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Remnants #4
Nowhere Land
Jobs, Mo'Steel, 2Face, and a handful of others are the last of the human race. They are all that remain of what we knew as the planet Earth. And they've traveled millions of miles and five hundred years to find a place to begin again.
But the ship that now sustains them nearly destroys the survivors. Its computer feeds them images that are incredibly beautiful, intensely horrifying, and very, very dangerous. In order to stay alive, the Remnants have to find a way to work together in an environment that wants to tear them apart. And so far the environment -- this strange new place they have to call home -- is winning...
But the ship that now sustains them nearly destroys the survivors. Its computer feeds them images that are incredibly beautiful, intensely horrifying, and very, very dangerous. In order to stay alive, the Remnants have to find a way to work together in an environment that wants to tear them apart. And so far the environment -- this strange new place they have to call home -- is winning...
165 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
6 people are currently reading
293 people want to read
About the author
K.A. Applegate
251 books487 followersalso published under the name Katherine Applegate
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 13, 2016
I can't shelve this as "non-white main character" because it's an ensemble, but I am so pleased that 2Face finally gets a cover, and that she's unambiguously Asian. So, accordingly, I'm going to go back and retroactively create a "POC on cover" shelf now!
We're nearing the point in Remnants where I can't really remember what happens; a couple things rang bells in this book, but it's getting fainter and fainter. I think #5 or #6 may be the last books I read, so I can soon no longer refer to these as rereads! It's exciting and a bit of a treat, being able to be so surprised by a KAA series.
Standout points about this one:
• 2Face seems less and less heroic by the day, and more of a callous survivalist. I love this. It makes her an ambiguous, nuanced figure, rather than a by-the-book heroine.
• The body count also remains nuts. The stakes are so high here -- I'd say higher even than Michael Grant's later series, Gone. Characters in Everworld were necessarily safe because there were so few of them, but Applegrant are ruthless about their large ensemble cast here.
• As always, there are interesting worlds and original alien species; the authors are really good at their worldbuilding in general, and I always welcome more. I want to know more about the Blue Meanies! (My lowkey favourite chapter, probably, is the one from a Rider's POV -- it was a great little surprise.)
• Also, Billy finally wakes up! I love that this series was so patient to have a main character in a coma for 2 entire books.
In summary, it doesn't really advance any personal plots or characterisations all that much this time around, but it's exciting. I'll round up to 4 this time, though I can't really put my finger on why. I think it's having the two groups reunited that made the whole thing feel a bit more cohesive and directed?
A couple favourite quotes:
We're nearing the point in Remnants where I can't really remember what happens; a couple things rang bells in this book, but it's getting fainter and fainter. I think #5 or #6 may be the last books I read, so I can soon no longer refer to these as rereads! It's exciting and a bit of a treat, being able to be so surprised by a KAA series.
Standout points about this one:
• 2Face seems less and less heroic by the day, and more of a callous survivalist. I love this. It makes her an ambiguous, nuanced figure, rather than a by-the-book heroine.
• The body count also remains nuts. The stakes are so high here -- I'd say higher even than Michael Grant's later series, Gone. Characters in Everworld were necessarily safe because there were so few of them, but Applegrant are ruthless about their large ensemble cast here.
• As always, there are interesting worlds and original alien species; the authors are really good at their worldbuilding in general, and I always welcome more. I want to know more about the Blue Meanies! (My lowkey favourite chapter, probably, is the one from a Rider's POV -- it was a great little surprise.)
• Also, Billy finally wakes up! I love that this series was so patient to have a main character in a coma for 2 entire books.
In summary, it doesn't really advance any personal plots or characterisations all that much this time around, but it's exciting. I'll round up to 4 this time, though I can't really put my finger on why. I think it's having the two groups reunited that made the whole thing feel a bit more cohesive and directed?
A couple favourite quotes:
March 4, 2024
These books are just so good and make you want to turn the page to find out what happens next! Reading with my son and loving it!
July 17, 2020
Why am I unable able to stop?
November 14, 2024
I haven’t mentioned this in my previous reviews of books in this series, but each chapter begins with a pull-quote from the text that follows—you know, a little something to entice you as the reader, I guess, about what’s to come. Chapter 9 begins with the quote: “THAT’S STILL A FART, DUCK.” That’s about where we’re at as far as the series goes. I just re-read my review of the third in the series, THEM, and one criticism I had in that book was that the monsters in the book were “mostly goofy”. This quote about farts relates to giant blimp-like creatures who appear for the first time in this entry and who apparently ambulate through the power of flatulence. If the creatures in the last book were mostly goofy, they’re tenfold as goofy here.
