On This Page

Description

In rural Ohio, friendships and a beautiful girl prove distracting to a fifteen-year-old who has hidden on Earth for ten years waiting to develop the Legacies, or powers, he will need to rejoin the other six surviving Garde members and fight the Mogadorians who destroyed their planet, Lorien.

Tags

Recommendations

Member Recommendations

Vulco1 YA. Alien teens. Thrills. Romance. Trying not to let their powers get noticed. Small towns

Member Reviews

354 reviews
Este libro es ABURRIDO, muy aburrido, absurdamente aburrido. El que tengas a Superman, digo John, digo Cuatro Aclaración, este Cuatro , no este Cuatro ...Me pregunto si no servira otro número (?) no ayuda a que la historia sea interesante, la personalidad es aburrida, practicamente no tiene sentimientos...a menos que maten a uno de los legados, que son el resto de los alienigenes, porque es el único momento en que reacciona...aunque no porque el libro lo diga, a que me refiero con esto: a que el libro es lo sufiecientemente extenso, pero esta lejisimos de tener una construcción del mundo (Lorien, no la tierra), construcción de los personajes, o tener lógica alguna.

Cada una de las cosas que pasan son o un cliche de película show more adolescente (el bullyng, la chica modelo, el problema con los padres, la rebeldía mal enfocada, el insta-love) o una busqueda desesperada por romper las bases de la historia. De verdad cada cosa que se plantea al inicio del libro es destruida pasando la mitad y por razones estúpidas, o sencillamente sin razón.

El estilo de escritura es muy escueto, hace mucho enfasis en Superman y Luoise (digo Cuatro/John y Sarah) en que ella es la forma de lograr que el revele sus poderes...y todos lo vean como algo normal, pero no hay desarrollo en la historia de los extraterrestres, en ninguno de ellos (mmmm ¿será por eso que el 60% del libro es romance?¿Porque faltaba creatividad para...no se...contar algo interesante, aunque fuera jodido relleno?)

En fin, una perdida de tiempo.
show less
I've discovered lately that YA fiction is offering more inventive and well told stories than so-called adult fiction these days. This is the latest example supporting my experience. "They walk among us" has been told countless times in scifi fiction and films. In fact, the tv show Roswell had a similar story to this - alien teenagers coming of age on Earth. It is the details and characterization that make this worth while. John Smith is living on the run - he and a handful of others are the last survivors of their race and they are being hunted. They have to be killed in order, before their legacies (superpowers) manifest. The first three are dead, and now they have come for John. But, John's powers are finally emerging. Will it be in show more time?

John thinks and acts like a typical teenage boy, which makes him easy to identify and sympathize with. The book is a bit slow in parts as readers watch him fall in love for the first time, and wrestle with his secret (which he wants to share so badly!). What makes the story really interesting are the details about his homeworld: what makes him special, the mysterious chest he and his guardian carry with them everywhere, and the mystery of the Loric Elders. Plus, what legacies will he develop? He will have many small powers leading up to the BIG ONE. Though it has some slow parts, the last third of the book is suspenseful and action-oriented when the hunters find John. I appreciated that the author didn't cop out by having his big power come out at the last minute and save them all. John barely survives the confrontation, and there are casualties.

