Mother, May I?

Remnants #8

by K.A. Applegate

The best-selling author of ANIMORPHS and EVERWORLD presents a fresh, exciting, and gritty new science-fiction series that combines a little 2001, a little Armageddon, and a whole lot of action!

Job has found the Remnants' unbelievable virtual reality in the sky---could it be the Earth? With the defeat of the Babyr, Billy has secured his role as master-programmer and absorbed Mother in the process. If Jobs has really found the Earth, can Billy be convinced to alter the ship's course? Meanwhile, Yago puts his plan in motion to rule the Meanies as their god--what does this mean for the future safety of the Remnants? How will Yago's ambitions clash with Jobs' search for a new home for the Remnants? Courses will change for the ship, for the Remnants, and the future of humankind.

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Aliens, Middle Grade, Dystopia

137 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

also published under the name Katherine Applegate

Reviews

[Megha · Rating 3 out of 5]

At this point, I don't know why I am continuing with the series except I have a lot of free time and a burning desire to know what happens in the end (and I am not the one to Google book endings).

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

  Looks to me like Violet Blake gets the cover again! Though why do her arms look like they are too long for her body? And what are those bug things…? (Unless it’s supposed to actually be part of who/what is met at the end??)

  Reading this was like starting a new series in just how different the tone and pacing and the general crafting of the story goes. Mother, May I? is more coherent than the other books have been; part of this is because we now have a solid though general idea about most all of the characters in the game, and feel like we are familiar with them. After 7 books, the characters are starting to solidify – or at the very least, in this book they feel more solid than they have in the past. Even when we switch perspectives two, three times within one chapter as has been the norm throughout the series, it feels like an adding-on instead of a sneak peek for each character. While we still do not know what is coming our way, there is a sense that there is a definite and clear direction we are now headed in. The very execution of the story exudes cohesion and coherency, like even it knows what it is doing now.

  That being said, since we (or at least I am) are so much more comfortable with the characters and their environment, even after the big shake up and rearranging following Isolation (Remnants #7), all of the setting up and Big Idea (BI) drops in this book mean just that much more, and have that much more oomph to them. This is the taste of what I was hoping to find in this entire series, so now I just hope that it carries through and fulfills it to the end. Now at least some of the characters are even confiding in each other, such as when Jobs and Violet touch on the BI of what makes a home – is it a place that is familiar even if it is different now, or is it a place you choose to the exclusion of any other place? There was also a good start of a BI in a conversation between Jobs and Mo’Steel about the limits of free will, and how it has always had limits, whether or not we realized it then or even now. A familiar (to readers of Everworld at least) BI which makes an appearance is that of how fear can balance out anger, as 2Face notices in her conversation with Violet – how anger without fear can be destructive and dangerous, but with fear to balance and temper the anger, it makes one smarter about their choice of actions and can be turned to one’s best advantage in a situation. Another familiar (to readers of Animorphs this time) BI is an aspect of morality which Jobs experiences towards Yago, and one which we have already seen in Jobs back in Destination Unknown (Remnants #2) when he tried to save Big Bill: looking out for others even if they are not “your own”, even if they are “different” or “unworthy” of your concern; being inclusive of everyone on your team, even if you do not agree with them, even if they have the very real and probably capacity to betray you.

  As for some more specifics about this book: Mo’Steel’s desire for adrenaline is rising, and I wonder if this is going to start causing trouble? The Mo’Run is clearly not enough; he had the taste of power and strength that Billy gave him in the last book, and now he’s looking for a thrill, a squeeze to the A-gland as he would say, to live up to that thrill. 2Face’s manipulations are ratcheting up into high gear – with Jobs, Yago, and Mo’Steel not present, she easily gets full reign and control over all of the other Remnants. This is a very scary prospect, especially as we know her moral compass is rarely points due north. Plus we still do not know just what will careen her into the depths of vengeance/violence she is clearly capable of (that fire she was involved in back on Earth which burned her face… no I have not forgotten, and I hope we will learn what it was all about and it will not be like April’s beef with Senna from Everworld).

  Then there’s Amelia!! Talk about creepy….her talking about the evolutionary path, some of the Remnants being already on it. She say’s Billy is almost done. If I had to guess to whom she is referring being already on it, I would say that it is easy to include Edward the Chameleon on that list. I think Tate might even be on it, with the way she has perceived others in the past, how she felt in Nowhere Land (Remnants #4) that the triangle of power is between Billy Weir, Tamara and the Baby, and Mo’Steel. As for the others, I have not really noticed anything which screams “Something is changing!” Maybe Jobs with tech savviness, but that is debatable. Almost needless to say, I’m really curious to see how this is going to play out. I’m both curious and reluctant to find out what is potentially going on with them… maybe part of that has to do with what has happened to Kubrick, though that was at the hands of Mother and probably not part of the evolution that Amelia speaks of. But really, please please bring on more superpowers, the suspense about it is starting to get to me!

