Review of The Power of Six
The Power of Six is the second book in the Lorien Legacies series, a science fiction series by Pittacus Lore (the author's actual name is unknown). I did not actually read the first book, I Am Number Four, before the second book, but it was so well detailed I knew what was going on by the time I got to the second chapter. For this reason and others, I thought The Power of Six was a great book, and I will now explain why.
Basically, the background of the story is that there was once a planet called Lorien, where all of the inhabitants dewlled peacefully. Then, it got attacked and destroyed by an army of evil Mogadorians. All of the Lorien were killed, except for eighteen, who safely made their way to Earth. The eighteen Lorien were separated into nine groups, with one Garde and one Cepan in each group. The Garde are challenged with the task of defeating the Mogadorians, and the Cepans are the guides of the Garde. Although the nine Garde may seem no match for the endless Mogadorian Army, they each have powers called Legacies, which include telekinesis, invisibility, and other powerful attributes. There is also something special about the Garde: all but one are invincible. Each one has a number from 1 through 9, and only the lowest number can be killed. In this way, number 9 cannot die unless all of the other Garde are dead. The Lorien arrive at Earth, each one in a different place, and their long quest begins.
The Power of Six follows two perspectives that alternate between chapters: number 4 and number 7. By this point in time, numbers 1, 2, and 3 have all been tracked down and killed by the Mogadorians, who have now already begun to take over Earth. This means that number 4, who named himself John Smith, is in danger. His Cepan, Henri, died in the first book, which is made clear early on. John is with his human friend, Sam Goode, as well as number 6, who he met in the first book. John and his friends are on the run from the Mogadorians, as well as the police, who have declared him a national threat because he accidentally blew up his school in Ohio. They travel across the country, always preparing for if they ever run into the Mogadorians or the police. At one point, John and Sam actually get arrested, but escape when the Mogadorians attack the prison, allowing John to use his powers to escape and rescue Sam. The three of them then travel to the Mogadorians' base in West Virginia and rescue number 9, who happens to be held captive there.
On the other hand, number 7, or Marina, is in almost no danger, and has found safety in a Catholic orphanage in Spain. She hates the orphanage and desperately hopes to escape it, but her Cepan, Adelina, has started following the Catholic religion and does not want to leave. Suddenly, Marina thinks she sees a Mogadorian outside her bedroom window. She alerts Adelina, but Adelina does not seem to care. Marina is desperate until she finally discovers the truth: the "Mogadorian" is actually the Cepan of a tenth Garde with incredible powers. The book concludes with Marina and Ten meeting Six, Nine, John and Sam, building up suspense for the next addition to the series.
I have many positive comments about this book, one of them being that, like I said before, the book does a great job telling the reader what happened in the first book, but not directly. For example, instead of Marina saying "I am one of nine Garde", she says "I only wish I knew where the other eight Garde were." This helps keep the plot flowing and doesn't force the reader to think "Oh, maybe I should read the first book first" and not read the second book until he/she is finished with the first. Another thing I like about the series as a whole is that there are books called The Lost Files that reveal things that are not shown in the main books. One of them shows that Number 5 is actually working with the Mogadorians, and helped attempt the Mogadorians to stop John from escaping with Nine! (Of course, they failed, but this doesn't make Five stop helping the Mogadorians. I think this is a good idea because it adds some suspense to the book, as well as having books that branch off from the main series and have hidden information. Not many book series have this, except for the ones that are much more known about, such as the Harry Potter series. A lot less people know about this series, but I think it has potential for becoming famous.
However, I also have one criticism, which is about Seven's story. It doesn't have any action until the middle of the book, and until then, her story is quite boring. When reading one of the chapters in Seven's perspective, I thought to myself multiple times, "why doesn't this chapter go faster so I can find out what happened to Four?" or other things similar to this. Fortunately, the author decides to give her story a bit more action by making her see a Mogadorian, which adds suspense, escpecially because Adelina is against the idea of leaving.
In conclusion, although this book has some minor flaws, it is still a very good read, as is the series as a whole, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a story full of action and adventure.
