The Fall of Five

Lorien Legacies #4

by Pittacus Lore

John Smith—Number Four—thought that things would change once the Garde found each other. They would stop running. They would fight the Mogadorians. And they would win.

But he was wrong. After facing off with the Mogadorian ruler and almost being annihilated, the Garde know they are drastically unprepared and hopelessly outgunned. Now they’re hiding out in Nine’s Chicago penthouse, trying to figure out their next move.

The six of them are powerful, but they’re not strong enough yet to take on an entire army—even with the return of an old ally. To defeat their enemy, the Garde must master their Legacies and learn to work together as a team. More importantly, they’ll have to discover the truth about the Elders and their plan for the Loric survivors.

And when the Garde receive a sign from Number Five—a crop circle in the shape of a Loric symbol—they know they are so close to being reunited. But could it be a trap? Time is running out, and the only thing they know for certain is that they have to get to Five before it’s too late.

The Garde may have lost battles, but they will not lose this war.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Aliens, Adventure, Paranormal

355 pages, Paperback

First published August 27, 2013

About the author

Pittacus Lore is Lorien’s ruling Elder. He has been on Earth preparing for the war that will decide Earth’s fate. His whereabouts are unknown.

Reviews

[Ms. Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

BEFORE THIS REVIEW: I must warn you NOT to read the comments if you haven't read the books. THEY CONTAIN HUGE SPOILERS.

After the Book Four(Coming Soon):

AHEAD ARE SPOILERS. WATCH OUT.

DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.

Four. Still awesome as ever!
Five. Was suspicious to me from the start.(I had a theory he was Setkarus Ra, but that theory got kicked away).
Six. Still the same badass.
Seven. Marina's still got it!!
Eight. WHY did he have to DIE?
Nine. That one character that swears too much.
Ten/Ella. Oh my...
Sam and His Father. Loving the fact they are back. :D
Sarah. STILL NO COMMENT. UGH.
Adam. I trust him...
Setkarus Ra. HE'S THE EVIL OVERLORD.
Pittacus. DEAD.
The Government. Humans...
Them Mogs. Are still Mogs.

Overall, the book is AMAZING.


A one sentence sum up of what I thought of the book: Dashing and exciting, a worthy read and lives up to the other books well!

Now there are topics I want to cover and talk about.

1. Setkarus Ra and 'Number Ten'?
When Ten(Ella) has a VERY peculiar dream about Setkarus Ra, I started to think about what Setkarus was doing and why he would go into Ten's dreams of all numbers.

“He—he gets down on his knees.” Her voice drops to a chilled whisper. “He holds one of my hands in both of his, and he asks me if I’ve read the letter.”

My reaction:


The 'getting down on knees' and 'hand-holding' idea sprung up a love interest idea in my head. Creepy, but seemingly appropriate. And the fact that Ten can change age kind of thins the borders.

But of course he would be using her. Mogadorians have feelings, yes (Adam is a vivid example of this.), but Setkarus Ra is heading in...another direction.

Asking her if she read the letter would be asking her if she knew she was not chosen by the Lorien, that she ISN'T the so-called Number Ten, that she ISN'T held be the Loric charm that forces the Mogadorians to kill them in ONLY a certain order.

So he knows she's not chosen. Is he TRYING to make her feel like an outcast and turn her against the Loric, AND make her his(Again, I must say, CREEPY). This is the reason why he entered her dreams, other then Six or Seven's.

2. Five's Betrayal Sequence.

Funny enough, Five's betrayal didn't surprise me. It was WAAAAAY too obvious. I was expecting it at the moment they met him.

3. The Book Was Actually GREAT!(because it's becoming trend where the sequels/prequels suck in YA novels these days)

The story structure was still intact and no character became stupid and annoying(some may argue Sarah is an issue, but I prefer not to be biased, so I'll remain silent--Okay I don't really like her as a character either.). This fact surprised me.

4. Who Dies Next

Another character death would be expected in the next book. It would be great if it was someone NO ONE expects to die.


Overall, amazing.

Next Book?

Title Theory: The Reign of Ten.

[Obaid Haroon · Rating 4 out of 5]

No way. No F****** way!! My God these books just keep getting better and better. Beware there are ##spoilers## below.

Let me first say HOLY SHIT! Did that just happen? I think it did because I'm waiting for someone to slap me and tell me "stop yo' foolishness". But no one has. So it must have happened.

First off the escape off Sam and his dad with the aid of...wait for it... A Mog wielding legacies. Mind blown. Having only read Rise of Nine once, I can't say for sure, but I'm fairly certain the attack by the gang on Setty Ra coincided with the breakout.

Then we reunite the gang with the Goodes and Five in the same encounter. Even though he lost the Xitharis stone it was a big moment.

Everything was going good. No. Great. It was awesome. The entire Garde working together kicking ass with a triple threat of humans.

Life. Was. Sweet.

Then it all went bad. So fast. Five with his hidden chest and Elle with her dreams. The omens were there but we refused to see them until it was too late.

OH WHY DIDNT WE SEE THE SIGNS!!

We paid the price for our blindness. There was a fight. Some weird crocodile and a hidden pack of notes. It all happened so fast. And before we knew it, Five was beating everyone up. Because he was a traitorous BASTARD! He betrayed the Garde. It's true. I saw it.

The Mogs got to him before we did. Turned him. Trained him. And then he tried to turn us. And when it didn't work...he killed... Eight. He's dead. The scar burned. Marina. My heart bleeds for you.

They were so good together. Sweet and a little goofy but they worked. And with one sword stroke he fell. Eight gave his life to save Nine.

And while that was happening there, Five told his Leader that the penthouse would be empty. Three humans, two unconscious Loric and a chimera. Well they got more than what they bargained for. It was brave and valiant. But not enough.

They got what they came for. They came for Ella. The heir to Setrakus Ra. She's a Loric Garde through and through but her confidence is already shaken by that damn letter. Can she resist his influence?

8 is dead. 5 is a turncoat. The gang is split up and on the run again. BK may be KIA. Ella could be the child of the Mogadorian leader. Dark days are looming for the Garde.

But there is light on the horizon. A small one but it's there. Keeping the bodies of fallen Garde would be a very Mog thing to do in my opinion. And would potential universe rulers be put off by one failed experiment who then turned out to be a traitor?

I say they kept all the bodies. 1,2,3 and 8. And they put each of their minds into a true born Mog. Meaning there's a chance, such a slim chance, that the Garde may be able to reunite in its entirety.

