ words to NaNoWriMo and received my winner badge. And now I can get back to a regular blogging schedule.

Since I’ve been a bit awol as of late, I thought I’d give a little summary of the things you’ve missed during the writing marathon I just underwent. So here goes:

  1. I decided on the new design for my website. It should be up and running by the end of the year. Can you guess which design I went with?
  2. I saw the new Harry Potter Movie. Review to follow, but just as a teaser, I was pretty impressed and now I feel like I have to reread the book. More on that though.
  3. My work started blogging. Ok, I started blogging for work, but I’m roping in some additional authors from around the archaeology lab. If you have ever wondered what a real life museum person/archaeologist does, you should check out the NMSC Archeology Blog. It will also give you some insight into what I do when I’m not writing.
  4. I went home for the first time in 2 years and met my niece for the first time (she’s 2 in February). I also saw my almost 4 year old nephew. Not only are they super cute, but they reminded me about the little things kids find fascinating.
  5. I’ve read a lot. Hard to believe with all the writing, I know, but this month I’ve read: Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews; The Summoning, Kelley Armstrong; The Awakening, Kelley Armstrong; & The Angel Experiment, James Patterson. I’m currently reading The Duff, Kody Keplinger and School’s Out-Forever, James Patterson. As of this afternoon I will also be adding Matched, Ally Condie to my reading list, which came out today. So I’ve been busy and am now way behind on book reviews, but before you know it, I’ll be all caught up, I promise.
  6. And, my biggest achievement – I finished NaNoWriMo! My first draft is not finished, but I’ve made pretty good progress. And, now that NaNo is over, it means I can return to my other WIP. The away time has been good and I’m ready to dive back in and get that sucker ready to go.

It’s been a busy month and I won’t lie. I’m kind of happy to see it come to a close. How was your November? Any exciting things happen? Did you catch any good books or movies? Come up with a new idea for a book? Any big plans for December in preparation for the start of another new year?