The book doesn't exactly cliffhang, but it's obvious there is much more to come. This book was optioned for film even before it was released. After reading it, I'm looking forward to the film. But even more for the next book!
show less
Bland. Banal. Inoffensive. Simplistic.Any of these words would be a completely fitting descriptor for I Am Number Four, penned by lit villain/superstar James Frey and relative unknown Jobie Hughes* under the ARG-worthy pen name of Pittacus Lore. Of course, you won't find any vocabulary as advanced as this within the novel's pages. It's written at what I can only guess is approximately a third-grade reading level. This stylistic simplicity is surely part of I Am Number Four's draw for many reluctant readers. Unfortunately, Hughes and Frey make the mistake of thinking that readers who would shy away from advanced vocabulary would also shy away from nuanced ideas--their story is utterly uncomplex, built on cliches, stereotypes, and show more "twists" that the reader should be able to spot coming from halfway around the block.I Am Number Four is the story of an alien boy who has been hustled from suburb to suburb by his slave/guardian Henri for most of his young life in an attempt to outrun some other, eviler aliens. The boy, who goes by the name John Smith (no one comments on the ridiculous obviousness of this fake name, or, worse, the fact that his guardian is called "Henri Smith"--that's a name that won't stand out, right?), eventually settles down in Ohio, goes to high school, romances a really boring blonde chick, befriends a nerd, fights some bullies, and has hands that glow. Oh, and eventually there's a battle with some evil aliens, too.All of this is recounted with a sort of Smallville-esque charm, and it's this charm that earns a second star on this review. This is the Norman Rockwell of YA sci-fi. Everything is really rosy and perfect and there are hayrides and long walks in the snow and at one point the blonde chick says that she's made a conscious decision to be "sweet" to everyone and no one scoffs and ugh. It's difficult not to be at least a little cynical in approaching this kind of stuff, you know? But there is some charm here, and the only stylistic flourishes, if you can call them that, are in "Lore"'s descriptions of the Ohio weather. Those, I guess, are nicely enough done, and though the bulk of the novel is teeth-achingly saccharine, with no grounding in the real complexities of even small town life, it was, at least, pleasant enough to read.I can't say as much for any of the science fiction in I Am Number Four. Every time Lore slips into a passage of world building or discussion of the sci-fi conceits, the prose turns painful. It's not so much sci-fi but voodoo magic with aliens, like here:
. . . we protect ourselves because of the charm that was placed upon us when we left, a charm guaranteeing that we can only be killed in the order of our numbers, so long as we stay apart. If we come together, then the charm is broken. When one of us is found and killed, a circular scar wraps around the right ankle of those still alive. And residing on our left ankle, formed when the Loric charm was first cast, is a small scar identical to the amulet each of us wears. The circular scars are another part of the charm. A warning system so that we know where we stand with each other, so that we know when they'll be coming for us next.
I mean, wha? I have no idea what any of that looks like, or means. It certainly doesn't sound plausible to me. Even for comic-book esque science fiction. Lore does even worse when describing Lorien, John's home planet:
Lorien. I close my eyes and allow myself to remember. An old planet, a hundred times older than Earth. Every problem that Earth now has--pollution, overpopulation, global warming, food shortages--Lorien also had. At one point, twenty-five thousand years ago, the planet began to die. This was long before the ability to travel through the universe, and the people of Lorien had to do something in order to survive. Slowly but surely they made a commitment to ensure that the planet would forever remain self-sustaining by changing their way of life, doing away with everything harmful--guns and bombs, poisonous chemicals, pollutants--and over time the damage began to reverse itself. With the benefit of evolution, over thousands of years, certain citizens--the Garde--developed powers in order to protect the planet, and to help it. It was as though Lorien rewarded my ancestors for their foresight, for their respect.
Oooh my god, what? Evolution does not work like that. And how would getting rid of guns and bombs help overpopulation, anyway? This stuff makes no sense! No sense at all! It's like these dudes weren't even trying!And really, I suspect they weren't. This is what you get when literary superstars/villains write for teenagers--morally and conceptually simplistic pap. Passages where you learn that all of the important humans are really half-alien (really? How . . . insulting. To all of us, really, but especially to the real people--Jefferson and Einstein, among others--who are named there), probably because it's supposed to sound nifty even if it does open up gaping holes in the story's logic: we're told that Loriens mate for life, but then Henri encourages John to have a minor dalliance with pert human Sarah. You can almost hear the implied dis--kids are stupid. They won't notice this stuff.I pretty much only got through this book (including the intractable 50-page battle scene at the conclusion, which was incredibly and mind-numbingly dull) because there was something obviously up with the dog that magically appears in the novel's beginning, and I was hoping he would be a villain. But really, that kind of turn was too sophisticated for I Am Number Four. Turns out he's a magical shape-shifting stuffed animal thing, and an alien's best friend. Gee golly!To any kids who might be reading this review, and who liked the general idea of the book: I beg you, find old copies of the Animorphs series. These were sci-fi novels which, likewise, are stylistically fairly simplistic, but which deal with the concept of intergalactic battle and the development of magical powers with a bit more gravity and complexity. They're actually carefully and sophisticatedly developed, and have more to say about adolescence than, "Blonde chicks are hot! Telekinesis is nifty!"*Funny thing about Hughes. I peeked at his website and knew that I had seen it before. Eventually, I realized that he was an MFA applicant in 2006, as I was, and was active on the Poets & Writers speakeasy message boards, as I was. And that he got into Columbia and argued extensively with Seth Abramson over whether Columbia's debt was worth it for the career and opportunity costs. I find this funny on so many levels. Jobie, though I didn't really like your book, I gotta say, you win, dude. Keep on keeping on.
show less
Solid sci-fi. Actually, this isn't even one of my preferred genres, but I was still thoroughly engaged. I'm kinda really liking the whole plot that's set up here, and it's going in an interesting direction. Now, granted, there are some holes, but I felt as though I needed to go out of my way to even notice them with how engaged I was in the narrative.
There is so much that I can say about this book, but the oddest sensation I have while reading it is that I've read a book with this sort of amazing ability to pull you in and never let you go before. It might seem strange to some, and please don't jump to conclusions about this, because everyone's experience is different, but the sensation I get from reading this first book in the series is like the sensation I got as a kid, when the Harry Potter books first came out. That easy-going beginning, that introduction to a world you know so little of, that slow and steady climb into training, into abilities beyond the powers of normal humans, the friends that you gather along the way, the dawning of evil, and the coming of war. The fight at show more the end of it all. The losses. The moments where you sit up after it's all over and think, "What just happened? How am I still alive? How am I safe?" These were the amazing, never-failing conclusions to the first Harry Potter books. Each new adventure, each journey, each trial, each terrible and tormenting war that might turn at any second into horror, into failure, into absolute destruction... into the end. It's a gripping plot, a deeply emotional and moving plot, and you're carried along with this set of characters that you don't want to lose. Not even the ones you didn't like at the beginning of the book.

