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Maximum Ride Box Set (edit title/settings)

Books 1-6

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Maximum Ride is a series of five young adult science fiction/fantasy books, written by the award-winning American author James Patterson. The series chronicles the lives of six human/avian fugitives. Bred in a science lab called "The School", the Flock endured scientific experiments that... read more

Summary edit see section history

The first book in James Patterson's Maximum Ride series focuses around the rescue of Angel, the youngest member of the Flock. The Flock is safe in the mountains until the day a pack of Erasers, cruel and bloodthirsty, half-wolf half-men, appear out of nowhere and kidnap Angel. The Flock must... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The first book in James Patterson's Maximum Ride series focuses around the rescue of Angel, the youngest member of the Flock. The Flock is safe in the mountains until the day a pack of Erasers, cruel and bloodthirsty, half-wolf half-men, appear out of nowhere and kidnap Angel. The Flock must return to the dreaded School, a horrifying place that holds terrible memories of their past, to rescue Angel. Max is deeply confused when she finds out that Jeb Batchelder, the kindhearted, parental figure who looked after them and rescued them from the school, has reappeared on the bad side, and that Ari, Jeb Batchelder's son, has become an Eraser. While Max is thrown into struggles of looking after all of her Flock, saving Angel from the evil clutches of the white-coats, and realizing how complicated love can be, she is trying to figure out why she has a mysterious voice inside her head that no one else can hear, one that is telling her that her mission is to save the world...

After being reunited with Angel and adding a Scottish Terrier named Total to their group, the Flock heads off to look for their parents through papers they found in an underground lab called the Institute for Higher Living. Max is still reeling from Jeb's enigmatic scream over his dying son that Ari was her brother - does this mean Jeb may be her father? Or is it just another "test" designed to confuse her even more? On the way they run into flying Erasers (with patched on wings), which one turns out the be back-from-the-dead Ari, who leaves Fang fighting for his life. What they didn't expect was to get enrolled into a real school with teachers, students, and classes. And to find a motherly figure after all these years. Along with Total developing into a talking dog, which, of course, just adds to all the strange things happening to them. But all the people surrounding the Flock may not be who they claim. The principal is evil and works for the Institute and in school after Max spots Fang kissing a red-haired girl (who Max calls The Red Haired Wonder), she now is jealous while also being kidnapped and replaced by a clone Max that looks just like her but acts really differently, a fight will leave only one Max standing as Jeb makes it clear that there can be only one Max.

In the third installment, Max is faced with the task of saving the world from the Itex corporation and the evil Director - the company behind the School - who want to terminate all recombinant species and cut the population of earth by half. While all this is happening Fang is trying to persuade Max to find a permanent home where they can just live. The Erasers were some of the first to be destroyed and have been replaced with new threat of Flyboys (robotic-like Erasers that can fly). Further issues arise when Max invites Ari - the single remaining Eraser- to join the group, leaving Fang and half of the Flock to split off in protest, with Max the leader of one group, Angel, Nudge, and Ari, and Fang the leader of the second, Iggy and The Gasman. But then Ari dies, and, with all the other crazy things happening, Max finally finds out who her parents are, which turns out to be a good thing and a bad thing.

With the help of Max's newly found mom and dad, the Flock is taken to Antarctica, where a scientific team requires their assistance. But danger finds the Flock in the remote location, and they must fight when they find an international organization, led by the Uber Director, who Max calls UD, attempting to use them for evil by auctioning them off to evil leader of foreign countries to be used as weapons and mercenary. Total meets the love of his life, Akila the malamute, while he has grown wings. Fang kisses Max a couple of times and Max starts to notice that they are meant for each other even though she doesn't want to admit it.

The Flock have barely recovered from their Antarctica adventure before they are pulled into another one. Millions of fish are dying off the coast of Hawaii and something—or someone—is destroying hundreds of ships. The government enlists their help to find out the cause after being unable to themselves. While the Flock is undertaking the task, a criminal mastermind is tracking their every move. Then, Max's mother is kidnapped and is being held in an underground submarine. They must try to save the ocean, Max's mother, and protect themselves from the criminal mastermind's own ideas for them. During the struggles, Fang and Max's relationship is stronger, and Max feels that she loves Fang. The story was originally supposed to be titled, "Maximum Ride: Waterwings."

Being a teen 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. Then, a cryptic message from a young girl arrives, warning them "The sky will fall." 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.Angel is never wrong. Max's desperate desire to protect Fang brings the two closer than ever. But can the flock weather the storm, or will the turmoil rip them apart for the last time?