Until book five we shall have to wait and see. If there are any Loric reading this, come find me. I've got your back now and forever. Good bye Eight. Until we meet again.

[Ricky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished The Rise of Nine and enjoyed it immensely. But I'm certain that each successive book in this awesome series will be better than the last, just like in every other one of my favorite series. I believe I once said August 2012 can't come soon enough. Now I want to develop some kind of time-travel Legacy to jump forward a whole year and see how awesome Book Four will be.

Edit #1: And now the title has been confirmed. ABOUT BLOODY TIME! All we need now is to get a glimpse of the cover. No reason to think it won't be as stunning and beautiful as the previous covers in this series.

Edit #2: And now the title has been un-confirmed. REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Then again, maybe they're trying to think up a good one that'll end with a number like Five or Eight or Ten or whatever. "Return of Lorien" sounds a little too early anyway, for book four of six.

Edit #3: Re-confirmed: Fall of Five. Damn, but I think I might have predicted that one early.

Edit #4: Cover! Woo! Looks weird, like a manhole cover. At least there's a stone street around it, so it sorta fits the natural-element theme we had going on books 1-3.

Edit #5: Sneak peek at last! Read chapters 1-3 here: http://shelf-life.ew.com/2013/07/23/f... Looks like Sam's gonna be a narrator now. And where, oh where the bloody hell is Adam? He cannot be dead yet! Where is my copy of this book?!

Edit #6: For the love of all things holy, NO BLOODY SPOILERS PLEASE! Not until I have read the book will I add any such informations to this review.

Edit #7: Spoiler embargo lifted! I will put spoiler warnings in the review, but commenters are free to do what they please.

Now for guesses and other random speculations!

* Five is a dude. There are only four known boys so far among the ten Garde, and I would think there's an equal gender balance. Wouldn't surprise me if it turns out he's Sam, but I'm not anticipating that. Yes, he is a dude. Amazingly, even Ella pointed out the gender-balance thing! No, he's not Sam.
* Clearly, something bad is going to happen to Five, if the title is anything to go by. We might end up with our first Garde death since the start of the series. Hopefully not, though. That sort of thing is best kept for the last book. Yes, something bad happens to Five - he's a frickin' traitor and he kills Eight!
* Five's Legacies will include some we haven't seen yet, like Chameleor or Convinco. Probably not Sensior (I'd expect Seven or Ten to have that). Yes, we got flight and Externa.
* Cover art: possibly this book's Loric sigil formed in a cloud. They need to find a way to represent air, they've already done fire, water, and earth (or at least sand). Maybe even a plant or metal-based cover (also acceptable as earth.) Jossed.
* Hopefully Sarah will complete her recovery from the absolute asshattery that she fell into after the first book. Not that it'll stop me from shipping Four/Six. Yes, thankfully. And she is so bloody desperate to prove herself that it's nothing short of great. In other news, I do believe the Fix ship has officially sailed, but Sarah having Taken a Level in Badass I'm not as disappointed as I was expecting to be.
* Sam better reunite with the group, preferably with Adam in tow, because he seems like he'd be a very useful ally. Yes, he does, but not with Adam. He doesn't show up till later. Much, much later.
* Hopefully the ending will be less of a ridiculous cliffhanger than in book 3. Good God, but that was just messed up. Less of an insane ass-pull moment this time around, but still very much messed up.

Other points:

* Page 330. Just...page 330. Your mouth will drop off the top of Nine's penthouse upon reading it, purely from sheer disbelief.
* What's up with Ella? She's really starting to turn into Angel all over again.
* As for Five...I didn't like him from the off, he seemed too ridiculously naive. But damn, Obfuscating Stupidity much?
* The Phoenix Stones...at last, some more Myth Arc building!

So where's that time-travel Legacy already? And no, Four and Ella's shared vision of the Mog invasion in DC doesn't count. Of course, I must Be Careful What I Wish For...

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If I ever see you again, you traitorous bastard, I'll take out the other fucking eye!”

How could you do this to me ?? My heart was very sore that I wanted to sob quietly after I'd finished this book.



I already knew that Pittacus Lore hardly disappointed me with his books. Likewise, The Fall of Five packed with actions and many riddles waiting to be solved. I still loved Number Nine, he's such a badass boy to me, he also made this book very good with his sense of humor.



The Fall of Five was a thril that I was very surprised to find it out. I feel sorry for the characters that have to confront the disastrous situation like this; however, all of them tries to survive and get rid of Mogs while they're running away. It was exciting and promising to me when I read all the action scenes and I still kept readling like a maniac. These parts exactly made my adrenaline pumping through every single cell in my body as if I was high on drugs.

“Did you know Johnny thinks he's Pittacus resurrected?”

There're many moments that I laughed my stomach hurt. John and Number Nine being together ? YAS ! It's disastrous and funny as hell



Thai review https://goo.gl/gTmYQP

[Eric Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Fall of Five
Book 4 of the Lorien Legacies
By "Pittacus Lore"

A Review by Eric Allen

This was a hard one to get through. I've gotta tell ya. I Am Number Four, the first book of this series, wasn't Shakespeare, but then, few of the things I review are. It was short, fun and generally harmless. The Power of Six had good parts, and it had some really, really bad parts, not to mention it completely and utterly ruined the main character for time and eternity near the end. The Rise of Nine. was awful in a way that few things are. It was painful to get through and rather uncomfortable to read as it kept trying to paint complete and utter douchebags in a positive light and really, you just can't do that. The books of this series get progressively and horiffically worse with each new volume and The Fall of Five is no exception. Where The Rise of Nine was offensively terrible, The Fall of Five is bad in a different, almost academic way that is even worse than if it were simply about terrible characters doing nothing but showing the world how terrible they can be.

After the events of The Rise of Nine, the numbers fall back to Nine's place in Chicago. It is extremely obvious that the writers have never been to Chicago, because they have a very poor grasp of landmarks and what the buildings they speak of are actually used for. Yes, there are plenty of roofs you can jump to from atop the Hancock building... it doesn't really come across in text form, but I said that in a venomously sarcastic tone whilst rolling my eyes. Anyone who has actually been to Chicago before will likely do the same. I mean, is it so hard to pull up Google and, you know, do twelve seconds of research on the downtown Chicago Skyline? But I digress. All of the Loric children have gathered but Number 5, who begins burning his symbol into fields in hopes of drawing the attention of the others.

After he is collected and brought to Chicago, he has trouble fitting in. And honestly, I don't blame him. My douche meter exploded halfway through book two, so the levels remain untested, but it's pretty far off the scale, to the point that I want to reach into the book and strangle just about every male character in this damn series. Plans are made to retrieve Five's Loric Chest, but tragedy strikes and the most predictable plot twist I have ever beheld lurks just around the corner.

