The 5th Wave
Rick Yancey
Penguin 2013
Humanity is dying, under attack
from an unknown enemy who is killing them in wave after wave of horror and
blood. The 1st wave took out
electricity, communications, the backbone of today’s society; the 2nd
wave decimates coasts and cities all over the world; the 3rd wave
comes in the form of plague, killing billions and the 4th wave see’s
the few who are left running for their lives, unsure of who to trust. Now the world awaits the 5th wave
even as the strange mothership looms above the earth waiting, ominous and
silent. Cassie finds herself alone in
the woods, for all she knows, the last human on earth, running from sharp
shooters, staying alive out of pure determination to keep a promise that may
prove to be unkeepable. At her lowest
ebb, she meets Evan who has been living quietly since losing everything. Evan is kind, capable and willing to do
anything for Cassie, including help her keep her promise but Cassie remains
scared, suspicious and sure that whatever the 5th Wave is, she’s
better of facing it alone.
The
5th Wave has multiple narratives but Cassie remains at the heart
of the story. She’s something else, a
girl honed by bloodshed and loss into an almost frightening automaton with a
singular focus. Her narrative takes the
form of journal entries and she rages at her supposed reader even while
confiding her deepest fears. While she
is undoubtedly kick-ass, she’s also reeling from the events that have overtaken
the human race and her own personal existence.
She lacks understanding of the bigger picture – it seems that almost
everyone does – but her focus on her small part of it is unfailing, even as she
finds herself injured and alone in the snow.
Her interactions with the mysterious Evan are fraught with both longing
and mistrust. Cassie has been alone for
a long time when she meets him, yet she’s also seen and done some awful things
and is deeply suspicious of anyone and everyone. Evan, for his part, doesn’t help much, remaining
taciturn about the details of his past even as he cares for Cassie with real
affection. Both are intriguing
characters and as their stories intertwine they become increasingly hard to
predict while remaining tentatively likable.
Cassie, in particular, is always compelling.
In addition to Cassie there are
three additional narratives. One is that
of Private Zombie, a young man, shell-shocked and sick who ends up recruited to
the fight against the Others (as they have become known, clearly the military
were big fans of Lost). Realising that he has the opportunity to take
up arms against those who took away life as he once knew it, Zombie slowly
transitions from a thoughtful and relatively gentle boy into a hardened soldier,
a person which even he himself is unsure of.
The third narrative is that of another recruit, Private Nugget (these
names all make sense on reading), an impossible soldier who clings to Zombie in
a way not encouraged by their seniors.
Nugget’s voice is more than a little heart-breaking but his character is
nothing short of inspiring even though he gets less page-time than the
rest. The final narrative appears only
once or twice and is from the point of view of a character who was once human
but who has become distinctly Other. Yet
their humanity remains, causing confusion, pain and ultimately becoming the
crux of the entire story and these small sections of the book are both eerie
and moving.
The
5th Wave is a bit of a triumph in terms of its careful
construction and gripping storytelling.
The waves are described from different viewpoints, in which Yancey
creates a horrifying world that he continues to expand upon throughout the book
while adding in additional layers and levels (most effective in the sections
that focus on Zombie’s training) of trust, lies, truth and doublespeak. His core plot is incredibly strong but this
first book (The 5th Wave is
the start of a series) focusses largely on world building with readers only
truly discovering the nature of the 5th wave at the books
climax. And what a climax it is, full of
twists, turns and breath taking action. Good
Sci-Fi is rarely seen in YA, particularly recently (with only Beth Revis’s Across The Universe immediately
springing to mind) and it’s a pleasure to find such a well written example of
the genre. The 5th Wave is
utterly compelling and impossible to put down (I stayed up well into the night
in order to read it in one sitting) and should be added to your wish lists
straight away.
This review was brought to you by Splendibird. The 5th Wave will be available from 5th May 2013. Thank you to the publisher, via NetGalley for providing us with this title to review.
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