The Revenge of Seven by Pittacus Lore

Published: August 27th, 2014

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages: 371

Copy: Library

Summary: Goodreads

The worst was supposed to be over. We were reunited after a decade apart. We were discovering the truth of our past. We were training and getting stronger every day. We were even happy...

We never imagined the Mogodorians could turn one of our own against us. We were fools for trusting Five. And now Eight is lost forever. I would do anything to bring him back, but that's impossible. Instead, I will do whatever it takes to destroy every last one of them.

I've spent my entire life hiding from them, and they've stolen everything away from me. But that stops now. We're going to take the battle to them. We have a new ally who knows their weaknesses. And I finally have the power to fight back.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.

Number Two in England.

Number Three in Kenya.

And Number Eight in Florida.

They killed them all.

I am Number Seven.

I will make them pay.

Review

I have been enjoying this series since its inception with 'I am Number Four' and I'm always happy to see a new volume come out.  Of course, so are many others, which is why it always takes a couple of months or so to get it from the library.  This time around 4, 6, 7, 9, Ella and 5 are coming to terms with death and betrayal and are really starting to fight back.  They find unexpected allies and start taking the fight to the Mogadorians.

Unfortunately, the books continue to irritate me because of the constantly changing POV's  with no immediate indication as to who the narrator is.  Yes! I know the typeface changes with each POV, but I'm reading, NOT looking at the typeface. (You do understand what I mean, right?)  Each chapter takes me at least a page to reorient myself.  Does anyone else find this irritating? Adding a simple number, or character name at the top of each chapter would make it so much easier to follow.  Also, this time around, I didn't quite see where the title came in.  Unless I seriously missed a chunk of text (which, let's admit, is entirely possible) , I didn't see 7 getting revenge on anyone!  Did I miss something? Please let me know.

However, 7's revenge or not, I still enjoyed the story.  What's not to love about aliens running all over the world trying to save our planet from the nasty Mogs?  In short, there's lots more fun and hi-jinx for our helpful alien crusaders and it's nice to see them getting the upper hand for a bit and managing to blow a few things up.  As always, I look forward to seeing the next episode.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine,  that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating or books that are in our TBR pile.  This week’s “can’t-wait-to-read” selection is:

The worst was supposed to be over. We were reunited after a decade apart. We were discovering the truth of our past. We were training and getting stronger every day. We were even happy...

We never imagined the Mogodorians could turn one of our own against us. We were fools for trusting Five. And now Eight is lost forever. I would do anything to bring him back, but that's impossible. Instead, I will do whatever it takes to destroy every last one of them.

I've spent my entire life hiding from them, and they've stolen everything away from me. But that stops now. We're going to take the battle to them. We have a new ally who knows their weaknesses. And I finally have the power to fight back.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.

Number Two in England.

Number Three in Kenya.

And Number Eight in Florida.

They killed them all.

I am Number Seven.

I will make them pay

Same Book, Second Look - The Rise of Nine by Pitticus Lore

Published: August 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 360

Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

Until the day I met John Smith, Number Four, I'd been on the run alone, hiding and fighting to stay alive.

Together, we are much more powerful. But it could only last so long before we had to separate to find the others. . . .

I went to Spain to find Seven, and I found even more, including a tenth member of the Garde who escaped from Lorien alive. Ella is younger than the rest of us, but just as brave. Now we're looking for the others--including John.

But so are they.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They caught me in New York--but I escaped.
I am Number Six. 
They want to finish what they started.
But they'll have to fight us first.

Review:

 

Curlypow did the original review for The Rise of Nine just prior to publishing at the beginning of August.  I could barely contain my envy!  I'm going to piggyback on her initial thoughts here.  Look for my comments in blue.

 

Ok, let's recap - Book 1 has #4 and #6, book 2 introduces #7 and #10. The Rise of Nine introduces #8 and #9. Got that? 6 very different characters and personalities, but with one goal in mind. Find and kill Setrakus Ra. Who is he? Well he is one mega-nasty Mogadorian who is only interested in killing them all as painfully as possible.
The different viewpoints definitely had me messed up for the first 1/3 of the book.  It was helpful that they were in different fonts but I would have LOVED it if they had titled the character at the beginning of the chapter so we knew who was "speaking".  