To really understand why this book is so bad, we have to look at it from the foundation on up. That's what I mean when I say its failure is almost academic. You have to know what makes a good story, and why, to really grasp what is wrong with this one. This is stuff from back in high school English class and the like.

First of all we have the setup, foundation, setting, or whatever else you want to call it. This is the world upon which the story is built. We have four books in this series now. And we also have four almost completely different back stories. The inconsistencies between books is striking, confusing, and almost laughable. Back story in this book contradicts back stories given in other books. Hell, this book even contradicts itself. There are several places that, within the same paragraph, the book will contradict itself. It seems as though the writers have decided that whatever scene they are writing, they should just pretend that the back story will support it, even if it previously hasn't. It's like a freaking Highlander movie, where the entire back story and all of the rules for the story change drastically with each new sequel. There can be only one... It means less with each new movie in the franchise... There are so many glaring plot holes and contradictions ridiculously explained away in the laziest and most boring ways imaginable that the entire thing falls apart. None of it makes any sense, and the writers themselves seem to enjoy pointing out their own plot holes to us. Each new volume in this series brings so many new plot holes, and new contradictions to the table that things have fallen to pieces long since. It already fell apart in book 3, and it's not getting any better here.

When the foundation upon which a story is built is so shoddy that it can't stand on its own, any story built over its framework inevitably collapses under the weight of its own fail. And that is exactly what happened in the previous book, and exactly what happened here.

Next we move onto the story itself. Nothing happens. Seriously. This book is about nothing. There is nothing to start things off. There are no rising actions. It doesn't build to much of a climax. It isn't so much a story, as it is an episode of Big Brother: Lorien House, where all the douchey Loric children have to share a penthouse with their boooooooring human allies, and in the end someone gets voted off, I mean stabbed through the heart, but eh, same difference. There is nothing driving what passes for a plot in this book forward. There is no emotion. We are treated to boring scene of nothing interesting happening after boring scene of nothing interesting happening until a bunch of uninteresting crap happens in the end that is hardly climactic in nature.

Interesting things need to happen, whether it be the development of characters, the forging or breaking of bonds between them, action scenes, scenes of personal discovery, or any of a thousand other things that make a story interesting. NONE of these things happen in this book. Again, it's just an episode of some lameass reality show that you wonder why its still on the air, but somehow has reached its fourth season.

The Characters are the next area that falls apart in this book. There are three types of characters in this book. Complete and utter douchebags. Those with no personality that fade into the background and only maintain a presence by being mentioned occasionally. And Stereotype-o-tron 4000 Automatons that do nothing but follow the dictates of the character stereotype they have been programed with. Here's the thing about characters in a story. They have to be interesting. They have to be something that we, the readers either want to be more like, or can empathize with. They have to be people that we care about, and want to see overcome all opposition. When a character does absolutely nothing but try to be the biggest asshole he possibly can to everyone he meets, the reaction most people have to him is dislike. How are we supposed to sympathize and empathize with a character that we are actively hoping will die in any given scene? How are we supposed to care? When the douchebaggery is turned up to eleven, all I want to do is reach into the book and start slapping the stupid out of characters. This goes for the others as well. Why would I empathize with a character that barely even maintains a presence in the book at all? Or a character who has no actual personality traits beyond a vague stereotype? There isn't a single, actual character in this entire book. Not a single one that I can get behind, cheer for, and hope to see overcome everything splayed against him or her. Well, actually, that's not true. I've long since begun rooting for the bad guys. I'm with them, these terrible characters should be wiped out as quickly as possible.

When you actively hate most of the characters, and couldn't care less either way about any of the others, it saps all of the fun from the story. Tension and drama come from caring about the characters. They come from empathizing with them, and having a desire to see them succeed. When you can't stand them, or they are so without personality that you wonder why they even exist at all, you don't care what happens to them, and any story revolving around them becomes a chore to read through. Add to this the very clunky and heavy handed way that the characters are written, where the authors simply tell us what each character's personality traits are rather than showing them to us through character interactions, and it gets very painfully boring. For example, all of a sudden, the writers are telling us that John is a great and natural leader. Really? Because, um, he's never shown much aptitude for it before. I mean, is this not the same dipshit that LEFT IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT TO SELFISHLY MEET WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND LEADING TO HIS FRIENDS BEING WOUNDED, CAPTURED, AND HIS CHEST BEING STOLEN?!?!?! I'm sorry, but I simply cannot take this character as anything but a selfish prick after that, and telling me he's a good leader when he clearly isn't doesn't help the sentiment much. After he did that, he lost any and all respect I may have had for him as a character, and has really been nothing more than a whining little douchebag ever since. He wouldn't have gotten into half of the trouble that he did if he wasn't thinking with his dick more often than not. By the way... HE STILL DOES IN THIS BOOK!!! There's another contradiction for the list.

The climax of this book isn't really much of a climax at all. Between the extraordinarily predictable plot twist, the completely unlikeable characters, and the fact that the book doesn't really build up to anything, the climax of this book, a double action scene, is more boring than anything else. When you don't care about the characters, and there's nothing interesting building up to it, a climax has a hard time being climactic. And when the climax fails to impress, it makes the whole rest of the book seem all the worse for it. A good climax can usually save a mediocre book. But when the climax is just as mediocre as the rest of it, it makes it all the worse. Action scenes, even climactic action scenes, are completely pointless when there is nothing meaningful at stake, and when there is no emotion, or attachment. The climax of this book fails on pretty much every level because every other aspect of the book also fails on every level. What makes it even worse is that BOTH of these action scenes are resolved through Deus Ex Machina, which, in and of itself, is extremely lazy. I want to see a character suffer and drag themselves through hell before finding the solution for themselves, not all of a sudden develop a new super power, or have some new character inexplicably show up to save the day. It's an extremely lazy way of resolving tension, and tying things up, and it makes the characters less when they don't work their way out of situations on their own.

And last of all, the writing. There is so much wrong with how this book is written that I could write an entire essay on that alone. But I will restrain myself and give you the highlights instead. First and foremost, the tense. This series, for whatever reason, is written in present tense. Or at least it was until this book came along. The tense is extremely erratic in this book, switching between past and present at the drop of a hat. It is inconsistent and oftentimes jarring, bringing whatever passes for a story here to a screeching halt every time it happens. If you are going to write in present tense, make sure that you consistently do so, otherwise, don't. Use past tense like everyone else, it annoys your readers less, and it's easier to be consistent.