I also lamented that the first two books in the series gave me a quote, “holy shit, I can’t believe this book is going to such a dark place” feeling which THEM largely failed to recapture. Once again, NOWHERE LAND has the same issue but it’s even starker here. At least there was some creepiness in the last book related to Hieronymus Bosch paintings come to life; there is nothing so disturbing in NOWHERE LAND. It’s not necessarily that I need to be creeped out to be entertained, though I do apparently find that entertaining when reading a YA book series, but rather it’s about the fact that the events of the book, because they do not evoke the same level of intensity, leave me feeling unmoved. The drama of the characters’ predicaments lacks immediacy and the dumb fart-joke that a large part of the book is centered around does little to help matters.
With that said, there are some notable things to address here. The most intriguing of these comes in Chapter 4, which is presented from the point of view of “Chirismontak Hadad-Chirismon, Warrior of the Vanascom Clan, Acolyte of the Unseen Star God”. Chirismontak is one of the creatures the Remnants have been referring to as “Riders”, the most antagonistic of the alien species they’ve encountered since finding themselves trapped in a humongous spaceship creating Matrix-style computer generated environments for them to explore/run through in a bid to escape various dangers. It’s not so much the fact that this chapter is presented from the POV of one of the Riders that intrigues, as it is the fact that this is the only chapter presented from this perspective. It doesn’t come back at all! I don’t know whether to consider that a daring choice or merely a confusing one, but it’s without a doubt a CHOICE. A shake-up of any kind is worth a mention.
Also worth mentioning: this is the book where formerly comatose Billy Weir finally awakes. So that’s something. There’s a part where he suggests that “[f]ive centuries of radiation combined with the hibernation equipment’s questionable reliability had caused mutations” in the Remnants. This seems to be hinting at further super-powers from the others to be revealed, beyond his telekinesis, Tamara’s super-strength, and Edward’s camouflage. No additional revelations appear here, but those breadcrumbs toward the future nevertheless do entice somewhat. Also? At one point when the Riders are throwing boomerangs at the Remnants, Olga (who?) yells at Burroway (who??), “Down, you jackass!” A person was literally shot in the face in the first book, but this is the closest the series has come to swearing so far. Looking forward to more of this as the series progresses!
Alright, there’s just a few more things I noted from my read. I will admit there is one cool moment that sort of reaches the heights of the earlier books. Mo’Steel (still a very stupid name) is diving to try to save a drowning woman but finds himself running out of air. He realizes that he’s pushed himself past the point of no return and though he tells himself not to breathe it gets to the point where he can’t hold his breath any longer. “He breathed. Sucked in hard. Sucked in air.” As it turns out, there’s an air bubble around his head somehow allowing him to breathe even when underwater. How convenient. For Mo’Steel, though, it’s a confusing moment. “He breathed again and wondered if he was hallucinating. Was he already dead? Was that it?” That’s such a chilling thought to entertain, that maybe you are in fact already dead and don’t know it. I also liked a moment when the Remnants manage to hop on board the U.S.S. Constitution (a.k.a. “Old Ironsides”), which is here somehow but without any crew members, and Jobs muses aloud that “we’re in partial control of a ship that is, itself, inside of a much larger ship over which we have no control”. That’s life, though, innit?
The only other written note I have is in relation to the U.S.S. Constitution scene. When they first find themselves aboard, Jobs is marveling at the ship, calling it beautiful, calling it poetry (😒 seriously), and saying it is “amazingly cool”. This is highly reminiscent of ANIMORPHS #46, which also spends an inordinate amount of time drooling over military hardware. I assume this is Michael Grant’s voice coming through.
Anyway, that’s about it! The humans are running, running, running like a constipated wiener dog, just trying to keep afloat and ahead of their pursuers. There’s a little bit about the interpersonal dynamics of the group, but it doesn’t go very far either. Yago continues to try to play off the others for power! 2Face is also willing to step on the others to give herself an advantage! (You might say she’s… no, never mind, it’s too easy.) I’m hoping that REMNANTS, the series, will reach a point in the near future where it will settle down and figure out what it’s really going for. I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt for the first couple of books, but some change needs to happen soon because it’s already feeling like it’s barely progressing.
P.S. The cover image, like that of THEM, is basically on-point in that it represents something that happens in the book. However, it is just a picture of a girl standing in knee-deep water, so not exactly something that would make you eager to read it if you were to happen upon it at B. Dalton or whatever. Pretty much all the cover images so far have been horribly generic. The other thing to note here is that I believe the girl is supposed to be 2Face, but she’s shown with her hair down covering half of her face with a sort of shimmery effect. That is, the cover avoids depicting her with a burn wound as she appears in the book. That’s pretty lame, in my view. Don’t even bother if you’re not going to commit.
I also lamented that the first two books in the series gave me a quote, “holy shit, I can’t believe this book is going to such a dark place” feeling which THEM largely failed to recapture. Once again, NOWHERE LAND has the same issue but it’s even starker here. At least there was some creepiness in the last book related to Hieronymus Bosch paintings come to life; there is nothing so disturbing in NOWHERE LAND. It’s not necessarily that I need to be creeped out to be entertained, though I do apparently find that entertaining when reading a YA book series, but rather it’s about the fact that the events of the book, because they do not evoke the same level of intensity, leave me feeling unmoved. The drama of the characters’ predicaments lacks immediacy and the dumb fart-joke that a large part of the book is centered around does little to help matters.
