The 5th Wave

The big YA adventure novel last year was The 5th Wave, by Rick Yancey. It is soon to be a major motion picture, and is another tale of an Earth that is devastated by something. Only this time it's not nuclear war, but an alien invasion. Only the aliens aren't what we expect them to be.

I found this novel something of a trial, and a chore to finish. Part of the problem was its multiple points of view. We start with Cassie Sullivan, a typical 16-year-old who is on her own after losing her whole family. She hopes to find her younger brother, who was taken away by the army.

Then the narrative switches to Ben Parish, who is being trained by the military to fight the aliens. Much of this section didn't strike me as authentic at all. Would any military train children as young as five to fight aliens? There is a reveal that turns this on its head, but it still seems far-fetched.

Cassie will later be rescued by a handsome young man named Evan Walker, although she can never trust him because she's not sure he's really human. Talk about a relationship problem. Some of this is for girl readers, I suppose, although I like to think smart girls are above this kind of treacle.

Above all, the book just isn't written all that well. It didn't move at a good pace, and the characters aren't sharply drawn. Occasionally Yancey hit on a line that I liked, such as, describing the humans trying to defeat the aliens, "It's like a cockroach working up a plan to defeat the shoe on its way down to crush it." But if the odds are that stacked against humanity, any victory would only seem preposterous.

Furthermore, the book doesn't really end, but stop, as I'm sure there are sequels in the works. I will skip them.