The dialog is ridiculously bad. What people talk like this, seriously? And another thing on that same note, most of these characters have grown up all over the world, speaking different languages. How is it that they all speak perfect English, and employ flawless American slang when half of them have only just arrived in America for the first time in their lives?

As I stated before, the book is extremely inconsistent, not just with the other books in the series, but with itself as well. It often contradicts itself, and is just not very well crafted or put together. It reads like it was written by someone in a high school English class, before being run through a spell and grammar check. The writers can't keep their own back story, character motivations, or what is happening in the book straight at all. This is usually what an editor is for, but holy crap, either they didn't have one, or he was asleep at the job.

The authors obviously struggle with so many characters. There are far too many of them for them to keep track of individual personalities, motivations, likes, dislikes, and so on. So, like all lazy people, they simply don't seem to bother with any of that. There is not enough happening in this book to justify so many characters, and indeed, the writers seem to have trouble finding things for all of them to be doing. This was a major problem in the previous book, and it is an even bigger problem here. There are just too many characters for the writers to keep track of, and not enough for them all to be doing by far. And they keep adding in more of them, diluting the others even more.

Plot twists can be used to great effect to shock a reader, to ramp up the tension, to close up a volume and lead into the next, or a dozen other reasons. A really good plot twist is one that you don't see coming, but after it does, you can look back on the story and see how it was set up. Twists that just come out of nowhere simply to be a twist--I'm looking at YOU Shyamalan!!!--are less effective because they have no foundation, and the logic behind them usually falls apart under scrutiny. I loves me a good plot twist to make things more interesting, especially when I can look back and see how well it was crafted. The plot twist in this book is boring, lazy, terribly executed, clunky, and I guessed it almost at the beginning of the book. A good twist has to be really unexpected to be effective, and wow, this one was so predictable that I don't even know why the authors even bothered with it at all. It was as if the character in question was wearing one of those nametag stickers that says "Hi, my name is THE BAD GUY MWAHAHAHA!!!" I mean, they barely even tried to hide it.

In conclusion, this series was promising in the beginning. I enjoyed the first book and parts of the second. The rest of the second, and everything afterward has been complete crap, growing successively worse with each subsequent volume. This is the sort of book that I studied in college while earning my English degree. You know, the sort where everything that the writer could possibly do wrong, he did, and you're supposed to learn what not to do by studying it? The characters are either bland, or supremely unlikeable, the writing itself is terrible, there is no story of which to speak, and the foundation upon which it all stands is so full of holes and contradictions that it's little wonder that everything else is so terrible. But then, I'm looking at this book as a critic, not as a fan. I know from experience that a fan can forgive a lot to get a little more of the world and characters that they love. From an academic point of view, the book did absolutely everything wrong, and it is a wonder it was even published at all in its present, obviously unedited, condition. But I am willing to concede that fans of the series may be entertained by it. I can't quite see how anyone would enjoy a train wreck like this, but different strokes for different folks. However, that being said, my recommendation to any and all people who would think to pick this book up is to avoid it like the plague. It is not often that I see a book that completely fails on every single level of storytelling, but this one does. I give it ZERO stars, I put up one because the rating doesn't show without at least one.

Check out my other reviews.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

But... but... *start whimpering*




THIS IS NOT OK! THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!



One of my favorite characters... Pittacus Lore? HOW COULD YOU?



He did not deserve that.

I am just heartbroken right now.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fall of Five is the fourth book in the Lorien Legacies by Pittacus Lore.

Oh, it was awesome! The writing style has developed. I liked it better than the last three books. Also, it was filled with action, filled with drama, and filled with everything else that shouldn't be missed. Now I really, really, really, really want the fifth book, but I have to wait until next year.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so excited but a few things need to happen
1. Bernie Kosar lives
2. They find Sam already.
3. 5 shows up (and is obviously kick-@$$)
4. and yeah and it would be nice if they defeat the Mogs...

Now I've read it so i'm just going to put my spoiler-filled thoughts here. So holy cow! wow. let's start with 8 dying. that was the worst. seriously, i really liked him, he was the only chill one. i'm very sad for marina but now she has a new power and is on a rampage! it's sad but also kind of awesome. I couldn't believe she took 5's eye out. admittedly he deserved it and i can't believe how amazing and powerful he is and how he is the traitor all along. that was a bummer. i hope there is somehow hope for him yet but i doubt it. 2nd best scenario is that they defeat him. very happy for sam and his father reuniting and how his dad freed him from the dungeon/gov't facility. i think the whole adam mog who has implanted memories of number 1 is really cool. i hope he is good and can help them!!! i'm happy with sara and john's relationship. i'm pissed that 9 couldn't keep his stupid mouth shut but i feel like he'll take it worse than anyone. he'll now feel responsible for 8's death. he is responsible in a way but he shouldn't hold that guilt forever because 8 did what he was meant to do of his own free will, he was just that awesome. i guess the painting on the wall was accurate, then. very sad. the whole ella thing gets weirder and weirder. is sektrus ra her father? or her lover or something really wierd. he might just be a lorien after all. somehow he's leading the mogodorian's though, it's all very strange. i'm sad ella is now stuck with sektrus but hopefully she will resist him and be able to fight him from the inside. i thought this was going to be the last book but all right, i guess i'll read the next one to find out what happens!

[Aj the Ravenous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the Garde dies and I guess after reading Allegiant, any death among characters will always be slightly more bearable. (Sorry for the really lousy spoiler...just being bitter about Tris' death.)

The story is both fun and not. Fun, because the members of the Garde finally get together and not because just when the members of the Garde are starting to find strength in numbers, one of them dies.

It is also interesting to know the story in different points of view now including that of Sam's. And as usual, just like the first three books, I just enjoyed reading this- not much attachments to the characters or to the story, just plainly enjoying the entire story like watching a movie with a bag of popcorn.

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find that when a series has more than three books, I start having difficulty reviewing them. It's not because the books are any less stellar than the previous ones in the series, it's that I start to become at a loss for what to say.

Like with this series for instance, I can only say how action packed and interesting it is and how it gets better with each book so many times before it starts to get redundant and I start sounding like a broken record. But obviously those aren't the only things I have to say about this book so let's get on with the rest of it!

This is probably my favourite book out of the series so far. Everything starts to get more intricate and some very interesting twists are thrown in that really change the game! A couple of them I saw coming but a couple really threw me for a loop and had me that much more invested in the story!

