By Pittacus Lore
Harper Collins August 23, 2011
A vast improvement over its predecessor I am Number Four, The
Power of Six starts right where we left off. John Smith AKA Number Four is running
for his life from both the Mogadorians and the U.S. government who believe him
to be a terrorist. He is joined by his best (only) friend Sam “G-man” Goode and
the ever sexy Number Six. For most of the book Sam and John treat her like Remy
Hadley from House as she refuses to give up her “human” name.
Co-narrating is Marina AKA Seven of Nine (comment if you get
it) who is held up in an orphanage/convent in Spain. Marina’s Cepan Adelina has
chosen to drink the Catholic Kool Aid and pretend their former life didn’t
happen. Because of this, Marina has to develop her legacies (magic powers) in
secret. She befriends the town drunk Hector Ricardo who vows to protect her as
it is in his name (I didn’t get it either) and Ella, the spry new girl who
holds some secrets of her own.
The flow of this book is a hundred times smoother than the
first book. There were some rumors going around that Stephen Fry’s coauthor
left the project due to creative differences. If that is true then good riddance,
he was apparently the author I didn’t like.
A far cry from the mostly teen angsty I am Number Four, this
book has plenty of action scenes. Though not to be outdone in the drama
department, there is a love rectangle going on between John, Sam, Number Six
and the absent Sarah. Both John and Sam try to get into Six’s pants while he
has to stop and force himself to remember who he’s dating. Six hints later in
the book that she would be down for an interspecies threesome but that’ll probably
happen in another book.
Pittacus has also fixed the physics issues I had with the
first book. The Loriens no longer sprint at speeds in excess of 65 miles an hour;
they run just slightly faster than normal humans as Sam has no problems keeping
up. Marina has the legacy of breathing underwater which is way cooler than
flashlight hands.
Comparatively speaking, The Power of Six is more like Empire
Strikes Back and less like Matrix Reloaded. I’m glad they shelved the movie
adaptation because they totally screwed up on I am Number Four the movie.
9/10 for kicking ass and taking names
Next week we will be reviewing the novel Techno-Fear by
German Alcala.
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