With that said, there are some notable things to address here. The most intriguing of these comes in Chapter 4, which is presented from the point of view of “Chirismontak Hadad-Chirismon, Warrior of the Vanascom Clan, Acolyte of the Unseen Star God”. Chirismontak is one of the creatures the Remnants have been referring to as “Riders”, the most antagonistic of the alien species they’ve encountered since finding themselves trapped in a humongous spaceship creating Matrix-style computer generated environments for them to explore/run through in a bid to escape various dangers. It’s not so much the fact that this chapter is presented from the POV of one of the Riders that intrigues, as it is the fact that this is the only chapter presented from this perspective. It doesn’t come back at all! I don’t know whether to consider that a daring choice or merely a confusing one, but it’s without a doubt a CHOICE. A shake-up of any kind is worth a mention.
Also worth mentioning: this is the book where formerly comatose Billy Weir finally awakes. So that’s something. There’s a part where he suggests that “[f]ive centuries of radiation combined with the hibernation equipment’s questionable reliability had caused mutations” in the Remnants. This seems to be hinting at further super-powers from the others to be revealed, beyond his telekinesis, Tamara’s super-strength, and Edward’s camouflage. No additional revelations appear here, but those breadcrumbs toward the future nevertheless do entice somewhat. Also? At one point when the Riders are throwing boomerangs at the Remnants, Olga (who?) yells at Burroway (who??), “Down, you jackass!” A person was literally shot in the face in the first book, but this is the closest the series has come to swearing so far. Looking forward to more of this as the series progresses!
Alright, there’s just a few more things I noted from my read. I will admit there is one cool moment that sort of reaches the heights of the earlier books. Mo’Steel (still a very stupid name) is diving to try to save a drowning woman but finds himself running out of air. He realizes that he’s pushed himself past the point of no return and though he tells himself not to breathe it gets to the point where he can’t hold his breath any longer. “He breathed. Sucked in hard. Sucked in air.” As it turns out, there’s an air bubble around his head somehow allowing him to breathe even when underwater. How convenient. For Mo’Steel, though, it’s a confusing moment. “He breathed again and wondered if he was hallucinating. Was he already dead? Was that it?” That’s such a chilling thought to entertain, that maybe you are in fact already dead and don’t know it. I also liked a moment when the Remnants manage to hop on board the U.S.S. Constitution (a.k.a. “Old Ironsides”), which is here somehow but without any crew members, and Jobs muses aloud that “we’re in partial control of a ship that is, itself, inside of a much larger ship over which we have no control”. That’s life, though, innit?
The only other written note I have is in relation to the U.S.S. Constitution scene. When they first find themselves aboard, Jobs is marveling at the ship, calling it beautiful, calling it poetry (😒 seriously), and saying it is “amazingly cool”. This is highly reminiscent of ANIMORPHS #46, which also spends an inordinate amount of time drooling over military hardware. I assume this is Michael Grant’s voice coming through.
Anyway, that’s about it! The humans are running, running, running like a constipated wiener dog, just trying to keep afloat and ahead of their pursuers. There’s a little bit about the interpersonal dynamics of the group, but it doesn’t go very far either. Yago continues to try to play off the others for power! 2Face is also willing to step on the others to give herself an advantage! (You might say she’s… no, never mind, it’s too easy.) I’m hoping that REMNANTS, the series, will reach a point in the near future where it will settle down and figure out what it’s really going for. I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt for the first couple of books, but some change needs to happen soon because it’s already feeling like it’s barely progressing.
P.S. The cover image, like that of THEM, is basically on-point in that it represents something that happens in the book. However, it is just a picture of a girl standing in knee-deep water, so not exactly something that would make you eager to read it if you were to happen upon it at B. Dalton or whatever. Pretty much all the cover images so far have been horribly generic. The other thing to note here is that I believe the girl is supposed to be 2Face, but she’s shown with her hair down covering half of her face with a sort of shimmery effect. That is, the cover avoids depicting her with a burn wound as she appears in the book. That’s pretty lame, in my view. Don’t even bother if you’re not going to commit.
July 2, 2019
Jobs, Mo'Steel, Yago ja kourallinen muita yhä elossa olevia selviytyjiä ovat kaikki mitä ihmislajista on jäljellä. Uuden maailman, jättiläismäisen avaruusaluksen, vihamieliset alkuasukkaat eivät anna selviytyjille aikaa sopeutumiseen. He suhtautuvat ihmiseen kuin virukseen. ”Äiti”, avaruusaluksen keskustietokone, on sekaisin ja hämmentynyt. ”Äidin” keinotekoinen muisti luo kiehtovan kauniita mielikuvia selviytyjien mieliin – ja tappavan vaarallisia ympäristöjä. Jobs ja kumppanit ovat jääneet vangeiksi maailmankaikkeuden suurimpaan videopeliin, jonka pelikonsoliin heitä ei päästetä käsiksi. Nörtti Jobsin ja presidentinpoika Yagon on opittava yhdistämään voimansa ”Äidin” mielentilojen ailahtelevassa ristiaallokossa. Kun Billy Weir herää koomasta ja kertoo muille painajaisistaan tutuista maisemista, ”Äiti” on saanut veroisensa vastustajan...