While I did love pretty much everything about this book, I think my favourite aspect would have to be seeing the Garde finally reunited and working together. So much has happened on their journey to be together and it's so rewarding to finally see it happen!

Although there were some pretty damn epic battle scenes that had me biting my nails and sitting on the edge of seat that come a pretty close second as my favourite part of this book! It was absolutely thrilling and I just couldn't seem to turn the pages fast enough!

[annie ☁️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

me during the ending: WHATTT

that is all...

[Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR BOOKS 1-4:

So much to say... let's start on a surprising note. SAM! I was so happy to see him. However, I was not so happy with the person he brought with him. Sam's father was just too... In charge for my taste. It really bugged me. I like my Loric alone and confused, thank you very much. I think I would have preferred it if he never showed up. I also didn't like Sam as much in this book as I had in the others and that made me really. He was so sweet in I Am Number Four and then he was so eager to help in The Power of Six. At that point I just wanted to give him a hug because he was going through such tough times. But then The Rise of Nine happened. I loved The Rise of Nine and the lack of Sam's presence was interesting to watch play out even though I missed him, but I'm not sure how well done his return was in The Fall of Five. He seemed more whiney and less nerdily tough. I mean, yeah he's usually scared half to death, but he still does some really freaking cool stuff! I felt like he spent half of this book cowering in the corner!

My next issue is the problem of "Where did Six's POV go?" I have no answer for that one. I miss her head, and as painful as it is to admit I would gladly trade Sam's POV for Six's. I never would have thought that before because Sam was my second favorite character in the entire series. But he just kind of pulled a Tobias from the Divergent series' third book, Allegiant, with this one. I love him, but I really didn't need to see into his head.

The rest of The Fall of Five was a big jumble of distrust for me. I hardly trusted anybody.

But the distrust aside, there were some really awesome moments. The capture the flag scene was great and then end part that's supposed to make you sad happened (you know what part...) and all I could think was, "I knew it!" I saw it coming the second we saw that painting in book three. It also made Marina more useful (yay!) She's going to be so much more interesting in book five! She was so strong in books two and three, but throughout most of book four she was a pile of useless mush. Does that make me heartless? Eh, whatever.

The whole ongoing Ella thing was really creepy too and I liked it. I also loved her and Nine's brother/sister relationship. It was so sweet.

As much as I loved this book there isn't much else to say other than, "Why do these books always end so abruptly?" I keep thinking that there's more and then learning that its just 50 pages of lost files sneak peeks. I love these books so much, but they never seem to reach five-star book material for me. That makes me sad because I know that they could easily be edited to become good enough for that extra star.

I hope the next book lives up to all of its potential, can't wait!


Pre-Read:
So excited! especially because Rise of Nine ended so abruptly!

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heard a lot of good things about this one. It has a lot of action. But I thought the whole thing was a pretty obvious setup. I didn't find the ending much of a surprise at all. So I didn't love it but it was an okay read.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMFG!!! So I found out the title for any of you out there that doesn't know: 'The Return Of Lorien'. There's gonna be six books in the series.

I cannot wait... August 2013!!! How will I survive? I'm gonna go to BEA just to pick up a review copy. If I can't go, I will become an emo person and cut myself and die of blood loss. And when the book is actually published, I will resurrect myself [just to read the book].


I am dying here, Pittacus Lore! You will have a deadly mob chasing you if you don't publish sooner!

UPDATE: It's called 'The Fall of Five'! WHEOO!

[Suzzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This installment was had some crazy reveals. A couple were predictable but that did not take away from the enjoyment of the read. I can't believe I only have a few more to read in the series. Bought the first book in the spinoff series this week so hoping it is as entertaining as this series has been so far!

[Leila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book killed me. It literally ripped my heart out and then attempted to put it back in.
JUST WHYYY

[Nikoleta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Γενικά αυτή η σειρά μου αρέσει αρκετά. Το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο όμως είναι αδύναμο. Θα ήταν πολύ καλύτερο άμα δεν αναλωνόταν τόσο στο να μην γίνεται απολύτως τίποτα. Στις περισσότερες σελίδες απλώς κάθονται και χαζολογούν και τσακώνονται ή απλώς συζητάνε ότι πρέπει να βρουν ένα σχέδιο και να ασχοληθούν με κάτι (έλεος)!!! Πραγματικά δυνατή σκηνή του βιβλίου είναι μόνο μια και με εξαίρεση άλλη μια σκηνή, στο υπόλοιπο βιβλίο δεν γίνεται τίποτα!!! Παρόλα αυτά για κάποιο λόγο μου άρεσε, είναι πολύ ευχάριστο και πολύ ευκολοδιάβαστο. Επίσης μου άρεσε πολύ που η οπτική γωνία των αφηγητών δεν είναι μία αλλά εναλλάσσεται ανάμεσα στον Τζον, τον Σαμ και την Μαρίνα. 3/5 αστεράκια

[Caluem]

Four= Awesome! Might be Patticus Lore?
Five= Hope he's alive
Six= Doing Great. Go out with Four! After all 6+4=10!
Seven= Meh
Eight= Cool
Nine= Lol too weird and funny
Ten= So far ok
Patticus Lore= Where are you?
Sam= where are you too hope your alive...
Sarah= HATED her... Want Four just Ditch her.

My prediction of how Sarah dies:
Setresakus Ra will one of the the most dangerous weapon of humanity "Jealousy" to use Sarah... And I'll every guess what next :)

AFTER READING FALL OF FIVE I REALIZE THAT EIGHT ALREADY PREDICTED HIS DEATH!

[Carmen de la Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este es un libro realmente agradable. Las páginas parecen volar a medida que avanzas. Sé que fue un buen libro porque en cuanto lo terminé no puede esperar a que salga el próximo libro.

Desde el último libro todo va bien para la Garden. Se esconden en el enorme y lujoso Penthouse de 9, un completo con su propia sala peligro (Sala de conferencias) que se usa para entrenar. Se reunieron e incluso lograron volver a unirse a Sam. John ha comenzado a aceptar el papel de liderazgo que se espera de él. Nueve es su General, especializado en estrategia de batalla y entrenamiento. 6 es un guerrero. Marina es el médico del equipo. 8 es parte del bufón del equipo. Sam y Sarah están aprendiendo a ser mejores soldados. Debo decir que Sam continúa impresionándome a medida que avanza la serie. Incluso Elle descubre parte de su origen. Con todo para ellos, sabes que algo tiene que salir mal.

