The Infinite Sea
| Author | Rick Yancey |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The 5th Wave |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | G. P. Putnam's Sons |
Publication date | September 16, 2014 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 300 (Hardcover) |
| ISBN | 978-0399162428 |
| Preceded by | The 5th Wave |
| Followed by | The Last Star |
The Infinite Sea is a young adult science fiction novel written by American author Rick Yancey. It is the second novel in The 5th Wave series; sequel to The 5th Wave and followed by The Last Star. It was published on September 16, 2014.
The novel provides detailed histories of the secondary characters from the previous novel. [1] Instead of just narration from Cassie, as the previous book had, the narration shifts from the point of view of another teenage girl named Ringer. [2]
Plot
A few days after the events of the first novel, Cassie, Ben and the rest of squad 53 have taken refuge at a hotel, which they call "Walker Hotel" in honor of Evan Walker. Ringer, believing that their refuge in the hotel will not last, goes out searching for a cave system mentioned on a brochure. Teacup, who she had grown close to, sneaks up to Ringer who shoots her, mistaking Teacup for a Silencer. A helicopter flies in and they are both captured by The Others.
Cassie and the others anxiously await Ringer. They realize that Teacup has gone missing, and Dumbo and Poundcake set out to find her. They return empty-handed.
Evan Walker, who is revealed to have survived Camp Haven's destruction, is rescued by Grace. Grace talks of [what?], who Evan finds out to be[what?], Cassie and they head to her makeshift home. They spot Cassie at the hotel from an interstate on their way there. After one of Grace's hunts she tries to seduce Evan, but he attacks her. While escaping her house, Grace shoots at him, though Evan thought he killed her. She lets him go, knowing that he will lead her to Cassie. While he rests and Grace confronts him, they are attacked and Grace is shot at, giving Evan the opportunity to escape.
He finds the hotel they stay at and disarms Ben in a misunderstanding, though Ben stabs his leg. Evan finds Sammy and, seeing the gun in his hands, dives at him. Cassie shoots him once and he is rendered unconscious. Ben angrily awaits his awakening. Cassie defends him while Ben throws constant insults toward him. In the midst of this, they hear a helicopter approach. However, it quickly flies off. Then, they see a small girl walk down the hallway, who Sammy identifies as "Megan". She says that her throat hurts before passing out.
The group cares for her, though when Evan awakes, he warns them not to, explaining that The Others planted a bomb in her throat rigged to detonate on high concentrations of carbon dioxide. The group moves outside a distance from the hotel, while Cassie and Evan stay behind to remove the bomb from her throat. With a struggle, Cassie manages to safely remove the bomb and she contains it in a plastic baggie. Ben and Poundcake have been collecting CO2 canisters so that the bomb can be detonated at a safe distance away.
Grace appears as Cassie and Evan finish the operation. She forcefully kisses Evan in front of her. As the squad appears, chaos begins. A chopper flies in and in the struggle, Grace disappears to destroy the helicopter and kill the pilot. Evan tells Cassie of a pod sent down from the mothership to extract Grace and will be at her temorary home. He shows her how to find it and gives her the bomb they removed from Megan's throat. Evan makes Cassie promise "to end it" and insists that he be left behind. As she knows she has no other choice, Cassie kisses him and leaves. She gives the bomb to Sammy and carries him. They reach the street outside of the hotel and Sammy tells Cassie that he dropped the baggie.
Poundcake has fallen short and Grace attacks him. He manages to disarm her, and he sees the bomb on the floor where Sammy dropped it. Grace tries to talk him out of detonating it, but he unzips the bag and, as Grace tries to lunge for him, he breathes on the bomb and it blows.
Ringer has been taken to another "training" camp, much like Camp Haven. Colonel Vosch has taken over command of the camp. Ringer semi-befriends a recruit named Razor, who knows of the conspiracy and that the officials at camp are actually The Others. Vosch taunts Ringer with games of chess and statements about what her father would think about her, how proud he would be. Ringer questions about the whereabouts of Teacup. Vosch tells her that she, who's name is revealed to be Allison, is alive. Vosch also continuously preaches to Ringer that "rage is not the answer." She holds an on-and-off friendship with Razor, as well. She also finds out that he loves to talk about everything, including him revealing his true name, Alex, and that he earned his nickname after he cut himself with a razor in the shower.
One day, Vosch, Razor, and a woman named Claire, who despises humans, enhance her with the twelfth system, a piece of Other technology designed to strengthen the human anatomy. It is through this that we learn that Silencers were never actually "Others", just humans with "Others" consciousness downloaded into them and enhanced by the 12th system neural chip, not controlled or linked to the "Others".
Ringer and Razor build a plan to escape. The plan is carried out successfully, Ringer kills Claire and Jumbo, knocks out Teacup, and forces a pilot to fly them in a helicopter before it crashed, all the way to where they meet. Ringer soon discovers that Razor was secretly working with Vosch, because he could not remember where he put Teacup, and tried to lure her into a warehouse. She knocks him out and heads to the warehouse, which had been converted to a hospital the time of the 3rd Wave. She finds Vosch in it, and he openly invites her to a fight. Vosch wins easily and charges Razor with guarding and helping to heal her. Ringer and Razor reconcile and he slept with her afterwards.
When they return home, Razor whispers to Ringer about leverage and proceeds to shoot and kill Teacup, so that Vosch will have no leverage over her. Razor in turn is shot and dies and Ringer takes off.
At the end, Cassie and squad 53 are recovering from the explosion. From the woods, Evan emerges and Cassie goes to meet him.
References
- ↑ "The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey - review". the Guardian.
- ↑ Brian Truitt, USA TODAY (15 September 2014). "The Infinite Sea". USA TODAY.