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Maximum Ride: Max is the leader of the group. She's about 14 years old, give or take, but she is extremely brave and is stronger than adults, although she's not much of a cook. She loves her flock more then anything, and always does her best to save them from the sticky situations they seem to get into a lot. In the second book, she finds that she is able to fly at speeds of 200mph and more without trying. She learns, just as she is about to drown after loosing her breathing gear while lost in an underwater cave, that she can breathe underwater just like Fang and Angel. Max soon finds out through out the series that she has some pretty powerful feeling about Fang.
  • Fang: Fang is very quiet and is a few months younger than Max. He is very emotionally sensitive, but strong and gains the power to camouflage himself by standing very still. Fang also discovers that he can breathe underwater just like Angel and Max. Fang is very good at hiding his emotions, Max is the only one that really knows what he's thinking besides Angel; who just reads his mind. Fang has loved Max since they ecaped from the school together when Jeb helped them. He also has a thing for redheads; which he finds out in the second book.
  • Iggy: Iggy is the sarcastic, wisecracking, member of the flock, who is slightly younger than Max and Fang. He is blind due to experiments done to his eyes at a very young age but he can cook, give high fives, and make explosives without a problem. His abilities gained due to being unable to see include being able to "feel" color. He can also hear when people are around when other members of the flock can't and therefore helps the flock determine when somebody is coming. He can also sometimes see on a background of white. He can hear where things are, just like a bat using sonar.
  • Nudge: Nudge is an eleven year old of African descendant. Her real name is Monique and she loves to talk. Also she can hack into computers with her ability to sense leftover emotions and draw metal to her. She is a very talkative child and she never shuts up. She wants to grow up to be strong, and like Max. She hopes to find her family and she is always ready to kick some butt.
  • The Gasman (gazzy): The Gasman is eight years old. He earned his name because he was born with a strange digestive system and, therefore, has a problem with flatulence, which eventually develops into a power. Gazzy can imitate any voice flawlessly. He is just as mischievous as Iggy is, and is a pyromaniac as well. Gazzy is always trying to act tough, despite his age. At birth, both Angel (the Gasman's blood sister) and The Gasman were sold by their parents for $10,000 to Itex. His parents lived in a place that is now a crack house where squatters live.
  • Angel: Angel is the Gasman's six year old blood sibling. She obtains seemingly random, but very useful powers at random times; for example, breathing underwater, being able to read minds, and being able to control minds. She also took Total, a talking dog that later grew wings, from a lab located in New York. In the 3rd book she is said to be a traitor but pretends.Max and Angel make a plain that if they were to ever get captured go w/ the bad guys and break them out. Angel wants to be like Max when she grows up. She had said in the 2nd Book that if she weere to ever find her family she wouldn't go w/o Max. In MAX Angel suggests that Max and Fang get married and she knows that Max and Fang love eachother.
  • Total: Total is Angel's talking dog. He was saved from the Institute of Higher Living in the first book, the Angel Experiment. Some powers of his are that he can jump really high and in the second book ,Schools out-forever, he reveals that he can talk. In The Protectors, he falls in love with an Alaskan dog named Akila and grows wings.
  • Jeb Batchelder: Jeb is a brilliant scientist. He used to work at the School where the Flock was experimented on. He rescued the Flock and brought them into the mountains, where he lived with them and "took them under his wing" as his children. Jeb disappeared, leaving the Flock very distressed and to fend for themselves. Jeb is Ari's father and is Max's biological father. Jeb is one of those characters where you not sure if he's bad or good. Max still does not trust him though.
  • Dr. Martinez: She's Max's and Ella's mother. She barely sees Max because Max is always on the run. When she found out that she was Max's mother, she greets her to the family. She's the veterinarian who got Max's chip taken out.
  • The erasers: The half human half wolf Erasers were bred by the School to be guards, but end up hunting the flock. They have the ability to morph into wolves, have superhuman strength, and eventually gain wings, though theirs are not as good as the flock's. Jeb's son, Ari, is made into an eraser, and is the last one to die when Itex "retires",meaning they killed them, all the Erasers and replaces them with the robot flyboys.
  • Ari: He is Jeb's son and Max's half brother. When he accepts Max's invitation to join her group, he causes the flock to break up therefore leaving Max with only half her beloved team. During a battle at Itex, Ari suddenly dies due to his expiration date. In the past, he always tried to kill Max and her flock but never succeeded. Ari is a seven year old trapped in a Eraser's body. He loves Max but he also hates her. He knows that Fang has a thing for her and he means to drive them away from each other, but in the end he fails. He ends up dying in book three during a big fight, his last words were to Max.
  • Ella: She's Max's sister and Dr.Martinez's daughter who likes to talk to her mother and sister about boys she meets. When she meets the flock, she likes how Iggy can eat and not spill anything.She is generally very cheerful and is often considered Max's first friend outside of the flock.
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

Organizations edit see section history

  • The Flock: Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel (Oh, I guess Total is, too)
  • The CSM: Dr. Martinez, the Flock, and other scientists/doctors trying to help save the world- global warming, world hunger, etc.

Glossary edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

Other Contributors:

  1. James Patterson (Author)

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • I, Alex Cross
  • Witch & Wizard
  • Alex Cross's Trial
  • Worst Case
  • The Midnight Club
  • The 8th Confession
  • Swimsuit
  • Roses Are Red

Books That Influenced This Book edit see section history

   
  • The Angel Experiment
  • Max
  • The Final Warning
  • School's Out — Forever
  • Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
  • Fang

Books Influenced by This Book edit see section history

   
  • The Angel Experiment
  • Max
  • The Final Warning
  • School's Out — Forever
  • Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
  • Fang

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