Saving the World (Maximum Ride, Book 3) | 
|  | | | Title: | Saving the World (Maximum Ride, Book 3) | | Author: | James Patterson | | Publisher: | Grand Central Publishing | | Type: | Book / Mass Market Paperback | | Publication Date: | 01 February, 2008 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0446194042 / 9780446194044 | | List Price: | $7.99 | | Amazon Price: | $7.99 | |
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Product Description
There's one last chance to save the world in the third book in the Maximum Ride series, SAVING THE WORLD AND OTHER EXTREME SPORTS. The time has arrived for Max and her winged "flock" to face their ultimate enemy and discover their original purpose: to defeat the takeover of "Re-evolution"--a sinister experiment to re-engineer a select population into a scientifically superior master race...and to terminate the rest. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel have always worked together to defeat the forces working against them--but can they save the world when they are torn apart, living in hiding and captivity, halfway across the globe from one another?
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Customer Reviews:
• "i Vill Now Destroy De Snickuhs Bahrs!" 26 April, 2008
Plot SPOILERS all over the honking place!!!
Raised in a laboratory, kept in dog crates, tortured and experimented on. Grafted with avian genes, granting them retractable wings and the wondrous gift of flight. 14-year-old Maximum Ride (call her Max) and her younger charges, her flock, escaped from the infernal School four years ago. And they've been on the run since then. The School isn't about to let them go, constantly sending out its murderous enforcers, the genetically manipulated, werewolf creatures called the Erasers. Sucks for Max and the others, but the School has a way to always trace them. The flock lives day to day, in fear, with Max desperately striving to keep everyone together and safe.
Moving on now to MAXIMUM RIDE: SAVING THE WORLD & OTHER EXTREME SPORTS, the third entry in James Patterson's riproaring, bestselling Maximum Ride novels, which picks up four days after the flock's escape from the Itex Corporation's Floridian headquarters (check out School's Out - Forever (Maximum Ride, Book 2)). This one, for all intents and purposes, puts the capper on the series, even though a fourth book did come out later. But SAVING THE WORLD has Max and her fellow fugitives, after four years of endless running and being relentlessly hunted down, at last coming face to face with the head of that shadowy organization which had been plaguing them all their young lives. This is the one where Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel (and, yes, even Total the talking dog) are pushed like never before. The one where the globe-spanning Itex Corporation's alarming By-Half Plan is finally exposed (and, yes, it's pretty diabolical). Itex, by the way, is the controlling entity behind the School and the Institute. And where Max is pitted against her most lethal adversary yet, a mutant who happens to be the ultimate in genetical manipulation. But, thing is, this mutant, he doesn't have Max's heart...
Other things that happen (remember, SPOILERS): Fang's blog really takes off; the Erasers are decomissioned; Itex plays head games with the flock; Max and Fang have an argument which divides the flock; the conflicted Eraser, Ari, is showcased more; several of the kids go gallivanting around Europe (but Paris is their favorite); we find out what's up with Max's inner Voice; and Max finds out some deeply personal stuff. Oh, and the flock kind of saves the world.
MAXIMUM RIDE: SAVING THE WORLD & OTHER EXTREME SPORTS might be a ponderous title, but that doesn't change the fact that it's also exciting and unputdownable and reads like you're watching a riveting sci-fi/fantasy/action movie. Patterson makes you care for these characters, and, above all, for Max, who continues to narrate the story from her very conversational, first-person perspective. She remains a person you'd want to root for, with her guts and her resoluteness and her moments of despair and fear and, as ever, her caring for her friends. Plus, she's got that snarky, sarcastic, irreverent vibe going on...
Even though James Patterson wrote this book for a much younger generation, I, an old dude, tore thru this one like a mongoose after a rattler. I defy any reader to not fall in love with the flock and the sheer wonder of their world. It's a cautionary tale on a humongous stage, yep, but you can't help but marvel at the genetical variations which the nasty, evil Itex Corporation has come up with. I dearly enjoy reading Patterson's Alex Cross suspensers, but I'd drop Alex like a hot potato if given a chance to read more of Maximum Ride's adventures. Only some of my favorite moments in SAVING THE WORLD: the battle taking place over Los Angeles (involving the flock, robots, and gangbangers), the flock's hilarious frustrating of that scientist ter Borcht (you know, with the thick German accent), Max's touching reunion with Dr. Martinez and her daughter Ella, and Max's contest with Omega.
