Michael Grant is the author of the Gone series of YA urban fantasy novels. The stories introduce readers to a community where teens developed superhuman abilities. The series has 8 books.
The first novel in the series, Gone, is set in Southern California. Here, the city of Perdido Beach has gone through a big change.
One day, everyone over the age of fifteen vanishes. Besides, an energy barrier appears, cutting the town off from the rest of the globe.
The teens who remain are puzzled. Soon, things start to spiral out of control, and there are no adults around to keep order.
Everyone was just trying to survive at first. But then the students from Coates Academy arrived, and the war began.
The series follows Sam, who unexpectedly gains exceptional abilities.
Nobody trusted the mutant youngsters like Sam. He was initially alone. However, when others began to exhibit powers, they came to him for direction. Throughout the series, the protagonists will deal with both natural and supernatural difficulties.
The challenging, alien circumstances and thrilling adventure plot drive most YA dystopian novels.
Yet this series is a gripping coming-of-age story at its core. Readers observe as these youngsters and teenagers grow up and out of their normal social positions. Eventually, they find their spots in this odd new society.
Gone Series in order
- Gone (2009)
- Hunger (2009)
- Lies (2010)
- Plague (2011)
- Fear (2012)
- Light (2013)
- Monster (2017)
- Villain (2018)
- Hero (2019)
Similar authors
- Pittacus Lore’s Lorien Legacies follows ten alien Garde and their Cêpans. They try to live and blend in on Earth to fight aliens who destroyed their planet. See Pittacus Lore’s I am Number Four Series in Order.
- The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey features 6-year-old Cassie Sullivan. She tries to survive in a world devastated by an alien invasion.
See also: Larry McMurtry Books in Order.
Most recommended books
- Light (Gone, #6) (4.3 Goodreads score)
- Fear (Gone, #5) (4.23 Goodreads score)
- Plague (Gone, #4) (4.17 Goodreads score)
- Lies (Gone, #3) 4.08 Goodreads score)
- Hunger (Gone, #2) 4.02 Goodreads score)
Awards
In 2010, and 2012, the series got nominations for the Delaware Diamond Award and the Nevada Young Reader’s Award.
Movies based on the series
Sony Pictures acquired the rights to the Gone series in 2013. They showed an interest in developing a television series based on the books.
Latest releases
The last book of the series, Hero, was published in 2019.
Book summaries
Gone (2009)
In the blink of an eye, everyone disappears. Gone. Except for the young. There are teens, but not one single adult. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what’s happened.Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.It’s a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: on your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else. . . .
Hunger (2009)
It’s been three months since all the adults disappeared. Gone. Food ran out weeks ago and starvation is imminent. Meanwhile, the normal teens have grown resentful of the kids with powers. And when an unthinkable tragedy occurs, chaos descends upon the town. There is no longer right and wrong. Each kid is out for himself and even the good ones turn murderous. But a larger problem looms. The Darkness, a sinister creature that has lived buried deep in the hills, begins calling to some of the teens in the FAYZ. Calling to them, guiding them, manipulating them.The Darkness has awakened. And it is hungry.
Lies (2010)
It’s been seven months since all the adults disappeared. Gone.It happens in one night. A girl who died now walks among the living; Zil and the Human Crew set fire to Perdido Beach, and amid the flames and smoke, Sam sees the figure of the boy he fears the most: Drake. But Drake is dead. Sam and Caine defeated him along with the Darkness—or so they thought.As Perdido Beach burns, battles rage: Astrid against the Town Council; the Human Crew versus the mutants; and Sam against Drake, who is back from the dead and ready to finish where he and Sam left off. And all the while deadly rumors are raging like the fire itself, spread by the prophetess Orsay and her companion, Nerezza. They say that death is a way to escape the FAYZ. Conditions are worse than ever and kids are desperate to get out. But are they desperate enough to believe that death will set them free?