Man, it was an amazing read! I feel like it started out and I was intrigued, and then everything lulled into this steady pace. I was getting something to entertain me and keep me reading, but I wasn't getting enough. And so I kept reading, wanting to know more, knowing that there was more that they weren't telling me! And after a certain point... it came. It came, and with terrible, amazing, awe-inspiring consequences. The battles, the fighting, the strength and the fear! You were MOVED, you didn't BREATHE, you never knew what was going to happen! You didn't know if it would end, even when you thought the end was certain, inescapable. You had to just keep going, because once you got to a certain point: you were invested in this. You just couldn't stop! You stepped into this world that so few or no one else knows about and now you can't turn back. It's that intense, yes.

Don't let the lullabic and steady start throw you off. Anyone who has seen how this has started has to know that there is more to be promised from the get-go, the very beginning. I'm here to assure you, as readers, that there is more. That this is *worth* it.

You absolutely must read this book.

I can't even tell you how amazing it is. But it's so mind-blowingly amazing that I must get you to read this book! Have I ever spoken like this before?! Have I ever been this adamant and thoroughly convinced?! If you ignore almost everything else I say, just trust me on this: Read. This. Book.

There is no way, at all, that you can regret it. I guarantee it. 100%.


*Takes a deep breath* Now, let me pause for a moment to go over a few things. The author and the one who designed the back and inside covers of these books needs to be given a medal. The very way it's presented, the very way the words read, the information it gives you... the intensity and immenseness of the words it says... You have no idea what you're stepping into. But when you read those words, you just know, you just know, somewhere deep inside you, that this is one of Those stories. A story you cannot miss. A story you cannot not be a part of. Because it involves you anyway. Whether you know it or not.

Another comment I have to bring up, is that the author is... anonymous. The author, Pittacus Lore, is a figure in this book. ...we don't really know who's writing these books. Or, is it as simple as this: that we are being told who's writing these books, right to our face, and we just choose not to believe it? Oh, I know what you're thinking. I'm sounding like some already mind-possessed fangirl. And yes, and no. I have my doubts, but I have a thrill inside me that the author--whoever he is--has chosen to name himself this. Has chosen, not to reveal a real name (though perhaps, it is his real name), but a name wrapped up in this story's legend, in this story's tale. That itself is significant, is impacting, is amazing.

To continue, you have already heard the effects of the story on me, and thus its writing can be amply praised. It's engaging, keeping, pulls you in and doesn't let you go until the end, when you're forced to remember you must breathe, and you breathe outside of this world that you were just consumed by, just absorbed in so completely you forgot about everything else. It's astounding. It's got the kind of page-turner quality that Harry Potter used to have, back in the days when it was first printed. (My opinion. No need to bristle and attempt to quell me. For some, it has the quality that Harry Potter still has.) The point being, you can read this book like you exist within it. That's how remarkably well it was written. And real name or not, Pittacus Lore, you've done an incredible job, sir.

The last thing left to mention is the characters. And I admit, there is a purity to them that you don't find often in characters. Somehow, the main character is easily relateable. Somehow, the mentor figure seems younger than the typical adult figure in the youth's life. Somehow, the antagonist doesn't rub you completely the wrong way and you can get over it later on in the book when he returns with new intentions. Somehow, the main attraction of our lead doesn't annoy or grate on the nerves where you expect a female love interest might. Somehow, the best friend figure who seems like a subgenre of the school populous is capable and strong in a noticeable way. You have a cast of characters that is nothing like what they're supposed to be, while being exactly what they're supposed to be. It's a group that you can understand and enjoy, while not realizing how much you enjoy them until the very end when you're left hanging... waiting to see what happens to them, wanting to continue with their journey, and knowing you have to wait.

