The Lake House is a 2003 novel by James Patterson, a sequel to When the Wind Blows.
Plot
The Lake House tells the story of six extraordinary children, endowed with the power to fly after genetic engineering merged their DNA with that of birds, and who have to fight for their lives against scientists who want to kill them, thinking that they are monsters of despair. With them comes the help of Dr. Frannie O'Neil and suspended FBI agent Thomas "Kit" Brennan.
Pseudosequels
The Lake House was followed by the Maximum Ride series, which was a retelling of the plot aimed at teen readers instead of an adult audience and focused more on the children than adults in their lives. The theme is similar, but the plots and tone of the two series diverge in that The Lake House and When the Wind Blows focused more on characterization, suspense, and the moral implications of genetic engineering, while the "Maximum Ride" series is more of a scifi action/adventure romp. When the Wind Blows and The Lake House are adult books and the "Maximum Ride" books are written for teens (although many adults do enjoy reading them.)
Although the names are different, as well as aspects of their back stories and behavior, the six children in the follow-up series have personalities that are directly analogous to the ones in When the Wind Blows and the Lake House.
Before the main story of the first Maximum Ride book, Patterson remarks that the only similarity is the name between the Max in the story and the Max in The Lake House. He then remarks. "Most of the similarities end there. Nor do Frannie and Kit or any of the other kids play any part in it. I hope you enjoy the ride anyway."
Synopsis
The Lake House starts some time after When the Wind Blows. The bird children - Max, Matthew, Ozymandias, Wendy, Peter, and Icarus - are all depressed and unhappy in their new "normal" lives and wish to return to live with Frannie and Kit. Frannie and Kit miss the children as well and engage in a courtroom battle to regain custody of the children. The judge decides that the children will remain living with their biological parents until an appeal hearing is made. Meanwhile, a doctor named Ethan Kane begins trying to capture the bird children and bring them to the place he works, a nightmarish place called the Hospital. In the Hospital, faceless people are murdered and dissected and their organs are taken and used for the "Resurrection" of rich and famous people such as former presidents and prime ministers.
Going back to their lives, the children are forced to put up with harassment from various reporters and paparazzi. After a visit from one of the reporters, it is revealed that Max knows about the Hospital from working at the School, but was trained not to talk about it on the threat of death. Upset, she goes to Oz for comfort. He tells her that she is "drop dead gorgeous". Shortly after, the two begin a sexual relationship.
After Kane attempts to kidnap Max and Matthew at their new home, the siblings escape and meet up with the rest of the flock. The children then fly to Frannie's house for protection. That night, Hospital workers try to break into Frannie's house. She calls the police and sets her house on fire. She and the children then escape through the basement and meet up with Kit.
Kit takes them to Washington D.C. for help. While left alone, hit men hired by Kane capture the children. Oz is killed while trying to protect Max. Frannie and Kit try to rescue the children but are drugged and hooked up to holographic monitors, which give the patients pleasant visions while their organs are being taken. Max and the flock manage to escape and Frannie and Kit are released later. Although they try to expose the Hospital, all evidence of their experiments are hidden and the V.I.Ps seen there have alibis.
At the appeal hearing, the judge decides to return the children to the custody of Frannie and Kit. The family rejoices and moves back to the Lake House. There, Frannie notices that Max has been in her room all morning. She goes to investigate and learns that Max has laid two eggs - her babies with Oz. Max spends the next few weeks caring for the eggs. One night, Kane breaks into Max's room to steal the eggs. Max fights him off and knocks him out of the window, fulfilling her promise to Oz that she'd break his neck. Four weeks later, the eggs hatch. Max's winged babies are a boy and a girl, who she names Ozymandias and Frances Jane. The book ends with Max thinking that she can't wait to teach them how to fly.
"Maximum Ride" vs. When the Wind Blows/The Lake House
Similarities
- James Patterson wrote them.
- The main characters are all human-avian hybrid children plus two human adults.
- The children all were previously subjected to cruel experiments and treatment at a building referred to as the "School".
- One of the children is blind due to night vision experiments(Icarus, sometimes called "Ic", in The Lake House, Iggy, sometimes called "Ig", in "Maximum Ride").
- The main character's name is Max, which is short for Maximum.
- Max is the oldest in their flock.
- The two eldest children (Max and Ozymandias in "The Lake House" and Max and Fang in "Maximum Ride") have a relationship.
- The group of winged children call themselves "The Flock".
- There are 6 members of the original flock. (7, even 8 in later books of Maximum Ride)
- There is a pair of siblings in the flock.
- Both series contain a member of the FBI.
- Both Max from Maximum Ride and Max from The Lake House have a child/children with the oldest boy member of the flock.
- Both series end with Max thinking about teaching her children to fly.
- Both series the two youngest children are siblings.
- Both series had a mimic (Icarus in "The Lake House" and Gasman in "Maximum Ride".)
Differences
- In Maximum Ride, Max is the oldest, at 14 years, with hair that is described as both brown and blond throughout the series and brown eyes. In When the Wind Blows, Max is 12, with blond hair and green eyes.
- In Maximum Ride, the human/bird children and the human/wolf hybrids ("Erasers") were both the only successful experiments at first, with many failures (later, other experiments were successfully created). In When the Wind Blows, the human/bird children were the only successes, with many horrible failures.
- In Maximum Ride, it is mentioned that the scientists at the School were operating against the law and didn't want anyone to find out about them. In When the Wind Blows, the scientists at the School operated in secret, but were actually backed by many people, including some in the government.
- In Maximum Ride, Angel and the Gasman are related by blood and Max and Ari are half-siblings, as well as Max and Ella. In When the Wind Blows, Max and Matthew were siblings, as well as Wendy and Peter.
- In When the Wind Blows and The Lake House, Max is oviparous, meaning her children will be born in eggs, therefore, Max did not have breasts. However, in Maximum Ride, Max gives birth to her child.
- In Maximum Ride, Fang doesn't publicly show that he cares for Max. He makes fun of her, and knows she can take care of herself.
- In The Lake House, Ozymandias is protective around Max, and often kisses her, which then leads to sex.
- In Maximum Ride, the Flock possess other super-human abilities as well as having wings.
- In The Lake House, the experiments made by the School are made public, and the bird children are well known.
- In Maximum Ride, Max has a "Voice" in her head.
- In The Lake House, Ozymandias dies. Fang has been killed twice in the Maximum Ride series, but was brought back to life by Max and Dylan.
- In Maximum Ride there are 3 girls and 3 boys. In The Lake House there are 2 girls and 4 boys.
- in The Lake House Max often swears. In Maximum Ride, Max swears, but tries not to after she hears six-year-old Angel "cussing like a sailor when she stubbed her toe."
- In The Lake House, Max and the other winged children are double-limbed (their arms and wings are attached). In Maximum Ride, Max and the winged children have separate wings and arms.
