Book: I Am Number Four The Lost Files, The Legacies

Talk about a mouthful. I am at an actual loss as to what to call this book. Should I call it The Legacies? The Lost Files? Or the really long I Am Number Four The Lost Files: The Legacies? Anyway–

“You know we’re out there, living among you. You know we’re waiting for our day to come. You have seen the power of our legacies. You know this is why they hunt us. You may think you know our stories. You are wrong. We each have our own story. We know the time has come to share them with you. Our legacies are your only hope.“

This book collects three novellas that is supposed to, I guess, bridge one Lorien Legacy book to the next. In it we have a back stories for Six and Nine, as well as a story that tackles the coming war from the other side of the fence. Now, if I hadn’t already read The Power of Six and The Rise of Nine, this book would’ve been much more valued. But I have read Books 2 and 3 of the Lorien Legacies–and that makes the novellas Six’s Legacy and Nine’s Legacy sort of obsolete. Both get tackled in the second and third book, respectively, and in a more succinct manner.

What does make this book a gem though is the last novella: The Fallen Legacies.

I mentioned, while writing about The Rise of Nine, that me reading the series has now veered away from being a guilty pleasure to actual enjoyment. That’s how I felt, reading The Fallen Legacies. It’s something that was enjoyable to read–and not because I was treating it as an action-adventure summer blockbuster film turned into a book. As I have already said, it tackles the coming war between the good guys and the bad guys–from the perspective of the bad guys. And, for the first time, we get a main character that we can empathize with.

Notice how I said main character and not protagonist?

Another thing that I enjoyed about The Fallen Legacies is the fact that while it retells a couple of stories that were already referred to in the three published books from the series, it manages to do so in a fresh way–with new information. The opening of I Am Number Four gets explored further, and we get to meet the characters that fell before the series even began.

Reading this last novella, I felt disappointed that the author hadn’t decided to write it into a full-fledged novel instead. I think that would’ve been more interesting to read than the rehash of what happened to both Six and Nine prior to them meeting Four.

But that’s just me. Let’s see how other people reacted to this collection:
Teen Reads
The World of Argon
Tales of the Ravenous Reader

Book: The Rise of Nine

“They know the charm is broken.

They know we’re all in danger now.

They are determined to find us before we find each other.

We must come together.

We are Lorien and Earth’s only hope, and we are prepared to sacrifice everything.

Power in numbers will save us all.“

It’s funny how I really don’t like this series, and yet I cannot stop myself from buying the books and reading them. It’s a guilty pleasure!

I remember reading from somewhere (or maybe I myself said/wrote it) that this book is the equivalent of an action-packed summer blockbuster. And it continues to be so. The third book hasn’t slowed down a bit, and it’s all the better for it.

But what I particularly like about this series is the fact that, unlike Artemis Fowl, it’s not trying to one-up the previous book. It’s not thinking of new and exciting ways to be implausible. Instead, it just continues to build the world it’s trying to make us believe exists. And that is why, I think, I cannot turn my back on the series. World-building calls to me. I like exploring them. I like living in them.

I like being a fan boy.

I’ve long since repressed the memory of the movie version of I Am Number Four, so unlike The Power of Six, this book had the added bonus of me not having the visuals from the movie limit my imagination. And while I did say that I like world-building, I also like being given the freedom to create my own visuals for the world. Which is where, I think, the people behind Pittacus Lore excels at. They’re building the world, but they’re only giving you the foundation and the mock-up. It’s up to your imagination to finish it off.

And to help you along, the writers of the book doesn’t give you twisty plots that are only added to astound you in the end. It gives you logical and plausible reactions from characters, enabling you to connect with them more.

For a book about aliens, it’s nice that it doesn’t actually alienate you.

Having read and enjoyed this third book, I think I can finally drop the guilt on liking this book. It’s no longer a guilty pleasure. It’s just a pleasure.

If you’ve noticed, I didn’t really say much about the story. That’s because the whole book is teaming with spoiler bombs. You’ll just have to take my word that the book is good.

Of course, if you don’t believe, there are other book blogs you can check out. Like the following:
Page Turners Blog
Empire of Books
Sci Fi Chick

Book: The Power of Six

“I’ve seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John Smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he’s a mystery. But to me… he’s one of us.

Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us–if we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We’re hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another… but our Legacies are developing, and soon we’ll be equipped to fight. Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I’ve been waiting for? And what about Number Five and Six? Could one of them be the raven-haried girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine? The girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio–and failed.

I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.

And I’m ready to fight.“

The problem with not reading the synopsis prior to reading, especially with sequels, is that there’s a possibility of getting lost.

Having read I Am Number Four, when I started reading The Power of Six, I thought events would once again be told through the eyes of John Smith, or Four. Instead, we get saddled with the thoughts of Marina, aka Number Seven. Yes, I say saddled. That’s because we’ve already touched base with the problems of aliens fitting in with regular folks in the first book. I understand that Seven did get a different upbringing, seeing as she’s stayed in an orphanage run by nuns for around seven years–but her thoughts aren’t really new to us. Only the circumstances. Now, had Seven exhibited different thoughts from the ones Four had in the first book, I wouldn’t be reacting this way. But her first few chapters felt like a retread–that, or it was a very clever way of encapsulating what the first book was about without actually giving us a summary.

