I changed my rating from a 2 to a 3. Don't get me wrong, the book is good and I love some of the characters and the way they interact has me laughing out loud sometimes, but I have issues with the central idea behind this edition of Maximum Ride. Throughout it I sort of felt as though I was waiting for something to come along to give current events purpose. The enemy in this book doesn't really live up the hype given to them, I felt. The book didn't really deliver what I expected from the phrase "saving the world." That could possibly be due to my own opinions of politics though! The ending of the book gave me the feeling that we're tagging along on a story which has changed from one big disaster to avert, to "bird kid missionaries on loan." James Patterson has managed to base a whole series on a plot that has never been fully explained and shows no signs of ever being so, and yet, this was the only book that really showed up that weakness. The plot meanders, hypes itself up and then sort of trails off. I understand the concept behind the book, save the planet, join Greenpeace etc. And I'm an advocate of books having a message behind them, books spurring people on and the like...but I just don't think this was the time or place. I really worry for the next book, as I think we've overdone the evil scientists and obscure robot/mutant enemies now, and judging by the ending of The Final Warning, Mr Patterson isn't really sure how to fill that gap. The flock's gaining of random powers sporadically undermines the whole plot really. Even fictional worlds have to have boundaries, but it's almost as though the author couldn't think of anything to fill up a chapter and so just decided he'd whack in an extra new power or two. Are these evil scientists that have been messing with their genes, or supernatural Gods in diguise? It was all very random - events being thrown in for no obvious reasons or benefits.I love the Maximum Ride series, and even I'm rooting for certain things to happen, but this book just wasn't for me. I get the feeling it was a very lacklustre attempt at writing a Maximum Ride book, and I hope in an idealistic way, the reason isn't because he wrote it for the money rather than for the sake of writing. It was a funny book, with hilarious interaction between characters, but little else. To quote Pirates of the Caribbean, "Do you think he plans it all out, or just makes it up as he goes along?" ( )

This book was ok, it wasn't one of the better books in the series, and I would have to say that it was actually one of the worst one! No offense! I didn't really like the ending that much, because the whole book was building everything up to this really amazing ending....and then it was totally lame!! I know that the concept that Max and the flock is saving the world by saving the enviroment, but it doen't really fit in with the story! ( )

The arctic ice is melting... and only Maximum and her pack can save it.
Final Warning is a very intriguing novel which I consider to be the best so far in the Maximum Ride series. Lots of cliffhangers but could get a bit boring at times. ( )

My problem with the story wasn't so much that James Patterson used it as a soapbox for global warming -- after all, it's his book, and he can do what he wants.

The problem, as I see it, is there was NO WAY he started writing this series with a plan to make Max's "saving the world mission" one that had anything to do with this topic.

If you go back and read the series from the beginning, starting with THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT, we all knew that Max and the gang had a special mission, a mission that would save the world. We knew it would be big, and no doubt unbelievable, as most of Mr. Patterson's plot lines are. But if this had been his plan all along, you have to think that there would have been SOME advance warning.

No, what really ticks me off is that it seems as if he decided, with the current state of affairs, to change the whole point of the books at the very last minute, as a way to promote his cause.

THAT'S what makes me angry.

(The only good thing about THE FINAL WARNING? Total's "I prefer canine-American" comment, which made me laugh until I cried.) ( )

Max and the Flock embark on yet another adventure in the fourth installment of the Maximum Ride series--only they land in the most unexpected place...Antarctica. Along with helping the scientists there, the Flock discovers the negative effects of global warming. Iggy, Fang, and Angel also develop new abilites in the arctic. Their "vacation" from the Flyboys ends soon though, when they encounter a new enemy--Gozen and his army of robots.
I think that this fourth book was a great adddition to the Maximum Ride series. Though the novel had too much global warming propaganda for my taste, Patterson really made me open my eyes to the dangers of global warming (other than Al Gore...). Nevertheless, Patterson manages to combine the fact with the fiction, creating excitement with every turn of the page. ( )