También aprendemos un poco más sobre los Mogs y Lorien. Especialmente a partir de los extractos de los archivos perdidos de nuevo. Los de Lorien parecen ser versiones tecnológicamente más avanzadas de los humanos, pero a pesar de todos sus avances, la sociedad funciona igual que la nuestra. Nos encontramos con Adam por primera vez y aprendemos un poco más sobre él nuevamente en los extractos al final del libro.

Hay mucho más sudor y maldiciones en este libro, que podría ser un producto secundario de estar alrededor del penthouse de 9 todo el tiempo, o se han dado cuenta de que son soldados y que el lenguaje más áspero es acorde con los tiempos más duros. Una cosa que no me gustó del libro era que en los otros libros siempre hablaban de lo fuertes que eran la Garden, la súper fuerza parece ser olvidada en este libro. En general, un buen libro agradable.

[Lindsay (pawsomereads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the first three books of this series back in 2014, and now doing a reread this year, I finally made it to the fourth book!! I’ve been listening to the audiobooks for these and they’re really well done. I love the cast they’ve used and built over the books thus far.
This book had so many twists, the cliff hangers kill me every time!!
On to the next one!

[Juliana Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

El libro tuvo algunas partes mas lentas de lo que estoy acostumbrada con esta increíble saga, pero la acción lo compensó todo.
Sigo sin querer mucho a Cuatro y odiando a Sarah, me encantó leer tantos personajes y que la trama tuviera tantos saltos emocionales.
Las últimas páginas fueron como para morirse, sentí demasiada ira y un desprecio absoluto por un personaje, pero estuvo increíble.
Esperando ansiosa el siguiente libro.

Reseña Completa: http://bastvilard.blogspot.com/2015/0...

[Arlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is a huge spoiler… just saying. I wasn't expecting what just happened, or maybe I was in denial. What an explosive installment to this series that just won't quit!

In The Fall of Five, the Lorien Guards find number five and they hope to add more fuel to their arsenal as they train to fight the Mogadorians. Five's powers include flight, invincibility, externa and a few more tricks he hides up his sleeve.

In this installment, they also find Sam and his father. When the Guards practice together, they begin to forge a bond that they hope will be strong enough to fight their enemy. But as with any bond… you're only as strong as your weakest link and when that link comes to you with a different agenda, it can cost them one of their own.

As with the other installments, so much happened in this book that it was just one huge adrenaline pumping roll a coaster. It was heartbreaking to see a deflector in their midst, but I still hope they can win against the powerful forces they are up against.

[Kassidy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series so much!

This book really allowed the characters to develop further. It had less action, which provided a chance for the reader to get to know everyone better. There are a lot of different important characters and I feel like they all have their own distinctive personalities. There were also a lot of twists, which I loved! I love the direction that the plot is going and it's going to be crazy! I also really enjoyed all of the Sci-Fi elements. The action scenes are written very well and I love how everything is explained. This continues to be a very fast-paced story, but with the perfect amount of development to make you feel enveloped in it.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really enjoyable book. The pages seem to fly by. I know it was a good book because as soon as I finished it I cannot wait for the next book to come out.

Since the last book all is going well for the Grades. They are hiding out in 9's huge luxury Penthouse, complete with its own Danger room (Lecture hall) used for training. They have met up and even managed to re-join with Sam. John has started to accept the leadership role expected of him. Nine is his General, specialising in battle strategy and training. 6 is a warrior. Marina is the team medic. 8 is part jester part team conscience. Sam and Sarah are learning to be better soldiers. I must say Sam continues to impress me as the series progress. Even Elle discovers part of her origin. With everything going right for them you know something has to go wrong.

We learn a little more about the Mogs and Lorien as well. Especially from the extracts of the back lost files. The Lorien's seem to be more technologically advanced versions of humans, yet for all their advancements there society works the same as ours. We meet Adam for the first time and learn a little more about him again in the extracts at the end of the book.

There is a lot more swearing and cursing in this book, which could be a by-product of being around 9 all the time in his penthouse, or they have realised they are solders and the harsher language is in keeping with harsher times. One thing I did not like about the book was in the other books they always talked about how strong the Grades were, the super strength seems to be forgotten in this book. All in all a good enjoyable book.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook of this and I'm not real happy with the casting. Four was all wrong. Too old. It was distracting. And the others weren't right either. Anyway, that aside, I was entertained by this installment, but it is starting to get a bit repetitive. There were a few twist in this one, but nothing so much that I was really shocked. And the writing is formulaic. I kind of wished this would have been a really epic trilogy instead of dragging out into so many books. I think I'm done at this point. Really good books, but nothing too exciting at this point. Oh and I think the real turn off for me was the use of guns in this book. I understand the humans need a way to defend themselves, but I feel like using guns is kind of cheating. Have them kick some ass instead. I did enjoy the ending and love the introduction of Adam.

[Mιss •kαthєяίиє• Τhε Emεrαℓd Pяίиcεss®]

Dear father Time,
Pretty pretty please could you hurry up and be 2013 already?
I really have a lot of books that are going to get published then... Or if you can't or won't, would you mind letting me into Pittacus Lore's mind while he's writing this book? I truly want to know how Setrakus-Ra loses the war since he has been winning some fights.
Thank you!
The most dedicated fan (and future girlfriend of Number Nine)

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

See more reviews at YA Midnight Reads

Thank you Penguin Australia for sending me this copy. No compensation was given or taken to alter this review.

His chest is shredded from where Eight slashed him, he’s got a fresh black eye, and I think I notice a trickle of blood from where I struck him with his staff.

The Lorien Legacies has a little bit of everything for everyone; romance, action, sci-fi elements and a diverse collection of characters. The Fall of Five, which is the fourth and second last instalment was no exception however there were some point that did make this read less enjoyable than it could have been.

Pittacus Lore does not hesitate with his characters. We are once again re-united with our colour cast; however it is told in the perspectives of Marina, John and Sam. John is like the leader of the group, he's guiding them through and makes the paths, we are finally introduced to Five, a little odd and oblivious too, Six is badass as usual but with a loyal heart all the same, Marina has to be my favourite character, she's utterly sweet and probably felt the most genuine. Then there's Eight, man I love him, selfless and strong, and Nine, cocky and arrogant. But of course, we have the human allies, Sarah she's not really important in this story, but I still am no fan and Sam, he's okay, relatively likable. My main issue with this book was how many characters there were, and I mean a crazy lot. Pittacus does a decent job at evening the characters out however I can't help but feel that there wasn't much depth in them as there were so many characters. Looking on the bright side of things, the characters were somewhat unique and distinguishable.