July 14, 2016
July 12, 2016:
Finished it last night, review and rating to come as soon as I can figure out how to be remotely eloquent about it :)
July 13, 2016:
Cover is comparatively accurate once again… though based on 2Face’s stance, I expected something more…supernatural to occur with her? After all, they were all soaking in space radiation for 500 years… and we’ve already seen some of how Billy, Tamara, and Edward have “changed”… Though her stance does fit the empowerment she portrays more and more as this series goes on.
Most of this book is spent with the Remnants still on the move, running from one horrible situation to another, and getting creative with their solutions/escapes along the way. It’s still a wild ride, with new locales and twists around every corner. It is pretty much Survivor meets Water World in a truly alien environment (practically Matrix-level!), with a dash of Madam Secretary and any creepy old-school horror movie for good measure. Now the Remnants are back to being a full group, if not exactly unified. 2Face is really stepping up, really getting into the politics game with Yago and the rest of the adults – she is starting to show a ruthlessness that previously was only hinted at by her owning her half-burned face instead of hiding it.
We also get a tiny little glimpse into the minds/views of the Riders, at last, which makes for some interesting food for thought, and I really loved seeing through their eyes even if only briefly. We get clued into their viewpoint which defines their interactions with the Remnants, but it also brings up some very different cultural/religious/societal differences between the Riders and what is left of humanity. Their view of Mother, I could argue, is one which parallels to an extent the intended political system of the US (less the fear part) – wherein one person is at the top, but balanced by others top-tierers near them; and when those people betray the masses of people “below” them, then it is up to the people to take matters into their own hands.
Basically, there are some really good, if relatively brief, Big Things dropped which make for excellent conversation points between kids reading it, kids and their parents, or just in any conversation in general. The only thing is, because so far these “drops” have been so brief and so haphazardly scattered between frantic action sequences, they can get dwarfed and slip between the cracks of what one remembers happening in this book. The drops are not quite as powerful because they are not given a good amount of time to get develop. 2Face’s little speech is a step up, laying out the way things are for everyone, readers and Remnants alike, and I am really intrigued to see how her speech is going to play out not only for her future, but how it may or may not affect how openly the other Remnants deal with all of their internal fractures and fragile alliances.
Quotes and commentary:
Mother was a Great God, but the Gods were to be feared, not obeyed. A warrior stood strong against the Gods when the Gods turned against the clan. – page 23
“You have to take it minute by minute,” Mo’Steel answered [Tate]. “People mess it up extending too far forward or back. You go far enough back, far enough forward, you’re always going to find something to feel bad about. But if you keep it all on local time, stay present tense, hey, ninety percent of right now is good.” – page 75
Like when [Jobs had] gone under general anesthetic to have his pancreas replaced. – page 100 – This had me take pause – this would imply he had a serious pancreatic disease or something as a kid, likely diabetes. Yet, it was quick and only required general anesthesia to give him a replacement. It’s such a throw-away line, but I wonder if it will come back because of the implications? I mean, between him and Mo’Steel alone, I have to wonder if their bodies need an immune system suppressant or anything to continue accepting the replacements they have had. Though I assume (and hope) probably not, since if technology is so advanced as to give Mo’Steel all those artificial parts, and insert cat-eye DNA into Yago’s eyes in the first place, then I guess forcing the body to accept an alien material/organ is child’s play…
Jobs didn’t argue. He seemed to accept his friend’s judgment. They had an interesting relationship, Violet thought. In anything intellectual Mo’Steel deferred happily to Jobs, and in anything physically challenging Jobs did the same in reverse. Instead of a friendship based on shared interests they had a friendship based on entirely separate territories. The only thing they had in common was that they liked each other. – page 110
[Jobs said,] “The wind is picking up again.”
“Another metaphor for life,” Violet said dryly. “We can steer, but only a little, and only until a storm blows. We’re in partial control of a ship that is, itself, inside of a much larger ship over which we have no control. I wonder if Mother is some sort of philosophy teacher.” – page 126 – Hm, so Violet is waxing poetic to Jobs. I wonder…
Typo:
“By the way, it’s called a tampion, I think,” [2Face’s] father offered. The plug in the end of the cannon […]” – page 148 – missing opening quotes: offered. “The plug…
Finished it last night, review and rating to come as soon as I can figure out how to be remotely eloquent about it :)
July 13, 2016:
Cover is comparatively accurate once again… though based on 2Face’s stance, I expected something more…supernatural to occur with her? After all, they were all soaking in space radiation for 500 years… and we’ve already seen some of how Billy, Tamara, and Edward have “changed”… Though her stance does fit the empowerment she portrays more and more as this series goes on.
