The 5th Wave: The First Book of the 5th Wave Series Paperback – Deckle Edge, 10 February 2015

If this book review turns out to be an unusually positive one, please do not resort to thinking I received financial benefit from Rick Yancey. To be honest, I felt an emotional connection with the author, because of an interview I watched with him. I watched one of his interviews in Youtube and in it he said something that piqued my attention. He said before being a full-time author, he was a government employee, working strict schedules for an average payscale. Nothing is wrong with working tight schedules or receiving a meagre pay cheque at the end of the month. Perhaps, one should work on ways to come to terms with these ideas if one has a dream to chase and a light to follow.“I was writing at the time, and I thought, “Well, I need something to pay the bills, and I’ll just hang on to this until my writing takes off, or I actually get off my butt and get a master’s degree in English and maybe teach somewhere.” Then twelve years later, I was still there,” remarks Yancey in a detailed interview given to http://www.lightspeedmagazine. com/.Every human being goes through a set of affirmation techniques in one’s course of early adult life. In The 5th Wave, a Young Adult novel about alien invasion, Cassie Sullivan grows out of her worst fears through affirming her humanity, and this existential event is at the centre of the book. Evan Walker, the protagonist is an alien being in human form. His mission is to kill Cassie. She names his kind of killers Silencers. Cassie lives through the fifth wave of alien invasion. She lost her parents and young brother in the previous four waves.In some uniquely uninspiring way, The 5th Wave does not hesitate to copy the tension between Bella and Edward from Twilight saga, where the male counterpart had to kill the female partner in order to satiate the mission bestowed upon him by the centre of his origin. It is some original commitment that Evan Walker and Edward Cullen are struggling with in each of these novels. Then there is the sexual tension. Although Twilight saga explored the sexual tension between the two characters, the driving force in The 5th Wave is the existential question of the encounter with the Other.Symbolically speaking, the Other could be anyone including the culturally, socially, and politically marginalized people. The 5th Wave asks the question of facing a ‘global’ Other. The 5th Wave works within the frame of sci fi literature. It utilizes the same theme that one may see in H G Wells’ novels as well as in countless Hollywood movies ranging from Independence Day to to the cinematic representation of War of the Worlds. What makes The 5th Wave different from other stories on alien invasion is its tenacity in supplying alternative possibilities for the scenario. It’s not surprising if you found the book a bit spooky. The 5th Wave shares the knowledge of how insecure we ought to feel in our ordinary existences. An electromagnetic pulse, just as the one that appears in the book, could cut down almost all our technological implementations, in all walks of life. For example, patients will die on operation tables in hospitals, airplanes and vehicles may crash onto one another due to lack of any human control, libraries would be shut down and computers just won’t work any longer.The 5th Wave follows the narrative style for a Young Adult novel. That does not mean there is an accepted way to write YA that is approved by the Committee of letters in the Indian Parliament. But there is always expectation from the reading community. In a YA novel, there should always be a young female protagonist, in search of something; sometimes identity, sometimes family members, as it happens in The 5th Wave. Cassie searches for her little brother Sammy. Look how important the notion of journey is in today’s literary superhits. The Alchemist has one, The Hunger Games has one, although this one is not through a longitudinal plane. The Games, still invokes the sense of a journey in all its grandeur and challenges.The 5th Wave is a good book that thrills, provokes thoughts and asks some simple yet elegant questions on life. In the beginning of the story, cassie accidentally kills a soldier, who she identifies as the crucifix soldier. This accident changes her state from a ruthless killer to a caution human being caught in the web of several ethical and emotional concerns. This is the point where the story really begins. The beginning of The 5th Wave is located at the spot where Cassie is transformed by the weight of the act committed by her into a human being. After losing her father and little brother to unknown forces, Cassie creates the self-identity of the sole-survivor of the alien invasion. This brings up the issue of staying alive not for a personal reason, but for the entire human race. The only way Cassie could achieve this feat in an alien infested planet is to attack and kill anyone or anything that moves bringing thoughts of insecurity to her mind. Cassie uses her M16 Luger to perform all her early killings.When she realizes that the soldier she met in the abandoned utility story is putting his hand in his jacket, Cassie