Maximum Ride
 | It has been suggested that Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment be merged into this article. (Discuss) |
Cover of The Angel Experiment (The first book) | |
| Author | James Patterson |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | 1st Book: Kamil Vojnar & Roger Wood 2nd Book: David Perry, Pete Turner & Rob Matheson |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young Adult Fiction |
| Publisher | Little, Brown |
Publication date | 1st Book: April 2005 2nd Book: May 2006 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 1st Book: 422 2nd Book: 408 |
| ISBN | [[Special:BookSources/1%3Csup%3Est%3C%2Fsup%3E+Book%3A+0-316-15556-X%3Cbr%3E%0A2%3Csup%3Est%3C%2Fsup%3E+Book%3A+0-316-15559-4 |1st Book: 0-316-15556-X 2st Book: 0-316-15559-4]] Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
Maximum Ride is a book series by James Patterson and published by Little Brown. The series is set in the near future, and centers around the 'Flock', a group of human-avian hybrids on the run from the scientists who created them. There are two books in the series so far: The Angel Experiment (2005) which was a New York Times Bestseller for 12 weeks, and School's Out Forever (2006). The books will be part of a trilogy.
The series is a pseudosequel to When the Wind Blows and The Lake House.
Organizations
The School
The brainchild of deranged geneticist Roland ter Borcht, the School is the birthplace of the Flock, the Erasers, and countless other genetic experiments of dubious morality. The School serves as a laboratory of Nazi-esque proportions, where cruel experiments on the genetically-altered humans are not only allowed, but encouraged by the scientists inside.
Since the Flock's escape from the School, the School has relentlessly tracked the Flock.
The School is located somewhere in Death Valley, California.
The Institute For Higher Living
An extension of the School, the Institute is another hub of morally dubious genetic experimentation. The Institute's archives store most of the paperwork for both the School and the Institute, including information on the origins of the Flock. This was located in New York.
Itex
A mega-corporation that controls most of the world, via a smattering of satellites and dummy companies. Upon further investigation, the flock realizes that Itex may be trying to destroy the world.
Characters
Max
Max, short for Maximum Ride, is the main character of the series. She is fourteen years old: the oldest of the avian-human hybrids and the leader of the flock. Max is a skilled fighter, and also has the ability to fly at supersonic speeds. She also has a bit of a soft spot for Fang, kissing him once during The Angel Experiment.
Max has a microchip implanted in her left arm, which she discovered through an x-ray. Its function and purpose are currently unknown, although the Flock suspects that it was implanted by the scientists and is used as a tracer.
Max is accompanied by a 'Voice' in her head, which usually gives her helpful advice in difficult situations.
Fang
The black-winged Fang is the most solitary of the flock members, and consequently has the least information available. He has an online blog, which he updates whenever possible. He has a bit of a soft spot for Max, though he wouldn't readily admit it. He kissed her forehead in the second book. Yet, he kissed another girl at a school in book 2. Fang also seems closer to Max in the Second book.
Iggy
Iggy is fourteen and one of the three oldest members of the flock; his blindness, caused by a failed attempt to surgically enhance his night vision when he was younger, is one of his defining traits. He is also quite talented at building and using explosives and makes them in cooperation with the Gasman. Since he was blinded, his other senses have been greatly heightened, and he uses them to compensate for his inability to see.
Iggy's real name is James Griffiths. He is the only member of the flock who has located his biological parents, but he left their custody to rejoin the Flock when they attempted to sell his life story to eight different magazines.
Nudge
Nudge is African-American, 11 years old and very talkative. Her wings are brown with russet streaks, and are streaked with white on the underside. She is skilled in Psychometry, or the ability to pick up memories from inanimate objects.
The Gasman/Gazzy
The Gasman is eight years old and Angel's biological older brother. He earned his name from the fact that he frequently passes gas, although he is frequently called Gazzy or Gasser instead. He also has the ability to mimic any sound or voice which he uses to play pranks.
The Gasman and Iggy are best friends, and often work together to build explosives, pull pranks, or do tasks for the Flock.
