The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey
Penguin, 2013. ISBN 9780141345819.
Highly recommended for older teens. Science Fiction is entering a
new golden era. During the 70s and 80s, with the rise of 'epic'
fantasy, sci fi novels lost favour while Feist, Donaldson and King
dominated. However, the last couple of years have seen an increase
in books with spaceships, aliens and galaxies. Mesh technological
gadgetry with dystopian ideals, and you have the makings of a reborn
War of the worlds.
Rick Yancey already has two action-packed series for young people,
with one of them The Monstrumologist, receiving critical
acclaim, so it's not surprising that The Fifth Wave hits a lot of
the right notes attempting to attract the reading attention of
teenagers. Its basic premise is very simple - an alien race scopes
out Earth and, seeing that it fits their needs, makes a calculated
endeavour to take over by hostile and underhanded means.
What Yancey does with this is to create a tense, taut narrative that
is full of action and snark. Cassie is the main character. We see
her point of view as she attempts to survive the almost complete
annihilation of the human race. Yancey doesn't follow a clear
chronological style. We are thrust into an unwinnable situation, and
quickly find out what Cassie is reduced to - kill or be killed. It's
powerful stuff. As the story progresses we are told virtually
nothing. We have to fill in the gaps between Cassie's solitary
here-and-now, and her flashbacks to the last days of her family
life.
Amidst all the action and the emotional family drama, there is also
much snarky dialogue. When Cassie is alone, it's an inner monologue
of snark and this ensures the narrative isn't totally pessimistic.
Admittedly a lot of the humour is dark; 'Then the door flew open and
Mr Faulks told us to head over to the gym. I thought that was really
smart. Get us all in one place so the aliens didn't have to waste
ammunition . . .' But it defines Cassie's character: She's feisty
and brave.
When the first section ends and we enter the head of another
character, I was pleasantly surprised. Multiple viewpoints allow the
narrative a broader canvas. Whereas Cassie's view is an individual
one, Zombie's is large scale. We see the fight back against the
invaders, we see politics and training. We see the consequences of
the aliens' actions on very small children. More powerful stuff.
Other viewpoints are offered, but to tell you more would spoil the
surprises that are best kept secret. I guess some of what we
discover is predictable and some of it a bit contrived, but that
doesn't stop this from being a cracking read. Although the main goal
of the book is resolved, there is more that can be, and will be
developed.
Highly recommended for older teens. Themes include survival, family
loyalty, trust and betrayal, romance and identity.
Trish Buckley