pulls the trigger. That was part of the rule that she created as a defence mechanism. That was her special way of surviving. She was partly following her intuition and partly her wisdom. But she was wrong this time. The soldier she met at the utility store put could not react when the bullet from her M16 Luger separated his life from body.The lifeless arm of the soldier came out. It had a crucifix in it. Perhaps, that was his way of keeping himself alive; perhaps, it was his prayer. But this time, it didn’t work either. Cassie realizes that this was not an alien in human form, one of the Silencers, but just a man. Just a moment back, contrary to what she had thought, she was not alone in this blue planet. But she had just killed that last unknown partner in the death-game.Throughout the rest of her battle, Cassie finds herself struggling with this moment. Can she even think about overcoming the impact of this moment? Well, if you want to know the answer, you must read The 5th Wave. It’s a good book. I am not saying this because Rick Yancey’s humble beginning appeals to my situation also. The 5th Wave is a good book because it delivers a good story in a readable language with powerful characters.Happy readingAnu Lal (Author of Mount Sermon)

Alien InvasionIf the phrase “alien invasion” has ever had you wonder what would happen if our world was invaded by aliens, author Rick Yancy has brought this very scenario to life in his novel The 5th Wave.Some of us have wished for an alien invasion at some point or other, but have we ever thought about the aftermath of the attack? Of course, an invasion might sound fascinating, but it will carry something awful with it; we are unaware of the consequences, some of us still think that aliens would be like the one in E.T. Friendly and kind, and they will help us fly our bicycle right up to the moon.The 5th Wave has that familiar aura of being cliche, but it is addictive. In a world ambushed by aliens, you would think the story would present humanity’s sin’s and the attack being the result of it, but the most striking thing about this book is, how little it dwells on the mistakes of human beings and limits itself from clouding the plot with allegories. Instead, it is a book to be enjoyed. You wouldn’t contemplate on the wantons of human beings, but it focuses (as it should) in the future, this does not deteriorate the value and sheer thrill that it holds and unfolds.While I think all books have at least hints of allegories, thankfully, The 5th Wave doesn’t get lost in creating them. This novel doesn’t take itself too seriously, and for good reason. The story always carries a light mood (even though sometimes it wants to be gritty), but it is not afraid to get it’s hands dirty, and sometimes it exceeds the violence in the emotions to a level higher than of Young Adult, and that falls into the Adult genre.The Fifth WaveAliens have always been mystical, weird looking and terrifying creatures that exist in our minds thumb tagged by the movie such as Alien or Independence Day. The aliens in The 5th Wave have a different look compared to the typical way aliens are presented. These aliens are human, but they are not human. They are you, but they are not you. They’re an unnoticeable part of us, someone we know, or maybe someone we care about. They live among us; they exist among us. Now, to understand this phrase better, you would have to read the story, but if you do understand this now then, you have a pretty good idea about the story.StoryI would be lying if I said that I didn’t read 150 pages in a single day, and I would be lying more graciously if I stated that I wasn’t addicted to it because I was.The story starts with Cassie, abandoned by almost everyone she ever loved and on a single quest to save the one last person important to her, Cassie’s brother, Nugget (that’s not his real name, but I like to use it). She is the heroine, portrayal of a strong woman and a protagonist worth rooting for, that is, until 70 pages in when you realize that something bigger is going on that is more important than Cassie and her brother but which coincidentally involves Cassie and her brother. The plot then takes a different view of a guy who called Silencer. A silencer’s job is, you guessed it (and now you’re a millionaire) to silence. I wouldn’t tell you his real name or what happens but just know that it happens.The plot then again shifts focus away from Cassie and the Silencer and shifts towards a guy whose-name-will-not-be-taken for spoiler purposes and then again. This book has four perspectives and even though sometimes, there is too much emphasis on establishing one character and so it forgets to change its point of view. But when the action occurs, it constantly shifts from one perspective to another to give a better comprehension of what is going on, and that is the part where it is the most thrilling.The pacing of the story is very fast, and there is always something important going on. Sometimes, I felt that Cassie chose the most inappropriate time to establish a juxtaposition of the world before and after; this hurts the momentum because when you’re trying to overcome a strenuous situation, your mind doesn’t wander off