Angel
Angel is the youngest of the group. She is six years old, and has beautiful white wings that give her an angelic appearance. She is dearly,dearly loved by Max and the rest of the flock. She is also the Gasman's sister.
Angel is a very powerful telepath, and can breathe underwater and talk to fish.
Total
Total is a talking Cairn terrier that joined the Flock after their visit to The Institute. He also can talk which is revealed in Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever.
His name may be a reference to Toto of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Jeb Batchelder
Jeb Batchelder is a scientist from the 'School'. He is Ari's father, although this did not stop him and others from turning Ari into an Eraser. He helped the flock escape the first time and lived with them for a few years, suddenly disappearing afterwards. Jeb later reappeared at the 'School' when the flock returned. Throughout the series, he keeps insisting that he is still a friend of the flock and wants to help them.
Ari
Ari is the son of Jeb Batchelder. Unlike the other hybrids, Ari spent his early life as a nonmutant human living in the School. When he was seven years old, Jeb mysteriously vanished, along with the Flock, leaving Ari at the tender mercies of the School's genetic engineers. The geneticists used Ari as an experiment, splicing his DNA with that of a wolf in order to create a new breed of Eraser that could live longer than the previous versions (whose DNA had been spliced in the womb). Ari, unsuprisingly, came to resent his father for abandoning him. However, most of his hate is directed towards the Flock, who he blames for causing Jeb to leave him.
Ari is a seven-year old boy in an adult body. He is the most 'wolfy-looking' of the Erasers, at one point being mistaken for the X-men character Wolverine.
During the climactic fight scene in "The Angel Experiment", Ari fought with, and had his neck broken by, Max. While the injury would have killed a nonmutant human, Ari recovered; the broken spine may have even been a blessing in disguise for him, as it allowed the School's scientists to graft a full pair of wings on his back. Ari is now a Flying Eraser.
Ari and Max share many connections, the most obvious being that they are both mutants and both hear "Voices" in their heads. In "The Angel Experiment", the possibility that Ari and Max are siblings is discussed.
In "School's Out Forever" it is revealed that Ari 'is in love with' Max. Which still doesn't explain why he tries to kill her and the flock, but does explain that he would like to take Max somewhere where she couldn't get away.
Max 2.0
Max 2.0 is a clone of the original Maximum Ride. She was created by the School, in an effort to replace the original Max with a controllable substitute. At one point she secretly replaced Max as the leader of the Flock, only to be exposed and rejected by the other Flock members. Fang was the one who noticed first though. Or at least said so in the Epiluge. At the end of “School’s Out Forever” she fought with, and was defeated by the original Max. Her whereabouts are currently unknown.
Erasers
Erasers are genetically engineered human-lupine hybrids. They work for the School, and function as hunters, shock troops, and executioners. In human form, the Erasers have a "sameness" about them; they are adult (regardless of their chronological age), suspiciously attractive and have silky, hypnotic voices.
Their genetic makeup is flawed, resulting in lifespan of about five to six years.
Soundtrack for the book
As an opportunity to increase the book's publicity and introduce emerging artists, Little, Brown also published a promotional soundtrack for the second book. The CD can only be found at concerts by the artists on the CD, Five Below (a store which sells summer/party supplies), or winning a contest on the Maximum Ride message board. These are tracks on the CD:
- "Death Said" by The Summer Obsession
- "What I Wouldn't Give" by Holly Brook
- "Shaky" by Cipes and the People
- "Underneath My Skin" by Brian Steen
- "Disappear" by The Summer Obsession
- "Wanted" by Holly Brook
- "The Way I Do" by Marcos Hernandez
- "Where Do We Go From Here" by Cooper
- "Golden Days" by Kelly Dalton
- "Take It From Me" by The Weepies
- "Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment: Special Excerpt"
- "Maximum Ride: School's Out - Forever: Special Excerpt"
Movie
Warner Brothers will be writing the script for a movie of When The Wind Blows and Maximum Ride. Matthew Huffman will write the script and Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster will produce the film.