Maximum Ride vs. Witch and Wizard

Both series written by the James Patterson, an autor noted for his gut-wrenching novels, Maximum Ride and Witch and Wizard have captured my imagination into both the scientific and mystical world that Patterson reveals. Maximum Ride is a series of seven books all encompassing the journey of seven children. These children call themselves the Flock. They were rescued from The School were they were experiments made into 98% human and 2% super beings. Some have wings and can fly. Others have super vision, or the ability to read minds. The School created "Erasers" to find the escapees and bring them back to further the experimentation and research. The Flock's journey in the first novel is to rescue the youngest, Angel, from The School after being kidnapped. I enjoyed this first part of the series because I can see the future books in the series being more action packed and full of adventure. The only down side of this first book was that it was mostly trying to develop the characters and introduce them in order to build their characters further in the later books. I can definitely see the potential this series has and I can not wait to start the second book.
The Witch and Wizard kept my attention more so that the Max Ride because there was not as much "fluff" in the first book of this series. It was mystical but the dark side of the book was very similar to the Hunger Games... Two children, siblings, were arrested for having magical powers. They were unaware of these unique powers until after they were in custody along with their parents. They learned to embrace their gifts even though the government does not tolerate this type of power. The two were sentenced to execution when they turn 18 years-old. But the novel links their journeys details from their arrest until the time of their scheduled execution... This series is detailed, complex, action paced, and magical. If I read this closer to the time that the sequel was coming out I would have started The Ghost right after instead of getting into the Max Ride series. My mom bought be The Ghost but I think that I should continue investigating the Max Ride series before giving up too soon of that story-line. Then after I read the second book in Max Ride, I will then continue the other series! Lots of reading! So little time!