I have a confession to make. I love sci-fi. This is something I do not often admit. An interest in sci-fi is not exactly the coolest thing. Despite the resurgence of Dr. Who and and the success of Avatar, sci-fi has maintained it’s stigma. So I’m sure you can imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon Pittacus Lore’s I am Number Four, a YA sci-fi book that has reached enough popularity to earn it movie status.
I am Number Four takes place on Earth, but revolves around an Alien from Lorien, known to his people as Number Four but known to Earthlings as John. After his planet was attacked, John fled with nine other children to Earth. A spell was placed on the Lorien children making it so that they could only be killed in order, Number 1 first, 2 second, etc. The race that destroyed their planet is hunting them, and it’s Number Four’s turn to run.
The book has all the things you would expect from a YA book – coming of age, not fitting in, struggle over a first love – but it adds the extra element of aliens, a refreshing change from vampires, werewolves, and wizards (not that there is anything wrong with those). All in all I found the book to be exciting (I read it in one sitting). The story was engaging, the unraveling of the back plot was nicely done and the characters were interesting. Some of the action scenes at the end dragged on a bit and became confusing, but all in all my only real complaint is that I have to wait until next summer for the next book in the series, The Power of Six, which, you guessed it, will no be about Number 6.