  I was a little confused and bothered why Jobs and them keep referring to the Missing Eight all still being missing – I mean, we’ve found Alberto, Kubrick, Noyze, and Dr. Cohen, so shouldn’t it only be the Missing Four now? The first time it came up in the beginning I was willing to let it slide/only note it as an inconsistency, but when it came up in the conversation with Amelia, not so much.

Quotes and commentary:

  The one thing Billy was interested in was himself.
  “I need to know,” he whispered to the empty room.
  What potential did he possess, for good, for evil? What was his purpose, why was he here? Or was his life just a random series of cosmic accidents and grand mistakes? – page 48 – This is a very big idea, and I appreciate how it is being brought up in this very unique context, for Billy. It is something that (at least most) everyone thinks about at some point in our lives, and we each have to come to our own conclusions. Billy’s path probably won’t be any different than anyone else’s unique path, not really.

  [Edward had realized] People liked information. People respected other people who had information they could use. – page 66 – This deduction sounds scarily mature for a boy of six; can’t help but wonder just how much more there might be to Edward that we haven’t seen yet (his Chameleon status notwithstanding).

  Mo’Steel remembered the awesome, impossible-in-the-real-world fighting moves Billy’s mind control had allowed him to execute back when control of the ship’s bridge was totally up in the air.
  Back before the Big Compromise.
  He hadn’t been bored then. – page 98 – This makes me think that given half the opportunity, he would seek out some more “trouble” in order to have an excuse to get some excitement. It’s regret, but also a promise, in a way, that he will find a way to get back that power, that excitement he had before.

  2Face had never seen Violet so furious, so absolutely enraged. And 2Face was impressed. Anger was power. Anger was energy. Anger let you do things you wouldn’t ordinarily do.
  As for herself, she was angry, too, and also scared, which was smart. Fear was good because it kept you on guard. – page 99

  Tate went out of her way to make Tamara feel welcome, accepted, loved even. She was a good kid, sixteen or seventeen, Tamara guessed. – page 101 – Guess Scholastic couldn’t quite manage to take out ALL possible allusions to Tate’s feelings for Tamara. Earlier Mo’Steel had said he didn’t think Tate was interested in him in “that way” (page 23), which while not conclusive of anything, it at least takes Mo’Steel out of her equation.


Typos/inconsistencies:
“Maybe the Missing Eight are there,” Jobs said, his voice nearly a whisper. – page 17 – Except, they’ve already found half of the Missing Eight (Kubrick and his dad Alberto, Noyze and Dr. Cohen). Now it’s the Missing Four…

Jobs said cutting Mo’Steel off – page 24 – Shouldn’t there be a comma after ‘said’? Sure reads like there should be one there at least.

…on that day when he’d taken out the Ford Libertad! And driven along the coast… -- page 26 – It doesn’t look like it here, but in full context, the exclamation mark seems out of place – either it should be a period, or a comma, or nothing there at all.

[Jobs] skidded to a stop, grabbed a question mark, tossed one to Tate, tumbling up beside him, and got on. – page 116 – Confusing wording, I thought the “him” referred to Tate, and it took me several readings to realize it was meant as Jobs – Tate, who was tumbling up beside Jobs.

[Kelsie Stelting · Rating 5 out of 5]

New twists in this one!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only it weren't so short! Then this might have been a 5-star book, because it's SO TANTALISING, changes the status quo, and propels the plot forward... but due to its length and how it cuts off right when things get underway, it kinda feels more like a prologue to the real story.

But now that we're past the halfway point, things abruptly change in a way that I never actually expected from this series. Since we're in territory that I've never read before, I get to be caught off-guard afresh by all the developments! And I'm retroactively sad that I never reached this point in the series when I was a kid, because Applegrant turn it on its head in a way that, yet again, reminds me of Michael Grant's GONE because of how it goes where I don't expect. It's now three months ahead, which is a really valuable jump for a series that has been so focused on blow-by-blow, minute-by-minute survival. We get to see the characters settling back on their haunches, getting comfortable, and deciding how they want to live their lives.