to the world beyond but you seek to find a solution to the problem in hand, and it begins to get lengthy and sometimes boring because you have a critical condition which needs immediate attention, and you’re just walking in the park. A walk is healthy unless a bee stings you, and the bee stings quite a few times in this world.The characters are not the ones I would want with me when the apocalypse happens, but they are real enough to root for and emotional enough to feel sympathy towards them.The problemThis book, however, consists of one problem that I have seen numerous times in YA books. Awkward romance. There is something creepy and off-putting about the romance that I can never find myself looking at these characters in a romantic way. It is as if these characters aren’t interested in a relationship, but decide to make out and see if this relationship can last in spite of the world ending. Yowza!Now, this is not as stupid as it sounds. If implemented well enough, romance can be a great sub-plot but in a generic fashion, it doesn’t work here. Cassie is constantly in a love-hate relationship with a guy, and sometimes it gets confusing, and I found myself profoundly shouting ‘What the heck do you want Cassie?’.Maybe Rick Yancy wanted this to show the dilemma that Cassie faces in her love life, because she is sixteen, and that’s what girls do when they are sixteen (or so what Mr. Yancy applies that they do), but I couldn’t get behind it, nor I felt any ‘spark’ in the romance that it was aiming for. The romance was the weird part of the story that felt unnecessary and forced sometimes. The romance in this story is just as awkward for the reader as it is for the characters.Overall, the writing is admirable. Yancy wrote the action scenes and emotional scenes with such delicacy and dedication; I could feel the adrenaline rush and the urgency of a situation (except where the flashbacks were imminent).The progression of the story was very well balanced with the action and providing the characters time to interact and develop throughout the story. After a while, the story soaked me in so much, that it occupied my mind when I was not reading it and made me contemplate when I was reading it, and when it finally reveals what it wants to, it was not something that I was expecting because I wasn’t waiting for anything. There was no warning, no foreshadowing about what it was and it just happened. Out of the blue, it kicked me in the stomach and told me to suck it, and I liked it so much that I swallowed it in one big gulp. However, as the story progresses towards revealing the ultimate truth, it all seems like a farce and a plan like the one of Dr. Evil. The plan is believable but sometimes it just seems a little stupid.Should you read The Fifth Wave?I enjoyed The 5th Wave. It was fast paced, had a great cast of characters (everyone is not particularly likable) balanced storytelling with action and emotions and an ending that didn’t leave me wanting for more. I didn’t felt like reading the next book when I finished it because the ending was plausible on its own while setting the story for the next book. I don’t want to read the next book, but heck, I am excited about it.The 5th Wave is an action-packed roller-coaster ride. It is thrilling, emotional, and a little mysterious. The run-of-the-mill characters and dialogues hinder it from becoming a perfect alien invasion story, but it doesn’t stop it from being an entertaining one. The 5th Wave trilogy continues in Infinite Sea and Last Star.

I loved it!! It was amazing! Especially the part nearing the end. It was fast paced action packed and had me holding my breath.The story line was divided into parts, each a change of POV. There were I guess four peoples's perspectives mainly of female and male protagonist. There was only one part each of other two characters to give us idea what is going on. I didn't knew about this sections so I was confused when I finished first but I caught it on what was happening. My fav is when the second section ends, that was really like awesome, I can't explain or I'll spoil it but you will know when you read it.In the first half of the book we don't know whom to trust cuz the 4th wave! Wow! creepy and brilliant!The only guess I had I was sure about Evan and I knew what was going to happen!! I knew it!!! Okay you may be confused but you will know just go Read this book!And my fav part the end part as I mentioned above I Love it!! It's just the last line of the last line which I thought was kind of too fast I guess. It isn't anything bad at all, I just.. okay I don't want to give anything away. So it is just my freaky mind.And yes the main character,yes the main character meeet.....Mr. Bear!! He is the important character of the plot!I went into this without knowing anything except it is about aliens and I'm really happy! Just go and read this book!! Cuz The Fifth Wave once you what it is you freaking going to love it!

I loved the book, it was a little confusing at first, because the fourth wave wasn't defined; but I caught on ultimately and I can't wait to read the Infinite Sea to find out more! I shall recommend this book as one of the best among the host of science fiction movies .