Helpful Score: 4
It's official: I am a fan of Pittacus Lore. Hands-down my favorite alien since ET.
In I Am Number Four -- the first book of the Lorian Legacies, penned by the aforementioned Lore -- we're introduced to, well, Number Four, known in this book as John Smith. He's one of the nine Lorian Legacies sent to Earth to save their planet and their species from the vicious Mogadorians, a brutal race that destroyed Lorian years ago -- and now has its eye on Earth.
Although they live in secret, isolated from each other and hidden away all over the world, the Mogadorians have been hunting the Lorian Legacies and killing them one by one. They caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. All of them were killed. John, hidden away with his guardian Henri in Paradise, Ohio, is Number Four. He knows that he is next to die, and that Mogadorian soldiers are getting closer to finding him by the day.
But despite his developing powers and strange history, John is very much like an average teenager. He has run-ins with the school bully, and falls for blond overachiever, Sarah. He struggles to find his place in a world he can't form attachments to. He fights his mentor and father figure for independence. Oh, and at the same time, has to learn how to become fireproof, interpret his strange visions of his decimated home planet, and figure out a way to save his new planet from the same fate.
Overall, I loved I Am Number Four. I think its one of the most exciting new series out now, and with the movie tie-in slated for this year, should cement its place as the Next Big Thing in YA literature. That designation will be well-earned. Pittacus Lore (*cough* James Frey *cough*) has created a new, modern take on the classic "aliens living among us" story. It's a welcome reinvention and should be a hot series in 2011. I can't wait to learn more about the Lorians and follow Four and his companions on their adventures in the next book in the series, The Power of Six.
And as an aside, how brilliant was Frey for choosing to write under a pseudonym? Smart move -- create buzz, write a book that's a total departure from his previous controversial work, and ditch all the bad associations your name could bring to the series. Seems to have worked out well for him. ;-)
In I Am Number Four -- the first book of the Lorian Legacies, penned by the aforementioned Lore -- we're introduced to, well, Number Four, known in this book as John Smith. He's one of the nine Lorian Legacies sent to Earth to save their planet and their species from the vicious Mogadorians, a brutal race that destroyed Lorian years ago -- and now has its eye on Earth.
Although they live in secret, isolated from each other and hidden away all over the world, the Mogadorians have been hunting the Lorian Legacies and killing them one by one. They caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. All of them were killed. John, hidden away with his guardian Henri in Paradise, Ohio, is Number Four. He knows that he is next to die, and that Mogadorian soldiers are getting closer to finding him by the day.
But despite his developing powers and strange history, John is very much like an average teenager. He has run-ins with the school bully, and falls for blond overachiever, Sarah. He struggles to find his place in a world he can't form attachments to. He fights his mentor and father figure for independence. Oh, and at the same time, has to learn how to become fireproof, interpret his strange visions of his decimated home planet, and figure out a way to save his new planet from the same fate.
Overall, I loved I Am Number Four. I think its one of the most exciting new series out now, and with the movie tie-in slated for this year, should cement its place as the Next Big Thing in YA literature. That designation will be well-earned. Pittacus Lore (*cough* James Frey *cough*) has created a new, modern take on the classic "aliens living among us" story. It's a welcome reinvention and should be a hot series in 2011. I can't wait to learn more about the Lorians and follow Four and his companions on their adventures in the next book in the series, The Power of Six.
And as an aside, how brilliant was Frey for choosing to write under a pseudonym? Smart move -- create buzz, write a book that's a total departure from his previous controversial work, and ditch all the bad associations your name could bring to the series. Seems to have worked out well for him. ;-)
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