With majority of the book consumed with character dialogue and happenings the action and actual plot line is scarce. Nonetheless when present, it left a smile on my face and me turning the pages eagerly. Unfortunately, also due to the mass of characters, nothing really happens, most of the story, is set in one destination whereas in The Rise of Nine, it was pretty much everywhere. I am starting to feel that the author is deliberately dragging the story across into five novels when I deem that a trilogy would have been more ideal. The writing is also rather bland apart from the action scenes. It's rather odd but I do believe the author succeeds at writing faster paced novels if anything.

Overall, The Fall of Five was rather average for me. The action and idea was good however the pacing and large amount of characters ruined it a bit. Still, if you're looking for so fun, action on a lazy day, this series may just suit.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Post-read: FIVE I WILL COME FOR YOU AND KILL YOU MYSELF YOU BASTARD!

Eight! ;( YOU WERE MY FAVORITE! D:

BK! D: I SWEAR IF YOU DIE ON ME

The Search for Ella?

ADAM YOU CAME TOO LATE

Heart-wrenchingly good. But so sad. D:

Review to come!

~~~

EDIT 7/23: http://shelf-life.ew.com/2013/07/23/f...

EXCERPT EXCERPT READ YOUR EXCERPT HERE! First 3 chapters for the price of free!! :D

EDIT 6/26:

Sam. John (Four). Adam. Sarah. Six. Marina (Seven). Eight. Nine. Ella (Ten). Five. Malcolm (Sam's Dad). BK.

In THE FALL OF FIVE, one of these 12 characters WILL die.

WHY THE HECK. JUST WHY. THIS IS JUST DRIVING ME MAD.

In any case, Sarah please! I'm sorry, but she is just not ESSENTIAL. Even though she was Four's girlfriend. Whom she may or may not have betrayed.

Someone on Facebook also brought this up: Does it mean Number Five will die or five will die? Hmm... HES NEITHER CAUSE HE"S A LITTLE PIECE OF SHAT

EDIT 4/17: COVER TIME IT LOOKS SO PRO

EDIT 3/28: OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION HALLELUJAH

Books should be released faster.
This should be one of them.

EDIT 2/20: Title release: The Fall of Five! And description! YAY

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. So those of you who have walked my path with the 'youff dudes' that are the Lorien survivors may raise an enquiring eyebrow at the three stars and say 'goodness, how surprising' or should that be 'hey dude you blow me away bro, you ain't giving this book your usual ass-kicking'. Well no, because to my surprise I actually found it a teensy weensy bit more acceptable.

There were still gaping holes of continuity and reason in the thing eg: the Mogadorians are still riotously incompetent; it is still difficult to hear what 4 or 9 are saying as they are speaking from quite a long way up their bums and sound quite muffled and for intelligent aliens they are, quite frankly, all unbelievably stupid as far as the new 'number 5' is concerned who walks through the story with an 'I-am-a-baddy-do-not-trust-me-one-iota' tattooed across his face.

Nevertheless the story is more exciting and there is an attempt to widen out our interest in the heroes/heroines by more of them giving their point of view. The return of the humans into the story adds a dimension although the Sarah/John thing is still really annoying and makes you want to shout 'Enough for the Love of God'. Everytime they are left alone on the page I am crying out that one of the other characters will gatecrash and stop the oily grease that oozes from the book, but those characters do not arrive quickly enough sometimes.

There is an interesting new dimension with the arrival on the scene of Adam, a good Mogadorian, who was involved in the murder of number three and I can see this does add a depth to the story which was missing before. However this does bring me to another confusion.......admittedly I did, somehow, omit to buy and imbibe volume three, (Perhaps the book God was with me then) in which two things must have happened. Firstly 4 and 9 had a fistfight which would have been fun....except they were both left standing at the end which is unfortunate....and secondly, one of the clever intriguing concepts of the series before had been the youngsters could only be killed in order. This quite clearly is blown out of the water by the fact that number 4 aka John aka self obsessed dude merchant aka tosser is still alive at the end of the book whilst another of the later numbers is pulseless. Presumably how this state of affairs could now come about must have been explained in the last volume but seems mightily convenient for the plot progression and once more smacks of lazy plot change to suit the author's plans.

And by the way Mr Lore:- The Fall of Five is rather giving the plot away. From the beginning of the book it is obvious Five is going to either die or fall into the dark side.......within two pages of his appearance it is very obvious that it could be both simultaneously but is DEFINITELY going to be the latter.

So in short; Better then the first two but could do better but to be fair, it does appear to be going upwards rather than spiralling downwards.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

UPDATE: Tuesday, August 27, 2013. 5:00 P.M, Eastern Time. So I started typing a long scene by scene review for this book, but I lost it, and I'm pretty pissed. Anyway, here's my second attempt at a review. Major spoilers ahead.

So first I'm going to look at my predictions that I made back in May. Let's see how accurate (or not) I was.

1. The Garde will meet Five. I was definitely right about this, and I would have been stunned if I was wrong. Five was male though, which really surprised me and made no sense at all.

2. Sam shows up again. Sam's POV starts this book off, and it was at a 6/5 for me for that reason until things went downhill in a hurry. Sam's a great character, and it's awesome to see him again.

3. Something special happens when the Garde unite. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. But then the tenth is still out there, so you never know.

4. The cactus-like stone... Nothing. It just disappeared into the bottomless pit of things that authors forget about. Oh well.

5. Five's Cepan is dead, but Malcolm isn't, so the Garde have an older person among them again. If I had read the e-books I would have seen this coming, but oh well.

6. There were moments where I thought Sarah was going to die, but unfortunately she pulled through. If only John would stop healing her!!

7. I'm going to rant here. Just warning you, because this could get ugly. I hate John/Sarah. I legitimately hate it. It was okay in I am Number Four but then I realized how much better Six was for John. Sarah is just such a complete Mary Sue that I want to throw up. She's got the whole stunning looks and damsel in distress quality but yet she can learns to shoot firearms in seconds and she always believes in John and supports him and they talk about how much they love each other and constantly make out, and it's just a big fat ugh for me. I reached for a paper bag at several moments when Sarah was nuzzling John's neck and I legitimately thought they were going to sleep together at one point, which scared the hell out of me.

John's feelings for Sarah make no sense. I mean, her character is nothing compared to Six's. It's not looks, because John describes Six as being just as beautiful as Sarah. It's sure as hell not personality, because Six is just awesome, while Sarah is a complete stereotypical love-interest Mary Sue. And on top of that Six is Loric, while Sarah isn't. And Six and John's parents knew each other and joked about Six and John being together when they were older. It just doesn't get better than that, and yet John chooses Sarah. I give up. Maybe guys are as stupid as people say we are.

