The Power of Six

I'm sad it took me so long to pull this one off my shelf.  I bought it when it first came out a year ago and I just kept picking up other books instead.  Why?  No idea.  And then recently a friend of mine asked if I had read it.

This is what he said, "I Am Number Four was good but, The Power of Six was awesome!" 

So, a few weeks later, I have finally read it and I cannot wait for the next one to come out in three weeks!  I devoured this one and then had dreams all night about having "legacies" of my own.  He he he.  For those of you who don't what what those are, you should just read and find out.  I wish I had some!

The Power of Six was so exciting!  So many twists and cool things kept happening.  One adventure after another.  This one picks up where I Am Number Four left off.  The Mogodorians are getting closer to uncovering the locations of each of the Nine and the time for hiding is coming to an end.  It's time to unite and fight.  John is coping with how to live his new life and struggling with his continued feelings for Sarah and new feelings for Six.  This sequel also dives into the mind of one of the other Nine, Marina.  The woman who is supposed to be her protector and trainer has practically abandoned her and Marina is left to figure things out on her own.  But, now she fears the Mogodorians have found her.  I loved reading both points of view.  Their stories are so different and the characterization is well done.

This story is unique and such an enjoyable read.  There were several moments where I laughed out loud and even more moments when I was literally sitting on the edge of my chair.  At the end of every chapter I had to relax my shoulders because the action was intense. 

That's another thing I should mention.  In many books the action has a tendency to get confusing because it's not always very well explained.  Sometimes it's because the author wants to keep the pace moving and fears too much detail in the action will slow it down too much.  That was not the case here.  The action was well detailed and I was never confused about what was happening to who or where.   At the same time the pacing was excellent.

This is one series where you shouldn't judge the book by the movie.  I won't lie, I was entertained by the movie adaptation of I Am Number Four, but the books are so much better.  And I have to agree with my friend.  The first one was good, but this one was fantastic! 

Pathfinder

I am long overdue to be talking about this rather incredible book.  A couple of years ago, I bought Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card for my brother for Christmas.  I'd heard through the Mom-line that he wanted me to buy him a book.  So, I scoured the internet searching for the perfect book I thought he would like.  I wanted to get him something new, exciting, and of course something with a beautiful cover.  (My brother loves art almost as much as I do.  If the whole package isn't right, he's not going to read it.)  Then I found this little baby.  It was the one!

Much to my sadness, it took him nearly a whole year to read it!  Who does that, right?  But he kept saying, "Mal, you have to read this when I'm done." 
To which I would respond, "Why?  It must not be any good if it's taking you this long to read." 
"Yeah, I know," he'd say.  "But it really is good."
"Mm-hmm."
"It is!  And the cover is amazing, look at it!"

We had many of these conversations.  They all went about like that.

At long last, he finished and conveniently placed it upon my bookshelf so that it would be the one I read next.  Then I finally picked it up.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!  Orson, you've done it again.

This is the story of Rigg.  Rigg has a special ability to see the paths every person throughout time has walked or moved.  His father is a man who goes by many titles and doesn't always seem to be the most loving of men.  Rigg's father taught him many things that the other villagers seemed to have no need to know.  One day his father is killed in the woods while the two of them were out trapping and hunting.  His father tells Rigg to run home and talk to their caretaker.  On his way something very strange and unique happens to him.  The paths he sees begin to slow down and he can actually see the people moving through time and not just their path.  What Rigg learns next takes him on a journey he never planned, and becomes someone he never expected. 

The writing is beautiful and well crafted.  There are many difficult concepts in this book to grasp and I frequently had to set the book aside for a second and make sure everything the author said was sinking in before I moved on to the next chapter.  While it took me a little while to read it during this exhausting bit of summer, I don't understand why it took my brother a whole year!  This story is very well told and unlike anything I've read before. 

Hope you love it too!