Subjects of The Shadow Project are injected with two fluids known as the Shadow Fluids. The time for the Shadow Fluids to effect a subject takes roughly 48 hours or less, depending on the body’s vulnerability. If a subject is physically stable and healthy, it will take the full two days. If not (all health conditions apply, depending on the severity) it will take less. They will not feel pain when the fluids take effect, however there are notable changes in behavior during this phase. They can range from general sadness, hopelessness, irritability, and even aggression. In some cases, not at all.
Once the subjects have been fully effected by the Shadow Fluids, the changes in behavior drop, although for the more unstable subjects… not so much. You see… from what I gathered, the more troubled subjects tend to have strong negative emotions, as if the Shadow Fluids amped up their already challenged minds. Aggression, irritation, and distress are the common ones. The more mentally stable subjects show little to no signs of these negative behaviors.
Shadow Wave/Project 7489 - @dontvap0rdawave
[There was a recorded log attached to the document]
“I did use this particular subject for a reason. She’s… an interesting case. Out of everyone I have been doing research and made records on, I did most on 7489. There has to be a reason why she’s acting the way she is. She won’t tell me, no matter how much I try to be friendly. I don’t have any intentions on hurting her or her little sister… I’m just trying to understand, to be open. But she just… won’t. I can’t force her to talk. I think I understand why. I was the one that injected them. Her. She doesn’t trust anyone... Maybe she’ll be able to open up to someone who’s more… inviting. Like… Stella. I strongly believe she’ll understand Wave better than I ever could- I mean- 7489.”
There was a period of silence.
“I… I hope you know these ARE people. I don’t want to call them by their project numbers anymore, Silver.”
Owned: No, library
Page count: 343
My summary: James' final mission is set to be a normal CHERUB mission - babysit the kids of some bigwig for a bit. Mundane, but at seventeen James isn't the prime CHERUB agent anymore. But when his old roommate Kyle comes in with a lot of information about his client's past, James and Kyle start hatching a new plan of their own. Protesting is far easier when you know your target's every move…
My rating: 3/5
My commentary:
The final CHERUB book! Or, at least, the final book that I'm going to be covering here, as this is the last of James Adams' CHERUB career. He's seventeen now, so close to ageing out of the CHERUB programme, and needs to start thinking about his future and his career. This is the book that wraps it all up, and once again the narrative makes some weird decisions with regards to its focus and exactly what it puts emphasis on. But anyway. I've not got much today for preamble, so let's get into it!
Again, we have this very strange decision where the book isn't actually about the kids we've been following this whole time. About a quarter of the book is taken up with some flashbacks including Kyle helping out with basic training when he meets Aizat, a local Malaysian kid whose village is being destroyed and bought out by an oligarch named Tan Abdullah. That's the man whose kids are being protected by CHERUB in the present day. And a large part of those flashbacks involves a reporter who Kyle has contacted investigating Abdullah's exploitation in the area, once again following a character we've never met before rather than our main character in the final book of the series. I'd have thought that this book would pick up on the Brigands thread from the last book - something that doesn't rely on exposition, so we can use the time to explore our established characters a bit better. But no, the Brigands mission is wrapped up in a pretty anticlimactic way in the early parts of this book, and the main mission that this book focuses on is the babysitting mission with Abdullah's kids that James turns down. It's just a weird choice.
Anyway, James turns down the mission, but decides to help Kyle protest Abdullah on the sly. It's not a CHERUB operation or a sting operation in general, so the outcome we're working towards seems a bit fuzzy, which makes the way that the book wraps up seems odd. After being protested all day, and after reporters were digging into his career, Abdullah decides to flee with his family and ends up shooting himself. It just seems all too neat a conclusion, for a mission like this. Adullah takes himself out of the picture, so everything is fine. We don't get much on what happens to Aizat or his community or other communities like it, but that's not really what this book was going to be about? I'm also side-eyeing the character decisions made. James has never shown much of a conscience before, so him taking a stand is admirable, even if it does ring a bit hollow in the fact that he's soon to be leaving CHERUB, and cancelling on the mission has no real negative impact on him. Lauren's reasons for staying on the mission, meanwhile, are sound - she's earlier in her career than James, and if she turns down something easy like this she won't get juicier missions. But then all of that is undercut with another character saying she just wants to go shopping with the rich kids, which strikes me as a strange beat largely because Lauren is the one with the conscience - she's the principled veggie after the animal rights mission, after all. Odd characterisation.
So, what do I make of CHERUB as a whole? It's been largely a disappointing return for me, sadly. The series has some strange ideas of morality, and overall paints things as being a bit too black and white for my liking with casting antagonists as out-and-out villains or protagonists as uncomplicatedly good despite the ethics of each situation being far more complex. James as a character really suffers from what I can only assume was an effort to make him more appealing to the typical teenage boy, meaning that he's wildly homophobic and misogynistic in a way that isn't challenged by the narrative in a satisfactory manner. The choice to have most of the non-mission story be taken up with relationship drama is largely uninteresting, mostly because that kind of teen-soap-opera nonsense is at odds with the spy thriller genre of the books. While CHERUB as an organisation could be an interesting idea for a narrative, the fact that its ethics aren't satisfactorily examined in the story lead it to feel more like copaganda than anything else. That's not to say there's nothing to enjoy here - I did enjoy the books, and I carried on with the series to completion - but overall I don't remember it as well as I did, and that makes me a little sad, not gonna lie.
Next, time for some Doctor Who, and adventures with the Ninth Doctor.
Dazzle is...Dazzle is very special to me. He was my first support hero and to this day I choose him over most other supports, though i still love others. IO, Disruptor, Oracle, Kotl. Dazzle destroys the enemy armor and can carry a team as well as protect it viscously with his shallow grave ability, able to keep team mates alive for a few more precious seconds to either fight longer or able to get away, if just barely. Poison Touch is another great ability and slows and stuns and enemy while doing PHYSICAL damage, so mixed with his ultimate Weave which makes enemy armor pretty much nill and yours and your teams armor buffed to oblivion it can be a powerful tool, shadow wave which also causes physical damage is amplified by weave as well. So getting a desolator as well as a solar crest on this hero spells defeat for any enemy Dazzle and his team comes across.
So I just finished Shadow wave by Robert Muchamore and it was amazing! It’s the 12th book in the CHERUB series and the last one with James Adams as the main character.
Most of the books deal with important issues ranging from religious cults to environmental activists. All of them from the point of view of kids aged 10-17. They show how easy it is to fall and how fatal can be the consequences of your mistakes.
The characters are very realistic. They all have flaws, make mistakes and have unique personality traits and individual opinion. The siblings still have conflicts and every relationship has its up and down. The grownups around the kids are not flawless either. Some of them are cruel or viscious or have big heart. They are important role models for the kids.
Muchamore’s books are always realistic. There are happy endings but sometimes things won’t work out ( just like in real life ).
Throughout the books there are huge scandals revolving around campus (that’s where the kids live) about cheating or other conflicts and the retaliation following them.
In this last book, while it centers around James who will leave CHERUB campus to study in university, it also deals with an event from Kyle’ past (a friend of James). So instead of his last mission James helps Kyle.
For me the whole book had a sort of nostalgic atmosphere. Excherubs returned to campus for a wedding and James recalled some fond memories. He was planning his future. Old issues surfaced such as the identity of his father or whether he wants to meet him.
Of course Lauren, his sister and Kerry, his girlfriend are also present as well as some of his closest friends such as Bruce Norris and other characters like Kevin Sumner, Dana Smith or Gregory Rathbone
I can only recommend these books. If you are interested try Henderson’s boys as well!
