Sci-Fi Book Review: “The Lorien Legacies”

By Olivia Moukas, Sci-Fi Fantasy Co-Editor & Commonwealth Campus Outreach ~

In honor of KLIO spotlighting our new sci-fi/fantasy initiative, as co-coordinator of the sci-fi/fantasy team, I’ve decided to write a book review of one of my favorite sci-fi series of all time — “The Lorien Legacies.”

I read these books when I was a junior in high school. I’ve always loved fantasy, so when I watched a movie titled “I Am Number Four,” and later learned there were books written before the movie came out, I just knew I had to read them.

Now, if you hadn’t caught on — yes, there is a movie adaptation of the first book in the series. This is a book review, so I’m not going to get into the movie too much but let’s just say this — there was only one movie made for a reason. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 33%, but the audience gave it a 57%. So while the movie wasn’t the best film ever, I found it interesting enough to encourage me to read the books. Maybe I’m just a sucker for cheesy sci-fi movies.

Photos courtesy of Carousell.

Now, back to the books! I decided to write this book review because this was the first set of books where I sat down for hours and hours each day just reading. I would come home from school, change out of my uniform, grab a snack and then read until it was time to eat dinner. There are seven books in the series, and it took me roughly 10 days to read them all, if I’m remembering correctly.

The reason these books were so easy for me to read was because of how engaging they were. This was one of a few series where it was hard for me to interpret the ending, and I never knew what to expect when they introduced new characters.

To give a very general synopsis of the series, it follows the story of nine human-looking aliens that were brought to Earth after their home planet, Lorien, was invaded by the Mogadorians — another alien race that conquers planets for their own personal gain.

These aliens are part of a group called the Loric Garde, whose purpose is to defend their planet with their Legacies. Each member of the Loric Garde is gifted a different Legacy. For example, there is the power if Anima — the ability to telepathically communicate with animals. Then there’s the more fun ones like Ximic — the power to use and master any Legacy they have witnessed. This one becomes very important to Four down the line — but I won’t spoil anything!

Now, the main conflict of the book is the Loric people were basically wiped out by the Mogadorians who invaded their planet with their supreme military tactics — which is what they’re known for, and it becomes very clear down the line as there are several battles between themselves and the Loric Garde.

Once it became clear that the Loric people were losing the battle on their home planet, nine gifted children and their Cêpan, or keepers, escaped to Earth where they could grow up, master their Legacies and eventually avenge their planet. The Cêpan were Loric people who were without gifts but knowledgeable in how to train and master these skills. It’s like the saying — if you can’t do, teach.

A few years down the line, the Mogadorians learned of Earth and set their sights on taking over. It was then they learned of the nine gifted children who fled, and they quickly realized that they would never be able to take over Earth when they are still alive. So, they set out to kill every one of those kids and their keepers.

The first line in “I Am Number Four:” “In the beginning there were nine of us. We left when we were young, almost too young to remember. Almost.”

Notice how I referred to the character by Four, instead of his alias “John Smith.” Instead of names, they were given numbers, ranging from Number One to Number Nine. This is important — the Mogadorians could not kill the Loric Garde out of the order they were assigned. They learned this when they tried to kill Number Six first. It’s because of a charm that was placed on them before they left to further protect them. Once they all come together though, that charm is broken.

This is where the first book begins — Number Four has a vision of Number Three being killed. Along with a vision, the nine individuals also gained a scar, indicating the death of the one who came before them. Number Four now knows he is next on the list to be hunted.

Now that you have a pretty good idea of what the main plot of the series is, the books following only further the plot, and you get introduced to other members of the nine as well as some humans, who later become dubbed as the Human Garde.

There are romances, rivalries and betrayals that will make you second guess everything you thought you knew, and everything you anticipated on happening.

To talk some more about the author — “The Lorien Legacies” was written under an alias dubbed Pittacus Lore. The real authors are James Frey and and Jobie Hughes. Frey is a controversial author for writing a supposed ‘memoir’ about drug abuse and addiction that was later revealed to be fiction. Frey proposed the idea for “I Am Number Four” to Hughes, who kickstarted the first novel, which then gained film rights. This entire collaboration was controversial, as there were many issues regarding publishing rights and contentious contracts.

Both authors wanted to make his audience believe the events in this story are true. On the first page of each novel, there is a sentence that reads, “the events in this book are real. Names and places have been changed to protect the Lorien Six, who remain in hiding. Take this as your first warning. Other civilizations do exist. Some of them seek to destroy you.”

Full disclosure: when I was younger, this scared me. Now, I realize it was a tactic used by Frey to make this series even more engaging. I must say, it worked.

Once you read the books more, and even delve into the novellas, you learn that Pittacus Lore is a character in the series and is a big shot on Lorien. He is the most powerful person when it comes to Legacies, because he has them all and has mastered them all.

My favorite book of the series is “The Rise of Nine.” It’s the third book in the series and picks up directly where “The Power of Six” leaves off — which was very nice. “The Rise of Nine” is a fast-paced, action-packed novel filled with many twists and turns. If I disclose anything it would spoil the entire series — so I will say no more.

If I had to recommend this series to you all, my answer would be — YES! It’s hard to find a theme or plot that hasn’t been done before in the sci-fi/Fantasy community. So, when you find a book about aliens that is done very differently from all the others and is an good read with a passionate fandom in a fictional universe that has many layers, it’s hard to say no.

I believe that any lover of sci-fi would enjoy this book. Even if you prefer fantasy like I did once upon a time, this book will only convince you that there are some gems in the sci-fi world that are worthy of reading.

Olivia Moukas is a junior studying digital and print journalism with a minor in English. Olivia, or Liv as she likes to be called, has always had a passion for reading. Since she could remember she had a book in her hands, and it wasn’t until recently she dipped her toes into writing. In her free time, she likes to read (obviously), bake and box. Once she graduates college, Liv intends on traveling before eventually settling down to work at a publishing firm as a book editor or maybe even as a writer for Vogue — you never know where life may take you!