Remnants is a series of 14 young adult science fiction books co-authored by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, writing together under the name K. A. Applegate, published between July 2001 and September 2003. The series centres around a group of humans launched into space in a desperate attempt to survive following an asteroid collision with the Earth.
Plot summary In book one, a -long asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, which will kill the vast majority of all living things. Eighty people – mostly top scientists and their families – have been chosen to make a desperate escape in the Mayflower, a converted space ship which will use solar sails and experimental suspended animation. A chunk of the asteroid breaks off and destroys San Francisco. Some people who were not chosen to leave Earth kill some of the chosen crew so they can take their places on board the Mayflower. Others are stowaways. Most people on board are put into suspended animation, and the ship barely leaves in time, before the asteroid strikes.
In book two, most of the passengers on the Mayflower wake up and find the ship is somehow within a building. Something went wrong with the suspended animation, causing about twenty people, mostly adults, to die. The survivors, many of them now orphaned teenagers, call themselves Remnants. They discover alien races / species in the building, along with deadly parasitic worms. They must fight to learn what is going on and to survive. Eventually, Jobs realizes they are inside a colossal space craft.
In book three, the Remnants learn the space craft has an artificial intelligence called Mother, that Mother is confused, and the confusion is causing problems with the indoor environment. The Remnants must learn to communicate with and hopefully get along with the various alien races / species, in order to fix Mother.
Characters Main characters Jobs: He and his parents and brother are on the Mayflower: only Jobs and his brother survive. Jobs's poetic sense and technical knowledge combined are often useful in understanding Mother, a sentient machine. It is Jobs who discovers the remains of Earth. He chose to use the name Jobs because unlike Bill Gates or Michael Dell, Steven Jobs created a miniature revolution "...in his garage." Jobs's birth name is Sebastian Andreeson. He was the son of a prominent scientist, Jennifer Andreeson, head of astrophysics at Stanford, and Tony Andreeson, a software technician with the "kind of job where nobody expects you to show up on time, or at all," and was recruited to go on the Mayflower Project. He was joined by his long-time best friend Mo'Steel. He was briefly romantically involved with a girl named Cordelia before he went aboard the Mayflower project, and the first book of Remnants deals with his longing for her to accompany him on the ship. Cordelia instead comes to an infamous death when her video link reveals to the world a chunk of The Rock obliterating San Francisco and its inhabitants, with the resulting shockwave shattering the building from which Cordelia witnesses the destruction. Mo'Steel: Jobs's best friend, Mo'Steel is named for either "Man of Steel" or "More Steel" (Mo cannot remember which), since he has broken 5 of his bones. 4 of them so were broken so badly, they had been replaced with titanium composites. Mo'Steel has a love for adventure and is proud of all his broken bones and scars. Mo marries Noyze in the series' epilogue, and has 1 son Boyd, and Noyze is pregnant with another. Mo'Steel's birth name is Romeo Gonzalez. Mo'Steel is possibly an idiot-savant; however, evidence can only be found in the second book when he converts an insane number of minutes into years. 2Face: Named after the comic book villain, Two-Face. She is one of 2 players battling for total control of the Remnants. 2Face seems to show feelings for Billy, but upon being stranded on Earth, she becomes paranoid to the point that she is sure Billy orchestrated the entire event. She attempts to kill Billy to stop the re-greening ritual, and Billy is forced to kill her to protect himself, but not before he gives her a vision of her dead mother so that she may die peacefully. It is hinted several times through the series that 2Face herself caused the fire that scarred her, but this is not confirmed. Yago: The son of the first African-American, and first female President of the United States (Janice Castleman), Yago is 2Face's competition for control. He is highly arrogant and is assured he will eventually rise to power, caring for his own safety above all else. About halfway through the series, Yago is connected to Mother and is "killed" (actually, a projection of his mind is killed). The ordeal leaves Yago believing himself to be "The One": A being of purity, destined to lead the Chosen (the non-mutant Remnants) and to destroy the Freaks (2Face and the mutated Remnants). Yago's twisted religion turns many Blue Meanies with his newly discovered mutation "The Touch", a sort of laying-on-hands that several Meanies crave (although it is not known exactly what The Touch really does - only that it does not work on humans). Near the end of his life Yago becomes much more likeable and not arrogant. Yago dies when his mind, inside of Tate, fades away. Yago's birth name is Robert Castleman. Violet Blake: Violet is a "Jane" (named for Jane Austen), who for the first half of the series, prefers to be called Miss Blake. As a Jane, Violet has a distaste for technology, and a love for all forms of art and literature. Violet suffers an attack of "worms" in the second book, and eventually they become her mutation, enabling her to become a mass of worms that can revive the dead (to an extent). Violet and Jobs have a semi-romantic