The first time the book jumps to Four’s consciousness, I admit that I was a bit caught off-guard. The Power of Six employs cliffhangers similar to the ones used in Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles. When something big happens to one side of the story, we quickly jump to the other side. And while Rick Riordan starts his jump-to’s by reintroducing the speaker/personna, authors James Frey and Jobie Hughes doesn’t do this. Instead, you’re left disoriented for the first paragraph as you try to figure out which story you’re now following.

Well, until you realize that the book is employing two fonts, one for each personna. And then, if you’re like me, you feel a little foolish for getting annoyed at the lack of reintroduction.

Story-wise, The Power of Six is just as action-packed as the first book was. Except, instead of making a detour through high school problems, we begin at the height of the action. Well, with Four anyway. He’s still on the run with Number Six, and best friend Sam. After the events of I Am Number Four, the three are now being considered as terrorists. And as soon as we jump into Four’s consciousness, we see how life on the run has been like for our three protagonists–and it hasn’t been very bad. None of them are fighting, and they’re only about to encounter their first problem with a cop. Oh, and considering the fact that they don’t really have a lot of money, none of them are hungry.

Logic aside though, Four’s side of the story is a page-turner–a summer blockbuster. You really do get sucked into the action.

Compared to that, Seven’s story is like a thriller. Or a mainstream art film. We get a lot of set-up, we see a lot of foreshadowing. But until things get really hairy for Four and Six, nothing big really happens in Seven’s world. And when things start getting rough for Seven, Six conveniently decides to head off to her part of the story.

I guess it comes to no surprise that I found the book uneven. On the other hand, my main beef with the first book, the emotional outpourings of Four, was absent for the most part in The Power of Six. He does go emo in the latter part of the book, but it’s actually warranted this time–and it doesn’t distract from the action.

All in all, The Power of Six was a quick read–if a bit lacking in substance.

But these are just my thoughts; here’s what other people have to say about the book:
Dog Ate My Wookie
Eleusinian Mysteries
Life After Twilight

book: i am number four

first things first: i do not get why this book is doing a lemony snicket and using a within-continuity pseudonym. with A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS it is clear that lemony snicket is telling the story; on the other hand, I AM NUMBER FOUR is being told by number four–not pittacus lore.

that aside, i liked I AM NUMBER FOUR for what it was: something to pass the time. i don’t think it will ever become part of my all-time favorites, but i enjoyed reading it. before we get to that though, here’s a background on the novel:

I AM NUMBER FOUR is the story of number four, an extraterrestrial who has been living, and hiding, in earth for the past ten years. accompanied by his cêpan (guardian), number four must suppress whatever makes him special so he would never stand out. because as soon as he is found, he will be killed.

the conceit of the novel’s title is that there are nine children, all of whom were assigned a number when they escaped their planet lorien. a charm is placed on them, to protect them, wherein they cannot be killed out of order. it’s a way of cheating death without exactly outright making the heroes invincible. at the start of the story, we read through the ordeals of one of the nine, as he is hunted–then killed. then the story begins with number four finding out that number three is dead–and he is next.

the conflict of the story doesn’t come from the murderous aliens come to kill number four though. the conflict arrives when number four realizes that he wants to stop running. that he is tired of blending in with the background, and that he wants a life. when he and his guardian move to a new town, he decides to stand up for himself, he makes a friend, and he falls in love. but with a life always on the run, how can number four protect the life he has built in this new town?

as with most first-person perspectives, I AM NUMBER FOUR is a breeze to read through. that is, until you near the end of the book and skirmishes pop up. for some reason, authors jobie hughes and james frey have a hard time separating action from emotion, and what you get is a hard-to-follow jumble, where your main character is projecting his thoughts in between the action. in my opinion, it’s hard to follow the action when you keep getting emotional breakdowns throughout it.

also, as far as heroes go, number four is a bit of a wuss. which is disconcerting since the whole book is his journey into becoming a hero-of-sorts–complete with sidekick, a love interest, a mentor, and his own bully! and then, in the final chapters of the book, he begins to read like a wuss. and what makes it more disconcerting is how the other characters are telling him how brave he was, and how great he was in battle–but he wasn’t.

or maybe he was–but because his actions keep getting interrupted by his introspection, you never really grasp just how amazing your main character was being.

that is something, i think, the authors should work on in the next book, THE POWER OF SIX. other than that, i think the book is pretty solid. the pace is fast enough that you can’t stop turning the pages, but slow enough that you don’t get lost in the narrative. the characters are relatable, because number four doesn’t begin a victim–he’s already a victim ready to bite back at the start of the novel. and the handful of stupid-mistakes-characters-make are not enough to make you tear your hair out.

so if you’re thinking of buying I AM NUMBER FOUR, go right ahead. but it’s not a must-buy-immediately kind of book.