Saving the World (Maximum Ride, Book 3) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: bird kids, New York, Anne Walker, By-Half Plan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The end is near . . . or is it? So reads the tagline of Book 3 of the Maximum Ride series, suggesting that Patterson's best-selling series for YAs may expand beyond the trilogy originally planned—news that will be greeted enthusiastically by fans of its 14-year-old heroine. Slated for extermination by their scientist creators, rebel-mutant Max and other members of her flock, all of whom possess bird DNA and functioning wings, are on the lam again, their mission to save the world from a eugenics plot. Affection for the dauntless characters and misadventures that build on universal yearnings about sprouting wings and taking flight will hold readers. Mattson, Jennifer

Product Description

In MAXIMUM RIDE: 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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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (May 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316155608
• ISBN-13: 978-0316155601
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #37,821 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 3 in The Maximum Ride Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars jumpy, plot doesn't flow (SPOILER ALERT), July 4, 2007

By	P. Bowers "reader" (Richmond, VA & Tirana, Albania) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I know this book is written for a younger audience, but I thoroughly enjoyed the first 2 installments. Now that I've read the third I WISH I HAD NEVER GOTTEN STARTED! There are so many things that are left hanging or "closed" in nonsensical ways!

(1) We never find out how the flock was being tracked.
(2) The whole business with Max's Mom/Dad ended way too unsatisfying -- just boom, now we know and everybody hugs and is happy even though BOTH Mom & Dad should have had some accountability.
(3) The whole betrayal by Jeb is turned into (what?) some kind of under-the-radar helping the flock?
(4) Angel can read minds, but never can or does at the crucial moment of deciding whether we can trust someone. Why not?
(4a) Contrary to some other reviews I thought Ari's "turn" was well done and believable, but why couldn't Angel just confirm one way or the other?
(4b) Why couldn't she figure out what was going on with Jeb right off and let everybody know?
(5) Fang somehow manages to hack into the systems of these super-secret corporations even though Nudge isn't around. Did I miss something?
(6) Angel's being a traitor and then resolving itself is WAY too simplistic. What? "Oh, I forgot to mention this to the rest of the flock." Either there needs to be a reason for it being so secretive or it would have been shared with the rest.
(7) You have these super-enhanced robotic fly-boys that are designed to beat anything and (a) the flock can fight them about 10-1 and (b) when a child throws a rock over a wall and hits one suddenly it sits down and doesn't move anymore.
(8) The whole thing of kids the world over being able to violently overthrow high security installations is a bit of a stretch.
(9) Would have been nice to see better closure on the whole Itex thing. I suppose we can imagine, but it just felt too rushed.
(..) I could go on and on.

I liked the style continued with the earlier books. The romance with Fang went very nicely and believably. The split of the flock showed some change in the characters which I thought enhanced the book.

The series has been a really fun read, but for me much of a book is based on the ending. You can't have a great series of books which ends on a completely inconsistent and rushed note and not have the whole series judged negatively.

Sorry, I really wish I had never started the series.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wait Until Available in Your Local Library to Avoid Maximum Disappointment!, August 14, 2007

By	James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Fifth novel overall about these characters and the third aimed at the young adult market this book shows Patterson has just plain run out of ideas and doesn't even fully develop the ones he did come up with as to what to do with these kids with wings. Don't pay money for this, borrow it from your library to avoid maximum disappointment of both the storyline and throwing away your heard earned cash!

In this adventure Max and Fang are having relationship issues, even though neither seems to want to admit their feelings for one another. They haven't seen any Erasers for a while and some of the flock just want to settle down and forget about saving the world. Scientists have been given orders to terminate these winged failures and they've got some cyborg Flyboys with instructions to bring them back to The School. Meanwhile an evil dictator residing in Europe has plans for mass genocide that make Hitler look like a choir boy that when successful will reduce the world's population by half. Of course the voice in Max's head keeps telling her only she can save the world!

This book starts off extremely slow with the entire part of Part One "In Search of Hot Chocolate Chip Cookies" pretty much just being Max rehashing the first two Young Adult books resulting in you the reader pretty much just going, come on get on with it! Great young adult (and even junior) fiction like any good PG movie should be just as enjoyable to adults as well. The first novel in the Young Adult series wasn't that much different writing wise to the two adult adventures, the second was more like your usual young adult novel but Patterson seems to struggle as to which target market he is writing for with this book with parts reading like a junior fiction book. This novel spends more time with Max trying to make wise cracks then actually having a storyline. At the end not much has happened, not much is resolved (obviously Patterson is leaving the option for more books in the series) and the reader is left feeling pretty unsatisfied. The reader is forced to believe in massive coincidences when it comes to Max's parentage.

The first book of this series was pretty good, the second no where near that quality and after this disaster I won't be continuing the ride when the fourth novel comes out.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, May 30, 2007

By	TeensReadToo.com "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

Max and the flock are back. While she continues to keep the flock safe, she also has to figure out how she is supposed to save the world. The evil plan is days away from unfolding. Half of the people in the world are going to be killed in order to give the worthy ones that remain a chance to thrive. The human race has done such a poor job of taking care of the planet that the Itex Corporation decided only the people with something to offer deserve the right to live in it.

Another problem the flock is dealing with is the creation of an updated version of Erasers. Now made of metal and covered with a layer of skin, learning how to take them out takes a little time - especially since these "Flyboys" come equipped with guns!

Relationships are strained within the flock in this latest installment of the MAXIMUM RIDE saga (following Maximum Ride : The Angel Experiment (Teen's Top 10 (Awards)) and Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever). Fang continues to update his blog and attempt to enlist children from around the world to become involved with the fight against Itex and all its subsidiaries. Max doesn't have faith that kids can help, which, of course, causes friction between them and ultimately leads to a split in the group.

The reader is tugged along on a roller coaster ride adventure with Max's constant sarcastic commentary to guide them. We see familiar faces as well as meet brand new players in this deadly game. Max manages to thwart disaster, reconcile the flock, and discover the identity of her parents. James Patterson does a nice job of tying up loose ends and leaves the story with a satisfying ending. If there isn't a fourth installment, fans will be happy with the way Max and the rest of the flock land on their feet.

Reviewed by: Karin Perry