relationship, but her disgust over her mutation, and Jobs's obsession with Earth, drive them apart. She marries the Marauder Sanchez in the end of the book. Violet's birth name is Dallas, the place of her birth. Billy Weir: Billy is a true enigma. Originally a Chechen orphan, Billy was adopted by a Texan family. He was born Russian, but his father, Billy Weir Senior, aka, Big Bill, changed his name to Billy. At times it seems that Billy has infinite power, and has a strong connection with Mother. Early in the series he was carried around the computer generated world by Jobs thereby fusing friendship with Jobs that is persistent throughout the series. Long before the Mayflower, Billy dreamt of events that would unfold over five centuries later. While in hibernation, Billy did not sleep, and was awake for the five-hundred-year journey. The ordeal twisted his mind, giving him telekinesis, the power to levitate, and many other strange abilities. In the fourth book, he moves Wylson Lefkowitz-Blake's dead body like an oversized marionette, freaking Mo'Steel out big-time. These abilities make Billy a match for Mother, to the point where they assimilate to become one. Billy dies in the re-greening ritual: it is possible he may have survived, but 2Face's attack and the subsequent energy Billy spends to drain her life force may have contributed to his death. He is dubbed "Billy Weird" by many of his enemies (which amounts to anyone seeking control of the ship). Tate: Tate is one of the teenage survivors of the Mayflower. She is a relatively unimportant character until the seventh book, and most of the thirteenth book is about her. Tate developed a mutation called "the mouth", which causes her head to grow to a monstrous size when she feels threatened, and accidentally eats Yago, Charlie, and Amelia, who continue to live inside Tate until she dies or they die a natural death. In the earlier books Tate shows feelings for Mo'Steel and tells him that he's holding the Remnants together. Tamara Hoyle: A Marine who was not intended to board the Mayflower shuttle, she was trapped on board when the ship launched, and she was given the berth of a passenger who had been killed before boarding the ship. Tamara was pregnant when she was placed in her berth, and is rejuvenated with the Baby Te at her side. For the first part of the series she is mind-controlled by Te. After Te is defeated, Tamara takes a keen interest in the defense of the Remnants. She is killed by Blue Meanies on the trip back to Earth. The Troika: Amelia, Duncan Choate, and Charlie Langlow, are a trio of humans living in what is called "The Basement", a dark area that is very much what it sounds: an area below Mother's main deck. All of them "ascend" to become slime-like shapeshifters. Amelia and Charlie are assimilated into Tate, and Duncan is killed. D-Caf: D-Caf wasn't supposed to be on the Mayflower. But he and his brother, Mark, stowed away on board the ship. Mark attacked Tamara and was killed by her. Jobs, who wasn't in his hibernation booth yet, heard the commotion and subdued D-Caf, but not before D-Caf shot one of the two pilots. Ultimately, D-Caf was given the spot. When the surviving Remnants woke up, D-Caf ended up hanging out with Yago because no one else liked him. He spends the majority of the series following Yago and Anamull. When the Blue Meanies attacked, D-Caf was killed and given Violet's worm mutation. Along with the remaining Remnants, except Tate, he was abandoned by Yago. Although he's not mentioned in the epilogue, D-Caf survived and lived to see the new Earth. Kubrick: The fifteen-year-old son of one of the Mayflower's engineers, Kubrick was skinned by Mother to look more like her creators. He is introduced in the fifth book, where he and his father find Billy and Mo'Steel in the "basement". In the series, he shows definite feelings for 2Face. He is killed in the ninth book by Charlie saving 2Face's life. Echo: An Alpha colony inhabitant, Echo is not genetically pure, and this shows in her blind baby. She is forced to flee the Alpha colony and seek refuge with the Marauders. Her child, Lumina, becomes one of 3 elements in the re-greening of Earth. Sanchez: Sanchez is the Marauder who was granted visions by the Source, which is later revealed to be Mother. After the Remnants and Marauders win against the Savagers, Sanchez receives a call from Mother telling the humans to come to the source. Through Billy, Sanchez saw what elements were needed to perform the ritual that would restore Earth. Noyze: Born Jessica Polk, Noyze, the daughter of a novelist and an orthopedic surgeon, was mostly deaf until age 12, then received surgery that restored her hearing to its full capacity. Noyze and Dr Cohen were abandoned on the ship by the other Remnants and kidnapped by Blue Meanies. Noyze is the only Remnant who can communicate with the Blue Meanies. Newton: Hawk's brother, the former leader of the Marauders after he's killed by Mo'Steel. Right from the start, Newton plotted to kill Mo'Steel and become leader himself. He tried to have D-Caf poisoned by Balder and Olga to be killed by Rattler, both of which fail. Then his attempt to kill Mo'Steel was foiled by Edward. After Newton failed to steal Lumina, Newton fled; his ultimate fate is never revealed. Te: Initially called "The Baby", Te appears first as the young child of Tamara Hoyle, who was born on the 500-year journey. After some time, however, it becomes clear that the Baby is not human, and is furthermore controlling Tamara's mind. After absorbing the energy of several Blue Meanies, Te transforms into a Shipwright and attempts to seize control of Mother. However, Billy defeats him by joining with Mother. Te is notably the only Shipwright to appear.