My travel time to work is 30% more
than the national average, which sucks, but it also gives me time to read books
or fizzle out in my dreams; though I do the latter more, I do take out some
time to read. For some reason, I wanted to experience Audiobooks and for a very
long time a thriller.
Both the combination led me to
James Patterson’s Maximum Ride. Maybe I did not read the label correctly as it
was not the kind of thriller I was expecting. More on it later.
First my two cents on Audio books
– I think Audio books are acquired taste. The book started with chapter one;
skipping the forward, dedication and editor’s/Author’s note, which I read
keenly in a book. A miss for me. I found
the voice childish, to begin with, but maybe that’s what the character
demanded. The two biggest flaws for me were the emotions; the monologue does
not capture the emotions well and same voice for different characters. Though
when we read it’s our same voice as well, but we do it better, isn’t it?
Other things which I didn’t like
were - You will not know when a chapter has ended, you will miss some words
with the glitches in the audio, you have to listen else intently you will miss
the bus, and most importantly you will not get a chance to pause to admire the
work/words usage etc. well you can pause; but …
All is not bad, though – you can
finish a book without straining your eyes in 4 hours. Hours depends on the book
size. That’s about it!!!
Now on to the story. Unnecessary.
Terrible. Childish. Nothing new.
The story starts with Max a
fourteen-year-old mutant, a human form with wings living with the flock of five
other mutant kids. They are hiding, hunted by another mutant race. They fly
around six hundred miles to discover their destiny. No, it’s not about the
travel, it's more about the individual instances that happen with them as a
result of this journey.
Angel is kidnapped in the
beginning, and the rest of them fly to rescue them, after rescuing they ran
into various incidents with the same erasers!(other mutant race) Who at the end
we find out does not want to do permanent damage to them – ON orders from
Director. Yes, there is a larger plot too.
I didn’t realise that it is young
adult fiction series. As the story moves rather slowly and when I started to
wonder and looked on the internet to find out this is book 1 of 5-6 book
series. God save me.
If you like reading mutant, YA,
one kid saving the world shit, then this is for you. But even so, the lack of
consistency in the book is horrendous. Suddenly the characters start using
common human lingo – how is that possible when they have lived their entire
life secluded. OKAY if you say that they watched it on TV, still how did they
become so familiar with New York streets without prior knowledge?
Most frustrating thing was the
sudden emotional / monologue statement which was completely out of place. For
example, at numerous places, they are in near death situation and passing
casual comments as if were on a dining table. It doesn’t fit well.
I thought I picked up the book
with different expectations and maybe that’s why I didn’t like it. But no the
IMDB rating for the moving is below 4, that has to do with the movie direction
but says something about the book too.
Maybe the larger plot, the journey
keeps you interested in the book at some level.
In the end; there’s nothing new and original,
and I will not read the next books in the series.
Finally
Will I read the Author again – YES
(not this series, though)
Will I read this book again – No
Will I recommend the book to
others – No
Will I store the book in my
“Library” – No