Most of this book is spent with the Remnants still on the move, running from one horrible situation to another, and getting creative with their solutions/escapes along the way. It’s still a wild ride, with new locales and twists around every corner. It is pretty much Survivor meets Water World in a truly alien environment (practically Matrix-level!), with a dash of Madam Secretary and any creepy old-school horror movie for good measure. Now the Remnants are back to being a full group, if not exactly unified. 2Face is really stepping up, really getting into the politics game with Yago and the rest of the adults – she is starting to show a ruthlessness that previously was only hinted at by her owning her half-burned face instead of hiding it.
We also get a tiny little glimpse into the minds/views of the Riders, at last, which makes for some interesting food for thought, and I really loved seeing through their eyes even if only briefly. We get clued into their viewpoint which defines their interactions with the Remnants, but it also brings up some very different cultural/religious/societal differences between the Riders and what is left of humanity. Their view of Mother, I could argue, is one which parallels to an extent the intended political system of the US (less the fear part) – wherein one person is at the top, but balanced by others top-tierers near them; and when those people betray the masses of people “below” them, then it is up to the people to take matters into their own hands.
Basically, there are some really good, if relatively brief, Big Things dropped which make for excellent conversation points between kids reading it, kids and their parents, or just in any conversation in general. The only thing is, because so far these “drops” have been so brief and so haphazardly scattered between frantic action sequences, they can get dwarfed and slip between the cracks of what one remembers happening in this book. The drops are not quite as powerful because they are not given a good amount of time to get develop. 2Face’s little speech is a step up, laying out the way things are for everyone, readers and Remnants alike, and I am really intrigued to see how her speech is going to play out not only for her future, but how it may or may not affect how openly the other Remnants deal with all of their internal fractures and fragile alliances.
Quotes and commentary:
Mother was a Great God, but the Gods were to be feared, not obeyed. A warrior stood strong against the Gods when the Gods turned against the clan. – page 23
“You have to take it minute by minute,” Mo’Steel answered [Tate]. “People mess it up extending too far forward or back. You go far enough back, far enough forward, you’re always going to find something to feel bad about. But if you keep it all on local time, stay present tense, hey, ninety percent of right now is good.” – page 75
Like when [Jobs had] gone under general anesthetic to have his pancreas replaced. – page 100 – This had me take pause – this would imply he had a serious pancreatic disease or something as a kid, likely diabetes. Yet, it was quick and only required general anesthesia to give him a replacement. It’s such a throw-away line, but I wonder if it will come back because of the implications? I mean, between him and Mo’Steel alone, I have to wonder if their bodies need an immune system suppressant or anything to continue accepting the replacements they have had. Though I assume (and hope) probably not, since if technology is so advanced as to give Mo’Steel all those artificial parts, and insert cat-eye DNA into Yago’s eyes in the first place, then I guess forcing the body to accept an alien material/organ is child’s play…
Jobs didn’t argue. He seemed to accept his friend’s judgment. They had an interesting relationship, Violet thought. In anything intellectual Mo’Steel deferred happily to Jobs, and in anything physically challenging Jobs did the same in reverse. Instead of a friendship based on shared interests they had a friendship based on entirely separate territories. The only thing they had in common was that they liked each other. – page 110
[Jobs said,] “The wind is picking up again.”
“Another metaphor for life,” Violet said dryly. “We can steer, but only a little, and only until a storm blows. We’re in partial control of a ship that is, itself, inside of a much larger ship over which we have no control. I wonder if Mother is some sort of philosophy teacher.” – page 126 – Hm, so Violet is waxing poetic to Jobs. I wonder…
Typo:
“By the way, it’s called a tampion, I think,” [2Face’s] father offered. The plug in the end of the cannon […]” – page 148 – missing opening quotes: offered. “The plug…
January 9, 2017
*Spoilers*
While the plot is great, the number of non-story issues are growing. As I said in my last reviews of the books in this series, these books are darned short. They very very much feel like chapters, not whole books. Related to that: It's getting annoying how much recapping the author has to do, when it feels like we just read about it in the last chapter.
Unfortunately there's an even bigger issue: I'm afraid poor Mrs. Applegate's editor might have died. The first book was near-perfect in editing, then in the second and third books more and more errors were slipping in. Book four crossed the line into an unacceptable amount of errors, and book five was so bad I nearly stopped reading it. Each page had a number of errors -- it wasn't uncommon for 2-3 periods to be missing per page. Major spacing issues. Typos. Misspellings. It read like a draft instead of a published book. The current book I'm reading, #6, is quite a bit better, so maybe the publisher brought in a new editor. (Book 6 is far from perfect though. This amusing thing appeared in a sentence. "slight[l]y" -- someone's mark to fix the spelling, I guess?)
