I was simultaneously reading Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan and The Rise of Nine, by Pittacus Lore. Both are fantasy novels - the former based in a completely different land with a shed load of characters and creatures, and the latter based on the earth of today, but with two different alien species fighting for survival and a close knit circle of characters. Maybe you could argue that The Rise of Nine is Science Fiction because it's aliens, but I feel it's feet are definitely in the fantasy world. The books couldn't be more different in style and feel. The Rise of Nine is so much more enjoyable. It positively races along, with virtually non-stop action from the very first sentence. This is the third in the Lorien Legacies - a series about a race of nine alien children who have been shipped to earth from their home planet with just one adult protector each. Their mission is clear - to defeat their arch enemies (the Mogadorians) and then return to their planet of Lorien and reawaken it. Their home planet has had to go into hibernation due to the devastating attack by the Mogadorian's and these youngsters are its only hope for survival. So, that sets the scene. Each child, as they grow up, inherits a set of "legacies" which are amazing powers - which could be the power to heal, to turn invisible, to perform telekinesis, to have amazing strength, etc. Each develops a set of different legacies, and the Mogadorian's have followed them to earth to try to destroy them before their powers come up to full strength. So far, they have killed three of them. The rest have been trying to find each other and in this book, they manage to make this a reality for almost all of these disparate Lorien children who were hidden across the globe for their own safety. During their quest to find each other, they are under constant threat from their mortal enemies and now, also, the US Government who have been taken in by the "Moges" and think that the Lorien children are the real threat. Many skirmishes and action sequences result and the Lorien kids grow up fast, trying to get to grips with their powers as well as get to know their fellow survivors. The book builds and builds and we have a great battle towards the end (going to stop here with no more spoilers!). This is a really great series if you like action, humour, peril and fantasy. There are some cheesy moments it has to be said, but I think that wasn't helped by some of the narration in the audio edition I was reading - where the adult narrators are putting a bit too much "effort" into some of the sequences for my liking. Am already looking forward to the next instalment ...
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 400 print pages.
Price I paid: £5.84.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio; ebook.
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