Basically, the background of the story is that there was once a planet called Lorien, where all of the inhabitants dewlled peacefully. Then, it got attacked and destroyed by an army of evil Mogadorians. All of the Lorien were killed, except for eighteen, who safely made their way to Earth. The eighteen Lorien were separated into nine groups, with one Garde and one Cepan in each group. The Garde are challenged with the task of defeating the Mogadorians, and the Cepans are the guides of the Garde. Although the nine Garde may seem no match for the endless Mogadorian Army, they each have powers called Legacies, which include telekinesis, invisibility, and other powerful attributes. There is also something special about the Garde: all but one are invincible. Each one has a number from 1 through 9, and only the lowest number can be killed. In this way, number 9 cannot die unless all of the other Garde are dead. The Lorien arrive at Earth, each one in a different place, and their long quest begins.
The Power of Six follows two perspectives that alternate between chapters: number 4 and number 7. By this point in time, numbers 1, 2, and 3 have all been tracked down and killed by the Mogadorians, who have now already begun to take over Earth. This means that number 4, who named himself John Smith, is in danger. His Cepan, Henri, died in the first book, which is made clear early on. John is with his human friend, Sam Goode, as well as number 6, who he met in the first book. John and his friends are on the run from the Mogadorians, as well as the police, who have declared him a national threat because he accidentally blew up his school in Ohio. They travel across the country, always preparing for if they ever run into the Mogadorians or the police. At one point, John and Sam actually get arrested, but escape when the Mogadorians attack the prison, allowing John to use his powers to escape and rescue Sam. The three of them then travel to the Mogadorians' base in West Virginia and rescue number 9, who happens to be held captive there.
On the other hand, number 7, or Marina, is in almost no danger, and has found safety in a Catholic orphanage in Spain. She hates the orphanage and desperately hopes to escape it, but her Cepan, Adelina, has started following the Catholic religion and does not want to leave. Suddenly, Marina thinks she sees a Mogadorian outside her bedroom window. She alerts Adelina, but Adelina does not seem to care. Marina is desperate until she finally discovers the truth: the "Mogadorian" is actually the Cepan of a tenth Garde with incredible powers. The book concludes with Marina and Ten meeting Six, Nine, John and Sam, building up suspense for the next addition to the series.
I have many positive comments about this book, one of them being that, like I said before, the book does a great job telling the reader what happened in the first book, but not directly. For example, instead of Marina saying "I am one of nine Garde", she says "I only wish I knew where the other eight Garde were." This helps keep the plot flowing and doesn't force the reader to think "Oh, maybe I should read the first book first" and not read the second book until he/she is finished with the first. Another thing I like about the series as a whole is that there are books called The Lost Files that reveal things that are not shown in the main books. One of them shows that Number 5 is actually working with the Mogadorians, and helped attempt the Mogadorians to stop John from escaping with Nine! (Of course, they failed, but this doesn't make Five stop helping the Mogadorians. I think this is a good idea because it adds some suspense to the book, as well as having books that branch off from the main series and have hidden information. Not many book series have this, except for the ones that are much more known about, such as the Harry Potter series. A lot less people know about this series, but I think it has potential for becoming famous.
However, I also have one criticism, which is about Seven's story. It doesn't have any action until the middle of the book, and until then, her story is quite boring. When reading one of the chapters in Seven's perspective, I thought to myself multiple times, "why doesn't this chapter go faster so I can find out what happened to Four?" or other things similar to this. Fortunately, the author decides to give her story a bit more action by making her see a Mogadorian, which adds suspense, escpecially because Adelina is against the idea of leaving.
In conclusion, although this book has some minor flaws, it is still a very good read, as is the series as a whole, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a story full of action and adventure.
This was an all-around good review. The punctuation, grammar, and organization made this review interesting and easy to follow. Based on your summary, I agree that this book seems to have potential to become famous. You mentioned that the second book didn't require you to read the first book, but after seeing how good this series is do you plan to go back and read the first book?
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