I've always thought that the Holodeck (of Star Trek) would make a great setting for a book or TV series, since your group of characters could go anywhere, anytime, meet any people. That's essentially what this book has featured, at least thus far. Book 6 is going more into the ship's AI and the aliens though, which I'm enjoying.
Other than the shortness of the books and the editing issues, I'm really enjoying this series a lot. It's so creative, and it avoids all the things I usually hate about YA books (the kids being perfect at everything/adults being useless or just plain evil, stupid romance/love triangles, etc).
While the plot is great, the number of non-story issues are growing. As I said in my last reviews of the books in this series, these books are darned short. They very very much feel like chapters, not whole books. Related to that: It's getting annoying how much recapping the author has to do, when it feels like we just read about it in the last chapter.
Unfortunately there's an even bigger issue: I'm afraid poor Mrs. Applegate's editor might have died. The first book was near-perfect in editing, then in the second and third books more and more errors were slipping in. Book four crossed the line into an unacceptable amount of errors, and book five was so bad I nearly stopped reading it. Each page had a number of errors -- it wasn't uncommon for 2-3 periods to be missing per page. Major spacing issues. Typos. Misspellings. It read like a draft instead of a published book. The current book I'm reading, #6, is quite a bit better, so maybe the publisher brought in a new editor. (Book 6 is far from perfect though. This amusing thing appeared in a sentence. "slight[l]y" -- someone's mark to fix the spelling, I guess?)
I've always thought that the Holodeck (of Star Trek) would make a great setting for a book or TV series, since your group of characters could go anywhere, anytime, meet any people. That's essentially what this book has featured, at least thus far. Book 6 is going more into the ship's AI and the aliens though, which I'm enjoying.
Other than the shortness of the books and the editing issues, I'm really enjoying this series a lot. It's so creative, and it avoids all the things I usually hate about YA books (the kids being perfect at everything/adults being useless or just plain evil, stupid romance/love triangles, etc).
Read
December 24, 2021I've thought about this series a lot since reading them when I was what, 11? 12? due to the last few books and the overarching plot. I forgot that the middle is very middling--the plot is all very random. Very adventure, very exciting, but also a little bit pointless. I suppose we're building characters and relationships though.
December 15, 2016
This series gets more and more intriguing! I've been a fan of Applegate's for a long time, and I just love the worlds she creates. I can't wait to read more :) Onward to the next one to find out what else happens to the last surviving remnants of the human race!
May 14, 2023
This book was a journey that, while not uneventful, was clearly just needed for the characters to split up/get to their next plot point. The events themselves didn’t feel relevant. I’m hopeful that the series will pick back up, because the rest have all been great so far.
February 27, 2022
Much better and darker than 3 previous books.
April 20, 2024
Wow, these are just getting worse and worse. I already requested the fifth book from ILL so if it comes in I’ll read it, but then I think I am done with this series.
May 28, 2024
I think I’ve gotta pause on reading this series awhile. I just find the action sequences, which are much of the book, very hard to follow.
December 9, 2024
Good but kinda of scary
December 10, 2024
Was this ghost written? It had to have been. A sharp decline in quality from the previous 3
February 14, 2025
Confusing action, not too much story happens other than 2Face's speech
August 28, 2013
Rating: 4.5/5
I friggin love these books.
I do. I'm finding that the more of them I read, the more invested in the story I get. And there are another ten of them, so I get a lot of it. Applegrant has an amazing, almost unequaled ability to create characters that I can connect to. Like 2Face. 2Face is one of my very favorite characters in all of fiction. And Yago. He's purposely a dick, but he's a dick in the same way that Caine from Gone is; a well-rendered, interesting, human dick. It's been a while since I've seen a card-carrying villain done so well. And we can't forget Violet. God, Applegrant is so brave not to shy away from gender issues and feminism just because they're writing for kids. It really is admirable; instead of presenting a cleaner, politics-free version of the world, Applegrant presents the world as it is, even for kids. It's messy, it's complex, and it's the kind of thing that kids need to see.
Oh, and then there's Tate. I know what Scholastic does to her later on in the series, so I kind of just want to give her a big hug.
That said, the book lacked focus, character-wise. Nobody's character arc really progressed, except Yago's, and even then, it was slight. I guess it's a symptom of how damn short these books are. I just feel like now that the characters are established, Applegrant doesn't know quite where to take them; their character arcs seem to be put on hold for the moment. But they're still so enjoyable.
And the plot. It was fucking bizarre! This is one of the most original and unconventional plots I've ever seen. Bug aliens with hoverboards in a world created of human arts in which the last twenty humans in the world are fighting elephants with tentacles inside a crazy ship projecting an image of the world? Name one other work where you can find that. I FUCKING DARE YOU. The dramatic structure was also effective, and the pacing fast. The experience of reading this is unique and immersive, in a way that books rarely are.
