Y: Rick Yancy
My theme for the A
to Z Blogging Challenge this year is a mishmash of books, movies, writers
and TV shows that have in one way or another taught me something about writing
and helped me be a better writer. Some inspired my own stories and a few taught
me what not to do. Each post is a one minute lesson on writing. Visit the IWSG blog where I'm offering some writing inspiration for the Challenge.
Rick Yancy is the author of The Fifth Wave YA science fiction series. The first book is called The Fifth Wave, the second, The Infinite Sea, and the upcoming third book is The Last Star. I'm not a big fan of YA novels that have the teenagers saving the day while the adults cower nearby or any book where parents let their children sacrifice themselves like in The Hunger Games. I can't suspend my belief enough for that. But in Yancy's series, the adults are mostly all dead and the children have been spared for a reason. And that's the lovely thing about the books. You think you understand the purpose, but then you're not sure. An alien invasion happens in waves of destruction and the first book starts with the 5th wave. I'm not going to spoil it and tell you what it is, but it's scary and tense. At the center of the first book is Cassie, trying to stay alive and determined to rescue her little brother from Them. It's not easy because of the alien hunters who are searching out stray humans who have escaped the first few
waves. By the end of the book, you think you have an idea who the aliens are though their motives are unclear. Until you read the second book, and then you'll be like Jon Snow. You know nothing! The mystery is deeper than ever. Not all the characters in the books are who you thought they were for almost two entire novels. The things revealed at the end of the second novel blew apart everything I believed was going on.
Lesson: If the characters in a novel accept something as fact, the reader does too. Surprising the characters with a truth that completely twists their previous perceptions will rock the readers too. In a good way. If you can make the mystery deeper after two novels than it was after the first chapter, you're building some great suspense. A shocking ending to each book in a series will bring the reader back for the next one.
Here are some quotes from The Fifth Wave.
"Cruelty isn't a personality trait. Cruelty is a habit.”
"How do you rid the Earth of humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.”
"Because we will die, but at least we will die unbroken.”
"What were they thinking? 'It's an alien apocalypse! Quick, grab the beer!”
"There's an old saying about the truth setting you free. Don't buy it. Sometimes the truth slams the cell door shut and throws a thousand bolts.”
What novel have you read that totally shocked you at the end with an unexpected twist? Do you think that quote about cruelty is true? How about the one about the truth? Would you grab the beer if hostile aliens invaded?
25 comments:
I think some people are born cruel. It could be hardwired into their DNA or it could be a chemical imbalance. Either way, they're intractable.
I'd grab the beer.
And yes, cruelty is a habit.
Grab the beer! XD
It seems like there are multiple books out there based on the same premise of all adults disappearing. I wonder if that is supposed to explore unsupervised teenage habits, or just made it easier for the writer not to have to involve the parents... I know there is a TV show in the making too.
@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary
Shocking endings are always fun, but few get me anymore after so many movies and tv shows. Cruelty is sure in some people
trying not be cruel, is harder for those who just are...
I love it when an author can surprise me at the end. Cruelty is a habit in most mean people except those with psychological disorders.
I love to trick my readers and one of the best ways is to trick your characters too. :D
I have to think if their upbringing played into too but something wrong in their brains works into it.
I loved the first two books in the Fifth Wave series. I can't wait for the final one to come out.
Good luck with the A to Z Challenge!
A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
http://pensuasion.blogspot.com/
May YA books come up with reasons to have the adults out of the picture.
This book had the most unpredictable ending I've come across in a long time.
Yeah, it's so twisted now I can't even imagine the outcome.
I think cruelty can be taught like a habit from a very young age, just like kindness. There is always a choice. (or, at least I think there is)
That last quote about truth makes me laugh, but I think it's only true in certain situations. I think, sometimes, that people really don't want to hear the truth and in those situations, the truth-teller can get ostracized.
I read 5th wave and it was fascinating . . . but I haven't picked up the second book yet.
Oh Lordy, I've already grabbed the beer and the aliens haven't even arrived yet :)
Sounds like a great book... very intriguing story/series...
That cruelty quote is (sadly) spot on, in my opinion.
I like stories that keep surprising me.
I'm not a cruel person at all. I wonder how I can write some of the stuff I do.
Of course I would grab the beer :) and hope I would have time for a pizza before the aliens came. This sounds like an interesting series of books; wonder if they too along the way will be made into a movie with sequels.
betty
Hopefully the habit of cruelty can be broken, that would be harder if it was intrinsic to your personality.
This looks good. Another one for the list...
I'm not sure there's a book in the world with a more satisfying ending than Catch-22's.
I'd leave the beer. Liquor is quicker and lighter to carry.
Like you, I can't believe that adults would allow children to take over the world and allow them to kill themselves off, but then again, there would be no story, right?
Elizabeth Mueller
AtoZ 2015
My Little Pony
I've heard that book series, but haven't read it. There's no love triangle, right? I highly dislike those and they are prevalent in YAs currently.
~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author
I don't know about the accepting as fact, that I do too. I get annoyed with some characters and will drop the book, if need be.
Some twists are brilliant others are simply annoying. If done well like Sixth Sense - they're awesome, if done badly like most every other M. Night Shyamalan movie, they are terrible :). I haven't read many books that had tried it so I can't come up with examples from the written word. I think twists have to be handled carefully. I have come to the conclusion that if the aliens invade or the zombies rise I'm toast ... I just can't run away ;).
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
What novel have you read that totally shocked you at the end with an unexpected twist? I'm trying to think but my brain is totally fried. LOL
That cruelty quote might just be true...
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