Plague (2011)
It’s been eight months since all the adults disappeared. Gone.They’ve survived hunger. They’ve survived lies. But the stakes keep rising, and the dystopian horror keeps building. Yet despite the simmering unrest left behind by so many battles, power struggles, and angry divides, there is a momentary calm in Perdido Beach.But enemies in the FAYZ don’t just fade away, and in the quiet, deadly things are stirring, mutating, and finding their way free. The Darkness has found its way into the mind of its Nemesis at last and is controlling it through a haze of delirium and confusion. A highly contagious, fatal illness spreads at an alarming rate. Sinister, predatory insects terrorize Perdido Beach. And Sam, Astrid, Diana, and Caine are plagued by a growing doubt that they’ll escape—or even survive—life in the FAYZ. With so much turmoil surrounding them, what desperate choices will they make when it comes to saving themselves and those they love?
Fear (2012)
It’s been one year since all the adults disappeared. Gone.Despite the hunger, despite the lies, even despite the plague, the kids of Perdido Beach are determined to survive. Creeping into the tenuous new world they’ve built, though, is the worst incarnation yet of the enemy known as the Darkness: fear.Within the FAYZ, life breaks down while the Darkness takes over—turning the dome-world of the FAYZ entirely black. A will to survive and a desire to take care of those they love endure in this ravaged band, even in the bleakest moments. But in darkness, the worst fears of all emerge, and the cruelest of intentions are carried out. After so many months, is all about to be lost in the FAYZ?
Light (2013)
It’s been over a year since all the adults disappeared. Gone.In the time since every person 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?
Monster (2017)
It’s been four years since a meteor hit Perdido Beach and everyone disappeared. Everyone, except the kids trapped in the FAYZ—an invisible dome that was created by an alien virus. Inside the FAYZ, animals began to mutate and teens developed dangerous powers. The terrifying new world was plagued with hunger, lies, and fear of the unknown.Now the dome is gone and meteors are hitting earth with an even deadlier virus. Humans will mutate into monsters and the whole world will be exposed. As some teens begin to morph into heroes, they will find that others have become dangerously out of control . . . and that the world is on the brink of a monstrous battle between good and evil.
Villain (2018)
It’s been four years since the events of GONE. The Perdido Beach dome is down, but the horrors within have spread. The alien virus-infested rock that created the FAYZ is creating monsters—monsters that walk the cities and countryside, terrorizing all.There are tanks in the street and predator drones in the sky, doomed efforts to stop the disintegration of civilization. Into this chaos comes a villain with the power to control anyone with just the sound of his voice. Dillon Poe wanted to be a comedian once . . . but everyone made fun of him. Dillon the loser. Dillon the freak. Now he’s sending thousands to their death. Who’s laughing now?The only people who can stop a superpowered villain are superpowered heroes. Dekka, Shade, Cruz, Malik, Armo, and a new mutant with unmatched powers, are all that stand in Dillon’s way. But when the lines begin to blur between hero and villain—some begin to wonder who’s really the monster.
Hero (2019)
After the fall of Perdido Beach dome, a new set of humans developed mutant powers from the rock infected with alien virus. They are the Rockborn Gang: Dekka, Shade, Cruz, Malik, Armo, and Francis. With their superpowers, they have defended the earth from other rockborn who used their powers for evil, like Dillon Poe.When another rock carrying the virus strikes New York, a new foe, Bob Markovic, rises with a horrifying and nearly unstoppable ability. Markovic’s unending ambition and lack of a moral compass made him unbearable before the virus. And that was before he was a swarm of plague-ridden insects, with the power and means to take over the city—and maybe the world.As the Rockborn Gang try to defeat their latest villain, they will find themselves on morally gray grounds and have to make tough decisions if they want to save the world.In this pulse-pounding finale to the saga more than ten years in the making, Michael Grant delivers an unforgettable conclusion while asking: What does it take to be a hero?