And the writing was good too, of course. When is Applegrant's writing ever not good? It's simple enough to be comprehensible for kids - it doesn't read too old, like it did in the last book - but it still gets its ideas across effectively. The only thing I would've asked for is a bit more description; I didn't know what all of the statues looked like, and a reminder of what the Riders and the Blue Meanies look like would've been nice.
But it's still wonderful. The book is immersive, unique, and creepy. If this review seems unusually childish and informal for me, it's because this book makes me want to think in a more creative and loose manner. (That, and all of these books pretty much all have the same strengths and weaknesses, so a formal review each time would get repetitive.) It's just interesting to read, scary and intense, the kind of thing I'd recommend to anyone. It's an effective kids' book, and an effective book for anyone.
And now, of course, for some statistics:
Body count: 2 (, and .)
Horror count: You know? There wasn't actually very much explicit horror in this one. The deaths weren't particularly violent, no one went through much pain... I think this one is a 0.
Plot hole count: 1 (How the hell could Mo'Steel breathe underwater? This is barely even presented as a mystery!)
'Marry me and live on a hosueboat' character of the day: Like I said, no one got too much development in this one, but I'll give it to Yago, since we saw an interesting new dimension to him. And 2Face, because she's still 2Face.
I friggin love these books.
I do. I'm finding that the more of them I read, the more invested in the story I get. And there are another ten of them, so I get a lot of it. Applegrant has an amazing, almost unequaled ability to create characters that I can connect to. Like 2Face. 2Face is one of my very favorite characters in all of fiction. And Yago. He's purposely a dick, but he's a dick in the same way that Caine from Gone is; a well-rendered, interesting, human dick. It's been a while since I've seen a card-carrying villain done so well. And we can't forget Violet. God, Applegrant is so brave not to shy away from gender issues and feminism just because they're writing for kids. It really is admirable; instead of presenting a cleaner, politics-free version of the world, Applegrant presents the world as it is, even for kids. It's messy, it's complex, and it's the kind of thing that kids need to see.
Oh, and then there's Tate. I know what Scholastic does to her later on in the series, so I kind of just want to give her a big hug.
That said, the book lacked focus, character-wise. Nobody's character arc really progressed, except Yago's, and even then, it was slight. I guess it's a symptom of how damn short these books are. I just feel like now that the characters are established, Applegrant doesn't know quite where to take them; their character arcs seem to be put on hold for the moment. But they're still so enjoyable.
And the plot. It was fucking bizarre! This is one of the most original and unconventional plots I've ever seen. Bug aliens with hoverboards in a world created of human arts in which the last twenty humans in the world are fighting elephants with tentacles inside a crazy ship projecting an image of the world? Name one other work where you can find that. I FUCKING DARE YOU. The dramatic structure was also effective, and the pacing fast. The experience of reading this is unique and immersive, in a way that books rarely are.
And the writing was good too, of course. When is Applegrant's writing ever not good? It's simple enough to be comprehensible for kids - it doesn't read too old, like it did in the last book - but it still gets its ideas across effectively. The only thing I would've asked for is a bit more description; I didn't know what all of the statues looked like, and a reminder of what the Riders and the Blue Meanies look like would've been nice.
But it's still wonderful. The book is immersive, unique, and creepy. If this review seems unusually childish and informal for me, it's because this book makes me want to think in a more creative and loose manner. (That, and all of these books pretty much all have the same strengths and weaknesses, so a formal review each time would get repetitive.) It's just interesting to read, scary and intense, the kind of thing I'd recommend to anyone. It's an effective kids' book, and an effective book for anyone.
And now, of course, for some statistics:
Body count: 2 (, and .)
Horror count: You know? There wasn't actually very much explicit horror in this one. The deaths weren't particularly violent, no one went through much pain... I think this one is a 0.
Plot hole count: 1 (How the hell could Mo'Steel breathe underwater? This is barely even presented as a mystery!)
'Marry me and live on a hosueboat' character of the day: Like I said, no one got too much development in this one, but I'll give it to Yago, since we saw an interesting new dimension to him. And 2Face, because she's still 2Face.
August 10, 2014
On the creepy Mother ship, the humans have destroyed what threatened them before and now face a different kind of threat. As the previously divided groups find each other again (which is not to say they're getting along), they struggle to survive in an ocean environment that is what the place was before the humans got there with their artwork influencing everything. The Riders and the Meanies are still a threat, and Yago is still obsessed with being the group's leader. But physical battles aren't the only ones happening here. Billy's awake. And we're about to learn a lot more about the Baby.
Yago's megalomaniac tendencies are screaming all over the place in the book, and Jobs and Mo'Steel fighting the Riders was exciting, but weird and sometimes difficult to follow. You kind of float through this book unsure of who's on whose side, and that's fine because sometimes they don't know either. The exhaustion, terror, and absurdity appears to be getting to everyone--it shows--and the remaining humans are shrinking as a group book by book.