Yago's still up to no good, but his characterisation has still been completely gutted and he's a hollow shell of himself, which is further displaying what I mean when I say that he's less interesting now. :( I mean, I'm obviously still interested in seeing what fresh hell he unleashes, but it's the opposite of a Deeper Characterisation (which is what I'm wishing for this entire cast tbh).

Weirdly good notes: I am really, really :| about 2Face's actions/choices these days (stop? seeing Billy?? as a rival????? HE IS TRYING TO HELP YOU ALL, YOU INGRATES), but I am ALSO :| at Jobs, because I really don't agree with his decisions either. Breaking their peace treaty/compromise is a total, total dick move. Plus I think the message of "dust yourself off and make a fresh start" is way more important to teach young readers; turning around to go back to Earth, touching as it is, also feels like the Remnants themselves are taking several steps back and trying way too hard just for sentimentality's sake. They're probably going to find something truly awful back there, but I also suspect this means it'll lead to a happy ending there? But finding a way to make it work on the home planet just seems too good to be true...... (unless we're talking about Mass Effect 3, in which NOTHING WILL STAND BETWEEN ME AND A GETH/QUARIAN PEACE)

ahem, anyway. It's way too early for me to speculate about the ending of the series. Onward!

Regardless, I like this aspect, that even our supposed heroes aren't infallible and aren't always making decisions I agree with.

Also, let's talk about Tate some more:

"What about you, Mo'? Is there anyone...?"

Mo'Steel laughed. "What do you think?"

"There's Tate. She seems nice."

Mo'Steel raised his eyebrows. "Yeah. She's really cool. But I just don't think she's interested in me that way."

"You think she likes guys more, I don't know, into computers and stuff?"

Mo'Steel shrugged.

L E S B I A N

I feel like the narrative is basically screaming it, so the fact that they couldn't just go all the way and say it outright is still such a bummer.

Some discussion of spoilery events toward the ending:

[Amelia:]" And someday we will all be together, all of you and the three of us."

"Three?" Jobs said. "There were eight people missing from the Mayflower. What happened to the other five?"

Uhhh? Am I missing something, or? I thought Kubrick, Albert, Noyze, and Dr. Cohen were all members of the Missing Eight, considering they weren't with the Remnants from the beginning of their quest. I can't remember KAA's charming term for her own goofs and screwups and continuity errors, but possibly this is one of them?

On the cover: Definitely Amelia. I can't wait to see more of her, because that was super intriguing. MORE SUPERPOWERS PLEASE

[Joshua Glasgow · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve just lost all patience with ‘Remnants’. That’s a terrible thing to say because the series is written by K.A. Applegate, the husband/writer duo of Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant, the minds behind ‘Animorphs’, which I think is… well, to be honest, there are some entries in that series which are stinkers but I’m an enormous fan of the series and would say that on the whole it’s very good. ‘Remnants’… yeesh, not so much.

I was excited by the books at first. The first book, THE MAYFLOWER PROJECT, ends with the annihilation of the Earth—that’s a pretty gutsy opening move. The next few books after that tended to have at least one really effective moment of pathos or terror written in Applegate’s matter-of-fact style and those handful of moments kept me interested for a while. But it wasn’t long before ‘Remnants’ started running in place. No matter how many new alien creatures the human characters encounter, it feels like just more of the same. The most recent book before this one, ISOLATION (book #7), despite having a psychic battle between Billy Weir and the Shipwright/Tamara’s baby (don’t ask), to me still felt so unenergetic that I voiced my suspicion that the series was not liable to improve. That intuition seems borne out by MOTHER, MAY I?

This book picks up 3 months after the events of the previous. An unsteady truce has emerged between the humans and the other alien species who share space on the intelligent ship they’re all aboard, which they refer to as Mother. The truce is maintained only because Billy remains in control of the ship and could, in theory at least, alter the environments to quelch any resistance. The humans have all asked Billy to make them individual homes to their desired specifications: Yago, for instance, has an ever-expanding gothic castle; Mo’Steel has a decent-size house, but with a enormous looping track above and around it which he refers to as the Mo’Run. The authors put a lampshade on the fact that Mo’Run sounds kind of like moron, something I was not thinking at all but maybe the tweens who are the original target audience for this would have glommed onto that immediately, I dunno.

Moving the story forward 3 months (three months seems too brief an interlude, actually) and eliminating one antagonist/threat feels like it ought to free the series up to do something entirely different now, but instead we get more of the same. The mistrust and drama seems not to have progressed. All of the characters fit the broad character traits that define them and do little else. They are not, to my mind, being fleshed out into living characters but largely remain at this superficial level. I don’t care about any of the characters and I don’t care about what’s happening to them.