Do yourselves a favor: Read this book. It is absolutely worth it.
show less
To state that I Am Number Four is an intense read is an understatement. I did not want to stop reading the novel because I was so enthralled with John Smith's story and the need to find out how it ends. It combines all of the current political and ecological fears, from pollution and the idea of killing off the planet to the idea of being alone in the universe to the idea of alien invasion, and adds the pressure of growing up. The resulting story is one filled with the tender emotions of first love, the novelty of new worlds, and the heart-pounding excitement of survival. It quite literally is one heck of a roller coaster of a novel!

John Smith is quite remarkable in spite of his powers. In spite of being a modern-day Superman, he is show more just a kid, trying to fit into a new town and have a normal life. He not only has to deal with the traditional perils of childhood, but he also has to deal with people finding out he's an alien and that others want to kill him. The reader feels his pain as he struggles to He faces all challenges with grace and courage, and all readers could all stand to take a few lessons from him.

Not every book can be perfect, and there is one small fault in I Am Number Four. If anything, Lorien is too much like Earth. For a different planet light years away, they still have fireworks, read newspapers and drank coffee. It seems the differences between planets only extend to the animal life. While most people might not consider this a big deal, those with a scientific bent might find this bothersome. However, as this is a small issue, it does not detract from the story at all.

I Am Number Four is a great blend of the normal and the otherworldly. It has great characters, amazing action and a story that will leave you wanting more. In fact, I think it just might make one of the top reads of 2010.
show less
I've always been a sucker for a good alien storyline.(Roswell the TV series, I'm talking to you.)

The most interesting thing about this book is that James Frey co-authored it. (You remember James Frey, right? The man who lied to Oprah. Apparently, he's moved on to fiction, which is probably a good thing.)

In this edition of 'paranormal creatures make out with hapless human females,' we have a male protagonist who happens to also be an alien. He's better than most paranormal dudes - he avoids stalking his love, manages to stick up for himself and others and has some pretty cool super powers. The token human girl, Sarah, is a bit milk toast. Honestly, I'd like to see a girl do more than constantly need to be rescued. Now Number Six -- she show more was pretty bad ass.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book enough to pre-order the second in the series. I also went to see the movie, which I do not recommend. I was so bothered by all the needless plot changes, I couldn't concentrate on what was going on. And I was disturbed that I found the guardian way hotter than the buff young Alex Pettyfer - I guess that means I'm getting old.
show less

Members

Recently Added By

Lists

Best Friendship Stories
205 works; 16 members
Books With Numbers in the Title
308 works; 13 members
Best Fantasy Novels
821 works; 361 members
Read in 2014
334 works; 11 members
Books Read in 2014
2,343 works; 89 members
KayStJ's to-read list
1,616 works; 11 members
PRC 2015 Years 7&8
50 works; 1 member
al.vick-series
381 works; 2 members

Author Information

Picture of author.
62 Works 23,442 Members
Pittacus Lore is the collective pseudonym for James Frey and Jobie Hughes. They write the I am Number Four (Lorien Legacies) series. (Bowker Author Biography)

Some Editions

Brender, Irmela (Translator)
Kaplan, Adam (Narrator)
Meer, Joost van der (Translator)
Oostendorp, William (Translator)

Awards and Honors

Series

Work Relationships

Common Knowledge

Canonical title
I Am Number Four
Original title
I Am Number Four
Original publication date
2010-08-01
People/Characters
Pittacus Lore; John Smith (Number Four); Henri Smith (Brandon); Sarah Hart; Mark James; Sam Goode (show all 9); Bernie Kosar (Hadley); Number Six; Principal Harris
Important places
Paradise, Ohio, USA; Lorien; Mogadore; Athens, Ohio, USA
Related movies
I Am Number Four (2011 | IMDb)
Epigraph
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 TH... (show all)EM SEEK TO DESTROY YOU.
First words
The door starts shaking.
Quotations
I pick up a birth certificate that he has already finished.  The name written is James Hughes.  The date of birth would make me one year older.  I'd be sixteen and able to drive.  Then I bend over and look at the one he i... (show all)s in the process of creating. The name listed is Jobie Frey, age eighteen, a legal adult.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Wherever that might be.
Original language
English

Classifications

Genres
Teen, Fiction and Literature, Young Adult, Science Fiction
DDC/MDS
813.6Literature & rhetoricAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in English2000-
LCC
PZ7 .L87855 .ILanguage and LiteratureFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction and juvenile belles lettresJuvenile belles lettres
BISAC

Statistics

Members
7,256
Popularity
1,602
Reviews
340
Rating
½ (3.56)
Languages
14 — Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Romanian, Slovak, Spanish, Portuguese (Portugal)
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
86
ASINs
44