Yago's megalomaniac tendencies are screaming all over the place in the book, and Jobs and Mo'Steel fighting the Riders was exciting, but weird and sometimes difficult to follow. You kind of float through this book unsure of who's on whose side, and that's fine because sometimes they don't know either. The exhaustion, terror, and absurdity appears to be getting to everyone--it shows--and the remaining humans are shrinking as a group book by book.
March 29, 2008
Well this was another interesting chapter in the Remnants series. The survivors are exploring the ship that they have found themselves on. They encounter a nightmare world full of horrors that only a sick mind could create. They befriend one of the Blue Meanies and get more of an understanding of what is happening in the battle between these aliens and the Riders who are trying to kill the survivors.
I am sad that this is the last book in the series that I currently have. I am going to go on a hunt for the rest of the series and I have really enjoyed it so far.
I am sad that this is the last book in the series that I currently have. I am going to go on a hunt for the rest of the series and I have really enjoyed it so far.
March 15, 2009
I'm actually still enjoying this series. It surprises me a bit, but I'm learning to deal with the weird artificial environments and the weird names and just go with the flow. The in-fighting and the fractioning of the group is very interesting to see. Plus, the Blue Meanies and the Riders are starting to make a bit more sense. (And I like naval battles.) We'll see what the next book holds....
Want to read
September 16, 2012it sound to me like the book about
the girl which is inside cyber
There is a audiobook about .nowheres land.
It is horrible!
Some time after i listened to the
audiobook i draw a picture with a flower which is over the city. To get another view for the book! Argh...only a few different.... things and the book would become so great....
ty
July 7, 2014
Nowhere Land is definitely not my favorite of the series. It was way more corny and childish than the other books.
The strangeness is multiplied and the characters' growth is magnified in this book. I have no idea where this is going. What is going on?! Who are these people? What's happening to everyone.
It's like "Lost" with kids.
The strangeness is multiplied and the characters' growth is magnified in this book. I have no idea where this is going. What is going on?! Who are these people? What's happening to everyone.
It's like "Lost" with kids.
August 20, 2008
I like the character of 2Face even though she's pretty dang evil. And the feeling of alien-ness about everything that's going on and how human everyone still acts toward each other (I mean that in both good and bad ways).
March 5, 2009
Its been years since i have read this book, probably when i was like 12 years old. But i do know that this book was amazing. My sister has the whole series(had the whole series) Great reading material for anyone who is really in to si-fi.
July 24, 2011
The idea behind these books really got my attention because it is life after the end of the world, however after the Animorphs series and Everworld this was quite a letdown. Besides that, the whole end of the world thing is becoming a real redundant theme lately.
February 29, 2012
I feel like this installment didn't have quite as much of interest packed into it-more just "action-fighting for your life" sequences. Although, I'm very glad to have Billy Weir with us again, and the intro at the end makes me think the next book'll be very interesting!
December 19, 2013
It was really good.
January 13, 2013
I was OBSESSED with this series in middle school.
March 28, 2017
This is basically the last book in the series where I could remember the complete arc--albeit with gaps--so after this it will be more or less uncharted territory.
I liked this one a lot: it feels more focused and purposeful than #3, in part because the Remnants get some breathing room after the node is destroyed, dumping them into Mother's default environment, a marsh like ecosystem that is the Riders' home turf.
There's a great little chapter written from the POV of a Rider where we finally get perspective about their worldview and why they're attacking the Remnants, along with some fascinating backstory. Though it isn't stated explicitly, my current theory is that Mother resurrects a Rider every time it dies, and they've built a whole religion around this fact.
Though Nowhere Land feels less frenetic than the last book, there was still more than enough action to keep me engaged, especially that epic ship battle near the end. The amount of action was actually something I was of two minds about: I like chase scenes and battles as much as the next person, but with the Remnants constantly on the run, there hasn't been much time to develop a long-term plot arc or character development (though what development there is, is stellar, especially 2Face's character. She's not your typical YA heroine and I really, really like that.)
I'm hoping the 5th book slows the pace just a tad, but otherwise I'm enjoying this series.
I liked this one a lot: it feels more focused and purposeful than #3, in part because the Remnants get some breathing room after the node is destroyed, dumping them into Mother's default environment, a marsh like ecosystem that is the Riders' home turf.
There's a great little chapter written from the POV of a Rider where we finally get perspective about their worldview and why they're attacking the Remnants, along with some fascinating backstory. Though it isn't stated explicitly, my current theory is that Mother resurrects a Rider every time it dies, and they've built a whole religion around this fact.
Though Nowhere Land feels less frenetic than the last book, there was still more than enough action to keep me engaged, especially that epic ship battle near the end. The amount of action was actually something I was of two minds about: I like chase scenes and battles as much as the next person, but with the Remnants constantly on the run, there hasn't been much time to develop a long-term plot arc or character development (though what development there is, is stellar, especially 2Face's character. She's not your typical YA heroine and I really, really like that.)
I'm hoping the 5th book slows the pace just a tad, but otherwise I'm enjoying this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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