What’s happening to them lacks all intrigue. This book tries to make a mystery by having Billy send Jobs and crew to the “basement” of the ship in order to find… something. Something that will help him understand what Mother is, maybe? Or help him understand what he is, I guess? The genesis of this journey is so lackluster in that regard—what are they going to find down there? Who cares? It also makes no sense in the first place. Can any of the people going on this journey explain what it is they’re doing, what it’s meant to accomplish?

Admittedly, there is a simmering subplot in this one about Jobs finding evidence of the remains of Earth (still perfectly in orbit, I guess, despite having a massive asteroid melded with it like double-scoops of ice cream on an ice cream cone) and there being a question of whether they should have Billy turn the ship around to find out of it is still livable. Some of the Remnants believe the humans belong on Earth and should repopulate there if possible; others think their new life on Mother is sufficient, that there is nothing intrinsically important about Earth… especially now that the majority of life on the planet has likely been eliminated. I read a few reviews on Goodreads suggesting this conflict adds an ethical dimension to the book, but I did not read that much into it myself. I’m afraid the specter of their potential return to Earth is just another feint toward a big change that will only result in more of the same. Also: my takeaway from PROJECT HAIL MARY was that the Earth was completely destroyed. I never suspected that it still exists in some capacity, and frankly my first thought upon the “discovery” in this book is that it is a trick or trap of some kind. An alternate dimension. I was unwilling to take it at face-value the way the characters do.

On the topic of Jobs’ journey to the basement, much as with the battle between Billy and the Shipwright in the last book, it squanders the possibilities it suggests. There is the introduction of a fast-speed transportation system in the ship (one of many, it seems) which involves hanging onto hooks like on a dry-cleaners’ rack, but beyond this the environment they’re walking through is completely undeveloped. It reminds me slightly of HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON in the sense that it feels like nothing exists outside of the immediate need for it, at which point it is drawn into existence but in the most basic way possible. As the Remnants skim through the ship, they might as well be zipping across a blank white page for all that we as readers get from it. This is about all that happens in this subplot, too. They’re attacked at one point, but there’s no dynamism to the moment whatsoever.

When Jobs & Co. do finally each their destination, the big reveal is… spoiler a woman named Amelia who was apparently also on the Mayflower and who, like some of the others, has apparently also been transformed into some kind of superhuman since. Jobs talks about a “missing five” people or something, but it seems to me that it’s just like Lost or Yellowjackets in that more people who were allegedly on the plane crash get created later despite never showing up before. Also, from what I recall, this woman does nothing in this book save introduce herself. All of this build-up, and it just leads to another “To Be Continued”. And yet again—am I supposed to feel excited, eager for what comes next? I don’t. I have no reason to be.

Other things worth mentioning: the last book set up Yago as a source of further conflict because he apparently now believes himself to be a Jesus figure. That subplot does show up here, and apparently he’s gaining converts from the Blue Meanies because his touch gives them orgasms or something. There is a question about whether this is some special power he has gained due to radiation or if any human’s touch would result in the same shuddering delight the Blue Meanies experience. I can imagine this leading to something of interest as the Blue Meanies’ political alliance begins to break down, but I’m not holding my breath for this to be done in a nuanced or involving way, if it happens at all. Lastly, half of the Remnants remain behind in “the Zone”, their little fabricated town, and 2Face sees this as an opportunity to wrangle herself into a leadership role by encouraging the remaining Remnants to rally around a plan to return to whatever is left of Earth. YET AGAIN, aside from the hinted heh-heh-heh gleam in 2Face’s eye, nothing comes from this. It’s all just continual set-up.

The cover image for the next book in the series shows one of the characters looking out of a window in the ship at the Earth, which suggests that they do in fact return to the planet in the upcoming book. My expectations are low, though. If they make it to the earth’s surface at all in the next book, I suspect that we’ll get, at most, some hint of danger within a poorly drawn environment, much as we have so far. I’m reading these books to the finish because I bought the whole series and I feel an obligation because of it, but if it were otherwise I would definitely be calling it quits by now.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this series and I'm still going to read it, but I am kind of getting sick of it. It's all the same, but I wan't to see what happens in the end so I'm sticking with it.

[Mariah Wamby · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a time skip of two years the Remnants are surviving on a fake, lackluster earth aboard Mother now being controlled by Billy. This book was mainly to show us that our Remnants can survive on Mother, but not thrive. So when a chance to return to the destroyed Earth is presented they have to decide if it’s worth risking their hard-earned, tentative peace with the other species on board another.