Now, here's the downside: Enjoyable as it is, the book could've used some tightening up. Patterson does get lazy with some of his writing and ends the book with several dangling threads. How the School keeps tracking the flock is never really explained (Was it Max's chip? Was it Total? Was it someone else in the flock?). And what about Ari, whose conversion is so abrupt it gave me whiplash? Oh, and, somehow, somewhen, a streak of environmentalism manages to sneak in from out of the blue. And if I let myself, I can even fixate on how this megalomanical cabal of genius scientists turns out to be a pretty lame bunch of fumblers in the end. To me, the showdown with the Itex Corporation could've had more punch; the mad whitecoats should definitely have been given more of a smackdown. Still, even if the bad guys aren't that well developed, the young protagonists are overwhelmingly appealing and remain the series' strongest asset. Who hasn't had dreams of flying? James Patterson takes that fondest of wishes and applies it in a hell of a thrillride. But it wouldn't have worked as well if you didn't give a crapolla about these kids. The flock endearingly exudes childish glee and vulnerability while flaunting formidable abilites (mind reading, breathing underwater, explosives expertise, computer wizardry, uncanny mimicry, and, of course, flying). And Max, the leader of the bunch and the toughest of the lot, well, shucks, she's simply unforgettable.
The Maximum Ride books (so far):
- Maximum Ride : The Angel Experiment (Teen's Top 10 (Awards))
- School's Out - Forever (Maximum Ride, Book 2)
- MAXIMUM RIDE: SAVING THE WORLD AND OTHER EXTREME SPORTS
- The Final Warning (Maximum Ride, Book 4)
And, if you're curious about the book which inspired this series, look up James Patterson's excellent When the Wind Blows, which features a winged character named Max (but not this same Max).
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2HVL790PBWYTU
• The Series Weakens.. 24 April, 2008
I snared this one when its paperback form hit the shelves last February. I had read the two earlier installments of the series, and I was eager to continue, so I went into 'Saving the World' with a good deal of interest.
And I'm pretty disappointed. The Maximum Ride series has never been a showcase for good literature. Patterson wipes the floor with character development, detail, and realism and replaces it with big doses of nonstop action. This worked for the first two books, and it works for this one, but 'Saving the World' is a bit different.
This time, the flock uncovers the true plans of 'Itex' (The School), and thus begins the slow death of the franchise. Patterson makes the bad guys laughably bad, the kind of villains you'd commonly see on Disney and Cartoon Network shows. Their master plan of domination is as equally clichéd and ridiculous. I personally liked the series a hell of a lot more when it was just the Erasers chasing them. Sure, they still get chased by them this time, but the fight scenes are nearly nonexistant. The flock settles, the Erasers come, the flock escapes.
The characters are just as flat and typical as they have been, with Angel spewing out her seemingly endless array of powers. This time, she can take over peoples' minds and block out basically anything 'unusual' they might see, meaning the flock (and Ari) can now ride in airplanes and tour Europe without anyone getting suspicious. Cheap.
Patterson also decides to add a new element to his storyline - Global Warming! This was probably the worst thing he could have done, and when I was finished with 'Saving' I could only begin dread what the next installment would end up looking like. My fears were right, and the fourth book turned out to be just as bad as I thought. Bummer.
Nonetheless, the book has enough going on and enough thrills to excite both fans of the series and people (probably of the younger age) looking for a fast-paced adventure.
Alas, while the first two installments were great, this one, and the following one, killed my love of the series, and any respect I had for Patterson.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A34QO2WV64JJRQ
• Saving Th Eworld 04 May, 2008
Book was in good condition, & I rec'd it in a shor t amount of time.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3DHNOKRNJYI7L
• Another Winner 20 March, 2008
The "Maximum" series is definitely a winner, and this third book in the series is as spellbinding as the first two. I know these books are geared more toward "young" adults, but this "old" adult enjoys them too. I can hardly wait to get started on the fourth one.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3OHENKNEDAKT2
• Another Great Patterson Book! 21 March, 2008
My son loves this series. I turned him on to Patterson since I own all his books (at least all the ones in paperback)! Seems like Patterson has another die hard fan in my kid.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3RH61ZTRKSI06
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