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Book Description:

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-haired 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.

About the Author:
Pittacus Lore is Lorien’s ruling Elder. He has been on Earth for the last twelve years, preparing for the war that will decide Earth’s fate. His whereabouts are unknown.

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The Power of Six (Lorien Legacies Series #2) by Pittacus Lore (aka James Frey with Jobie Hughes) is the follow-up to the popular YA SciFi book I Am Number Four. This is the second of a planned  six book series about the adventures of some young aliens on Earth – the survivors from the planet Lorien who are being hunted to extinction by another alien race – the evil Mogadorians.

Based on the book description and the two-chapter excerpt from the prequel novella The Lost Files: Six’s Legacy, I thought that book #2 would be focused mainly on Number Seven (aka Marina), but actually the POV alternates between the characters of Number 7 (Marina) and Number 4 (John) throughout the book. I hadn’t been too impressed by the writing in I Am Number Four (even though I did find the overall storytelling interesting which is why I checked out the sequel), but I have to say that The Power of Six came off to me as even weaker than the first book. I kept on getting confused since the POV (written in the first person singular by the way) kept on awkwardly switching off between Marina and John, and honestly, the author(s) isn’t good enough of a writer to give them distinct enough voices (and no, it’s not enough to differentiate them by using a different font). Oddly, the narrative voices sounded exactly the same whether it’s Marina or John telling the story (Incidentally, this was also my problem with James Patterson’s Witch & Wizard wherein the two main characters would speak in the same exact narrative voice too)!

Anyway, the action picks up almost immediately from where we left off in I Am Number Four with a grieving John going on the run together with Number Six and John’s human friend Sam Goode (plus John’s pet chimera Bernie Kosar). Aside from the Mogadorians, John and company are now also pursued by the FBI for being suspected terrorists. Meanwhile, Number 7 (Marina) – who has been left to fend for herself by her useless guardian in a convent in Spain – anxiously scours the net for info about any of the other Lorien kids, while impatiently biding her time by developing her legacies (or magical gifts) on her own.

And basically, that’s it for The Power of Six – seriously, nothing really interesting happens in the first 3/4 of the book (basically lots of teenage angst and confused feelings, with the action moved along mainly by some really idiotic decisions by John), and then, as if to make up for lost time, the last 70 or so pages fly by – crammed to bursting with exciting action, fight sequences, revelations, and ending of course in the requisite cliff-hanger(s). Looks to me like the author/publisher are stretching the story as much as they can to fill the planned six books.

Fans who loved I Am Number Four will still enjoy this one though – although fair warning, they’ll have to wade through a whole bunch of nothing before they get to the all too brief good parts in the end.

The Power of Six (Lorien Legacies Series #2) by Pittacus Lore is available on Amazon as a Kindle Edition and Hardcover Edition. (HarperCollins)

You can also get the ebook at the Sony eBookstore, B&N, Apple iBookstore. * The iBookstore also has an enhanced version called The Power of Six w/ Booktrack (Soundtracks for Books) which is powered with synchronized music and sound effects (I personally find that a bit silly – what happened to old-fashioned imagination?)

For a second opinion – here’s some reviews of The Power of Six by other bloggers:

• Knight Reader – “everything I love about a good science fiction book”
• READING IS THE ULTIMATE APHRODISIAC. – “a big improvement from its prequel”
• Book Monkey – “actually exceeded my expectations”

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