This book has all 6 of them running around the world trying to catch up with each other, and getting into explosive straits in the meantime. It is very cool to see each of them develop new and more interesting legacies and I laughed out loud a couple of times at the obvious joy the boys have with the 'toys' they find in their chests. Just like kids at Christmas.  I would have loved to see the inventory in these chests.  I was getting confused as to whom had what and the purpose of certain objects.  I'd like to see more description of these items.  Also, can all of the characters use them freely?  What if they dumped them all into a pile and had a free-for-all.  As for the chests, I was having trouble picturing these kids running around carrying something so awkward.  Doesn't anyone have a special stone that will turn any object into a backpack....or is that only a Hogwarts spell?

Unfortunately, the book is written in several 1st person POVs that can change with alarming frequency, and I did find it more than a little confusing sometimes. As the action heats up, the POVs change more frequently, so you have to concentrate really hard to work out who's telling you what. In spite of that, I thoroughly enjoyed the Rise of Nine and I'm sure that it will not disappoint fans. It's so easy to picture Alex Pettyfer whenever #4 is talking - swoon!
Unfortunately, I have not heard of any moves to make The Power of Six (#2 of the Lorien Legacies) into a movie after the success of I am Number Four.  Book #4 of this series is due out in August and the title yet to be revealed.

In a silly aside, where I come from we sometimes refer to cats as mogs or moggies - so it was a little disconcerting when the Mogadorians are referred to as Mogs. I kept picturing 8ft tall cats - not quite was was intended, I'm sure.

 

That's hilarious Curlypow! I can't say that I have this problem but for some reason, I keep picturing Megatron as Setrakus Ra.  I am also starting to feel like the names are getting a bit strange...Pitticus Lore, Setrakus Ra....let us create our own, shall we?  Readicus More....check out The Rise of Nine.  We both approve.  :D



The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

Published: August 21st, 2012

Publisher: Harper Collins

e-copy: Publisher and Edelweis

Summary: Goodreads

Until the day I met John Smith, Number Four, I'd been on the run alone, hiding and fighting to stay alive.

Together, we are much more powerful. But it could only last so long before we had to separate to find the others. . . .

I went to Spain to find Seven, and I found even more, including a tenth member of the Garde who escaped from Lorien alive. Ella is younger than the rest of us, but just as brave. Now we're looking for the others--including John.

But so are they.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They caught me in New York--but I escaped.
I am Number Six.
They want to finish what they started.
But they'll have to fight us first.

Ok, let's recap - Book 1 has #4 and #6, book 2 introduces #7 and #10.  The Rise of Nine introduces #8 and #9.  Got that?  6 very different characters and personalities, but with one goal in mind.  Find and kill Setrakus Ra.  Who is he?  Well he is one mega-nasty Mogadorian who is only interested in killing them all as painfully as possible.

This book has all 6 of them running around the world trying to catch up with each other, and getting into explosive straits in the meantime.  It is very cool to see each of them develop new and more interesting legacies and  I laughed out loud a couple of times at the obvious joy the boys have with the 'toys' they find in their chests.  Just like kids at Christmas.

Unfortunately, the book is written in several 1st person POVs that can change with alarming frequency, and I did find it more than a little confusing sometimes.  As the action heats up, the POVs change more frequently, so you have to concentrate really hard to work out who's telling you what. In spite of that, I thoroughly enjoyed the Rise of Nine and I'm sure that it will not disappoint fans.  It's so easy to picture Alex Pettyfer whenever #4 is talking  - swoon!

In a silly aside, where I come from we sometimes refer to cats as mogs or moggies - so it was a little disconcerting when the Mogadorians are referred to as Mogs.  I kept picturing 8ft tall cats - not quite was was intended, I'm sure.