"It's been over a year since all the adults disappeared. Gone.
In the time since everyperson over the age of fourteen disappeared from the town of Perdido Beach, California, countless battles have been fought: battles against hunger and lies and plague, and epic battles of good against evil. And now, the gaiaphage has been reborn as Diana's malicious mutant daughter, Gaia. Gaia is endlessly hungry for destruction. She yearns to conquer her Nemesis, Little Pete, and then bend the entire world to her warped will. As long-standing enemies become allies, secrets are revealed and unexpected sacrifices are made. Will their attempts to save themselves and one another matter in the end, or will the kids of Perdido Beach perish in this final power struggle?"
Finally the last book! (and another sad farewell.) The books in the Gone series are typically long. (four hundred pages) Wow. Light is stunning and surprising. I recommend Light to thirteen years old and older. Light is the endgame of the gaiaphage and Little Pete. Who will win? Who will lose? Who will die? (And a lot of people/kids die.)
Light's plot is so amazing. I love how all these dreadful and horrible deaths happened within about ninety hours. (About four days.) The many characters in Light struggle with the last war against the gaiaphage. Lives lost and lives saved to protect the FAYZ and ultimately the world. Sam, Caine, Diana, and Astrid may have not signed up to save the world, but they are the only ones (among the living) who can push the scale in favor of Good. Nemesis, better known as the autistic five year old Little Pete, is the only force that can actually defeat Gaia completely.
A major theme in Light is good versus evil and kids versus wrong. Basically it's Sam, Albert (sort of), Breeze, Quinn, Little Pete, Lana, Caine, Astrid, Diana, and other kids in the Perdido Beach (except for a few other people) that on Team Good while Diana (temporarily), Drake, Brittany, Alex, and the badass gaiaphage on Team Evil.
I always enjoyed Michael Grant's writing. How he wrote the switching POVs is amazing and brilliant. I never get bored of reading some character's POV. Every POV is unique like a fingerprint.
The ending is so sad. I love it. It's the best ending for the Gone series. It's perfect.
Characters:
Let's have a moment for those who died in the battlefields of Perdido Beach by the hand of the gaiaphage whether directly or indirectly. (The survival rate is 40 percent.) SPOILER ALERT!
~~~~
Caine
Breeze
Dahra
Orc
Jack
Little Pete
Many Others
~~~~
END SPOILER!
Sam is as amazing as ever. He is a true warrior who knows what it takes to take down an enemy that threatens everyone. He does what he have to protect all the kids in the FAYZ. He doesn't really have much of a character change compared to other characters. When Michael Grant said that one of the four main characters (Sam, Caine, Diana, and Astrid) is going to die, I was hoping he was just joking. How very wrong I was.
Caine is whoa! I never thought that Sam and Caine would actually combined forces to take down the gaiaphage. Well, brother and brother, twin and twin together at last. For a guy who grown up without love, it's wonderful how he changed in the end. Caine is the one who had the biggest and most dramatic character change in the series. With a sort of sick kind of humor, Caine brings life into Light.
Diana is interesting. She would make a good psychologist, in my opinion. Her ability to read people, including Gaia, is amazing. I wish I have that kind of ability. It will be useful in the workforce. Anyway, Diana and Astrid are both good girls who will do anything to protect their love ones. They wanted to sacrifice themselves for... Wait that's a spoiler.
Astrid is clever, as usual. She's tougher and smarter in Light, especially what happened in the previous book. She has a better mental armor that she uses to protect herself. Astrid is like the Athena in Light. (If I compare the characters to Greek Gods, then Sam will be Ares/Hercules/Perseus/other heroes, Caine will be Zeus, and Diana is Hera.)
I hate, hate, hate, and loathe the gaiaphage. Gaia is the best villian ever created in this series. (and that's why I hate her.) She is a blood thirsty creature, I'll give her that. And she's a complete...well, there's no word better than this...lunatic and evil monster.
Rating: Four out of Five.
Farewell, old friend.
