Characterization In The Infinite Sea By Rick Yancey

The Infinite Sea, by Rick Yancey, is the second installment in the 5th wave series. A follow up to the New York Times bestseller, The Infinite Sea continues the story of Cassie Sullivan and her friends weathering the inhumane conditions brought on by the “Others”. The book has an intriguing plot, but Rick Yancey focuses too much on the characterization, and makes the book too wordy, killing the momentum of the story therefore boring readers. However the book makes up for this by brilliantly using dialogue to finish with a powerful cliffhanger, captivating those who make it to the end of the book. Being an apocalyptic story, by nature, The Infinite Sea should be filled to the brim with action, as well as a steady uncovering of the secrets

Yancey’s use of detail belongs in a thesaurus, not an apocalyptic teen fiction story. “Miles above me, the world wakes. In the cool shadows pooling on the rainforest floor, a rat like creature digs for tender roots. Its descendants will tame fire, invent the wheel, discover mathematics, create poetry, reroute rivers, level forests, build cities, explore deep space......’ ‘The clock ticks. Nervously, the creature sniffs the warm moist air. The metronomic beat of the clock speeds up, and I rise toward the surface.” (Yancey, 204) This scene occurs after Ringer is drugged in preparation for installment of techno-advanced system into her body. Sure, we get the idea that Ringer is in a different world and her mind is playing tricks on her, but this scene means very little to the overall plot of the book. Seriously! Do we need a page long description of what is happening in Ringer’s head when she is drugged to the max? No, there are more important things and questions that need to be addressed. This book was too slow, too wordy, too

What is the answer? Why not use a big asteroid to kill off the humans? These are questions the reader wants to know, and is left hanging to think about. But the reason I don’t think it’s a cliffhanger is because it’s a restatement of all the questions that have come about with the plot. These aren’t new questions that have just been introduced to the readers. In reality, these questions have been with the plot all along, but the excess wordiness of the book has distracted the reader from these questions. Since the reader has been distracted, these questions do seem to appear new and unanswered, and make the reader want to the read the next book. The Infinite Sea also does a great job of continuing with the theme introduced in the first book: Love is the most powerful force. “‘He fell in love, and love is the only weakness.’ ‘Why?’..... ‘Because love is irrational,’ I tell Vosch. ‘It doesn’t follow rules. Not even its own rules. Love is the one thing in the universe that’s unpredictable.’” (Yancey, 294) This quotation comes directly after the dialogue asking the overarching questions of the plot. In effect, this quotation contributes to the cliffhanger effect, edging the reader on the last and final book: The Last