The Fall of Five discussion

There are a few things that I learned while reading The Fall of Five. One of the first and most important things that I learned/was reinforced while reading this book was that it is important and effective to appeal to the senses. Very close to the beginning of the story, the book is from the perspective of a character named Sam. Sam is in an alien prison and he has been describing his discomfort and pain to himself (both mental and physical) and the reader. One of the most effective things described was that he described the water in the bucket that he drank out of as ‘rusty’. Immediately as I read this the taste of metal filled my mouth, and I realized how powerful sensory language was, especially in this instance. Sensory imagery adds for an entire new level of immersion into the world of a story.

The second thing that I learned while reading this story was that sometimes a little goes a long way when it comes to describing scenery. The character Nine in this book series owns an incredible apartment. I can still remember when the apartment was described when I read the first installments of this series as a kid, and having it re-described to me is awesome, because Pittacus Lore does such a good job of it. One of the simplest and most powerful descriptions of the apartment was that it was the top floor of the John Hancock Center. The top floor immediately gives a feeling of grandeur and majesty, and this is reinforced by following descriptions. So, before I even read the following descriptors, even the fact that it was on the top floor painted a specific picture in my head.

The third thing that I learned while reading this story is that multiple perspectives can make for an interesting and exciting experience. Pittacus Lore’s books all have multiple main characters, each of which have their own alternating chapter where the story is from their perspective. This makes the book feel like I’m reading a movie (If that makes sense). The switches between perspectives create a truly immersive read, and it feels like I was right next to each character at each moment. This format of writing along with all of the other details of the story made for an incredible reading experience.