[Ema]

This is a prime case of "I love the ordinary" in worlds like these. I wanted longer in the Zone just like I wanted longer peacetime at Hogwarts. Also, this of all the books so far made the least sense. I could ignore other plot holes, but wouldn't they have packed something? How did they know which way to go?

[Arlenne · Rating 4 out of 5]

My girl 2face is ruthless and I'm loving it. I'm looking forward to her character development.

[Julie Decker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shipwright vs. Mother--it's over now. Billy's in charge, and he controls the whole of existence for the Mayflower survivors and the rest of the creatures on the giant ship. After everything they've been through, finding an artificially generated place where they can be comfortable sounds like a great plan, but Jobs is interested in finding their old planet. What happened to it? Can they go back? IS THAT IT ON THE SCREEN? Meanwhile, the group finds yet another person they didn't have with the original group--Amelia--and Yago is trying to become the ruler of the Meanies because they'd be making him a god. Perhaps the battles are settling down, but now the trajectory is in doubt.

I love the idea of "real vs. virtual" that's presented here, but this one included some of the elements that I think sunk the series. It's building too fast, throwing in new characters constantly when it already had a huge cast (and killing some of the ones the readers really wanted to keep), and basically being too ambitious. It felt like the plan for a much broader, more lengthy series, and it ended up concluding only a few books later, so all the buildup and complexity feels unnecessary and over-complicated. I still really love Billy, though, and 2Face is fun to watch--throughout the series I really wanted her to grow past what she was.

[Wendy]

Another good chapter in the story of the Remnants. The Synopsis pretty much covers what happens. Some of the Remnants are content to live on the ship with the recreated neighborhood that Billy has created for them. But some, like Jobs, want to go back home to Earth and this book starts their journey home to an Earth that was broken in pieces 500 years before.

[Swankivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's getting weird. Getting?? It's been weird since book 1!

[Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. I like that the group hasn't just fragmented into two separate camps. And the part down in the basement should lead to interesting things...

[Sage]

it wass aight.

[Dexter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly not one of the better Remnants books. It's more of a connecting book for books #7 and #9.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those are meanies on the cover!

[Erika Forth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was OBSESSED with this series in middle school.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's so many game changers in this book it's hard to know where to start. While my memory of some of the installments has been hazy, I remembered the basic premise of this one pretty well, and after the reread I can see why: #8 definitely refreshes the series and turns it in a new direction.

The rundown: Save for a brief prologue, the story opens three months after Billy fuses with Mother and becomes the master of the ship. The notable jump in time, in a series that's been pretty blow by blow up to now, signals the shifts ahead. We learn that the humans, Meanies/Children, and Riders have formed a tentative treaty called the Big Compromise: all three species will stick to their own areas of the ship and not change its course without mutual agreement. The Remnants' area is called the Zone, a comfy though virtual suburb styled by Billy according to each person's requests. However, this tenuous peace threatens to be upended when Jobs, using Mother's sensors, discovers a solar system back along their course with the remains of a planet that might be Earth.

What really struck me about this book was the change in pacing. Earlier installments have hurtled forward at breakneck speed, packing in tons of action and Big Ideas but not allowing much downtime where we could get to know the Remnants. Here, they get the chance to figuratively catch their breath for the first time since arriving on the ship, and we as readers get some much needed development from them: we see Violet living in a villa that she's turned into an art gallery for Earth's lost masterpieces; Mo'Steel passing the time by tweaking a daredevil parkour park in his backyard; 2Face continually confronting her appearance in a mirror-walled house; Billy searching humanity's evolutionary tree for clues to his origin and failing.

If anything, I wish there had been more of these illuminating downtime moments, or alternatively, that they'd been sprinkled into earlier installments. This book wouldn't have had to do as much work if the characters had been more fleshed out earlier.

The more measured pace means the book falls back on setting up the action of the next one a bit more than I expected, partly because it's so short (137 pages). However, what's here is tantalizing, and I am very excited for the introduction of Amelia and the Troika, whom I only just remembered as I neared the end of the book. It's amazing how many things I just *forgot* about this series, only to have them come roaring back as I read. Not sure what that says about the series, but it's been an interesting part of revisiting it.

Loose end round up: -The characters assume Amelia's trio are 3 of the Missing Eight, and she mentions the other 5 not transitioning or something. Huh? I thought Kubrick, Alberto, Noyze, and Dr. Cohen were 4 of the Missing Eight. This confused the hell out of me.

-What the heck is Billy? We may never know, readers.