And then because Pittacus decided that John must choose Sarah, he makes Six's character become absolutely terrible to justify it. In this book Six is variously mean, freakishly OOC by being BFFs with Sarah, unbelievably ice cold towards John despite their past, mean to poor Sam, who deserves way better, and just never seems anything like the awesome, kick-ass, Loric girl that John (and Sam) became so attracted to in Power of Six. The demise of Six's personality is without doubt one of the worst parts of the book, second only to the awful, cringe and barf-inducing lovefest between John and Sarah.

OK, rant over now. I promise. Now for a character-by-character analysis.

John: "John is the most idiotic imbecilic moronic stupid heartless dumb person ever." This is a quote from a text I sent a friend of mine while reading this book. John's character has never been amazing, but it just gets worse. His attraction to Sarah and indifference towards Six is frankly repulsive, his obsession over Sarah disconnects him from the rest of the Garde, and I just couldn't take it after a while. People have said before that he's an idiot, and it's taken to a whole new level in this book.

Five: I never liked Five, even before the big betrayal. He's just annoying, freakish and weird. His character actually sort of gets better once you realize what's really going on.

Six: She used to be the best character in the series and now she's the second-worst (behind Sarah). The lack of her POV hurts, and she's just indifferent towards John, mean to Sam, completely OOC constantly, especially with Sarah, and just seems like a different person than in the first two books. A major disappointment.

Marina: I didn't like Marina in Rise of Nine, but she grew on me. The same is true for that matter of Eight and Nine. Her relationship with Eight is sweet, feels real, and is the best in the book. Her determination to develop her abilities and her fierce protectiveness of Ella are inspiring.

Eight: A great character. Funny, charming, and normal. He doesn't brood like John does, he doesn't worry about impending doom or rush off suicidally. He just lives life like it's normal, and he makes others feel normal too. I only wish that what happened to him had happened to Sarah instead.

Nine: Epic. I was a little surprised by how he seemed to change a little at the start of the book, but he really grew on me. He's brutally honest, extremely funny, violent and sometimes mean, but you can see that he really cares both about his mission and the rest of his friends.

Sam: Sam's great. He's a human, he has the worst luck in the world, and he he still stays true and positive. Of all the characters in the book he's the one I'd want watching my back if I was attacking a Mog base because I know that he's loyal, determined and true to those that matter to him.

Sarah: I have no words to describe how awful she is. If she actually existed I might kill her myself. An unbelievably blatant Mary Sue with no redeeming qualities or endearing traits. She adds nothing to the books, and takes away a lot.

I'm not going to bother going in-depth about Ella, Malcolm, BK or any of the other minor characters, but I thought they were very good in general, particularly Ella.

SUMMARY: This book was maddening. In some ways it is the best of the series: it's creative, many of the characters are at their best in this book, the action is amazing, the plot twists are seriously epic and not too predictable, and some of the romance (Marina/Eight) is actually pretty decent by Pittacus Lore's standards. It would get five stars from me if not for two things: the truly (and I cannot use strong enough language here) and absolutely godawful relationship between John and Sarah that had me reaching for my paper bag way too often, and the thorough demise of Six's character. The last part is what really disappointed me. Deep down I knew going into this book that John and Sarah would be together, but I hoped that Six could still be as epic and kick-ass as usual. She seems really OOC the entire way through, is mean to the people who still care for her and indifferent to those she used to care for, and just seems lifeless so much of the time. R.I.P. Six, because whoever Pittacus Lore gave your name to in this book isn't you. I hope you'll come back strong in the next book and maybe, just maybe (dare I hope) show John that he can't live without you.

I'm looking forward to the next book, and my expectations are reasonably high because of how good most of this one is, but at the same time I don't know if I'll be able to read any more of John and Sarah's romance. I'm glad that the love heptagon (John, Sam, Six, Sarah, Marina, Eight, Nine) has finally resolved itself, but it did it in all the wrong ways.

Pittacus Lore, if you're out there reading this review, keep writing, because you're doing a great job. But please surprise all of us by pulling a complete 180 and putting John and Six back together, because they really are meant to be together. Don't make them just another entry on the all too long list of the greatest love stories that never were.

This is my pre-read analysis and predictions, completed back in May.

This is the book that is going to make or break this series. After the amazing I am Number Four and the even better Power of Six, Rise of Nine just kind of sucked. All of the bad characters *cough* Sarah *cough* got more screen time, and the good characters either vanished (Sam), got even more whiny than usual (John) or just seemed to be way less kick-ass then they used to be (Six). If this book continues that trend, I may not bother to finish the series.

Here's what I'm hoping happens in this book, in order from most likely to least likely.

1. The Garde meet Five. I can't imagine that this doesn't happen, but given Pittacus Lore's unbelievably slow plot development, anything is possible. As a side note I'm expecting Five to be female to even the numbers, but you never know.

2. Sam shows up again. Sam has got to be probably the best character in this series (except for Six) because he's just so normal compared to everybody else. Again, if Sam doesn't show up I'll be stunned, but then again he was gone for all of Rise of Nine anyway. And one of the stupid e-books being called "The Search for Sam" doesn't exactly bode well for his odds of reappearing.

3. Something special happens when the Garde unite. I don't know what exactly this might entail, but hopefully something cool or unexpected happens when they find Five and join forces- maybe involving the Loralite pendants they all wear.

4. There's some explanation of that mysterious cactus-like stone in John's Chest. It seemed to be really important in Power of Six and then fell completely off of the radar.

5. Five's Cèpan turns out to still be alive. The odds against this are pretty high, but it would be nice to have somebody to take Crayton's place as a mentor and guide to the Garde.

6. Sarah gets shot/impaled/eaten/incinerated/falls off a cliff. I just can't stand her anymore. She's one of the most whiny, annoying, dumb characters in the genre. That being said, she was decent in the first book, and maybe she can be redeemed without being killed off. I could stand her a lot more if she was involved with somebody other than John (see number 7, below).

7. John and Six get back together (finally!). The most likely way for this to happen would be through Sarah getting killed, but maybe Pittacus Lore will turn the love triangle on its head one more time even if she stays alive. I'd really like to delude myself into thinking that this is going to happen, but I'm not sure if I can.

The book comes out three months today and there's still a lot of waiting to be done, but here's hoping that Pittacus Lore revitalizes the series with a compelling book that returns to the roots of what made this series so great to begin with.