Title
: I Am Number Four
Author
: Pittacus Lore
Genre
: Action/ Science Fiction
I Am Number Four is
a young adult science fiction novel and movie by Pittacus Lore (the pseudonym
of James Frey and Jobie Hughes) and the first book in the Lorien Legacies series. The book was published by HarperCollins on 3rd
August 2010, and spent seven successive weeks at #1 on the children's chapter
of The New York Times bestseller list.
This is a great novel for those readers who like to read Science –
Fiction based story. I Am Number Four
follows the main character Number Four (the characters are named based on numbers)
as he leaves Florida for Ohio with his guardian Henri. They always travel from
one place to another because they want to escape from the Mogadorians. In his
planet, his kind, the Loric, were all but wiped out by the Mogadorians. The
survivors managed to get to Earth. The Mogadorians however, intend to kill them
all. There have been three deaths so far. Number Four and the eight other
surviving children had a special charm placed on them that only allows them to
be killed in order. After the death of Number Three, Number Four becomes the
next target. In order to run away from the Mogadorians, Number Four starts
another new life in Paradise, Ohio. After meeting and befriending Sam Goode and
falling in love with Sarah Hart, Number Four is very reluctant to leave. Will
his love for Sarah cause him to finally be defeated, or will it make him strong
enough to finally fight back? Be prepared to feast yourself with a story full
of mystery, love and bravery in I Am
Number Four.
[ Source 1:Wikipedia ]
[ Source 2: Wikia.com]
Pittacus Lore’s Biography (there are two writers collaborate using one pen name)
1.
James
Frey
James Christopher Frey (born September 12, 1969) is an
American writer and the Founder and CEO of Full Fathom Five, a transmedia
production company responsible for the New York Times–bestselling young adult
series "The Lorien Legacies", the first book of which I Am Number Four (2010) was made into a
feature film by DreamWorks Studios. His books A Million Little Pieces (2003) and My Friend Leonard (2005), as well as Bright Shiny Morning (2008), were worldwide bestsellers and have
been published in 31 languages.
List of Works
a. A
Million Little Pieces (April 15, 2003)
b. My
Friend Leonard (June 16, 2005)
c. Bright
Shiny Morning (May 13, 2008)
d.
The Final Testament of the Holy Bible (April 22,
2011)
2.
Jobie
Hughes
Jobie Hughes was born in the Seattle suburb of Renton,
Washington, but raised from the age of 3 in the quaint and mostly blue ‒ collar
town of Spencer, Ohio. He started writing when he was 24 and, at age 27, left
capitalism behind and moved to New York City to attend Columbia University's
School of the Arts. He graduated in May 2009 with a Master of Fine Arts in
Creative Writing (fiction). His first novel sold one month later. Hughes is the
pseudonymous coauthor of the novels "I
am Number Four" and "The
Power of Six", both of which were published by HarperCollins. Together
they have collectively spent ten weeks at #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers
List and have sold well over a million copies worldwide. These are the novels that
he wrote together with James Frey. His work has been translated into 26
languages and published in 48 countries. "At
Dawn" is his debut literary novel, and will be released on October 16,
2012, by Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press.
[Source 1: James Frey]
[Source 2: Jobie Hughes]
Official Teaser 1
NINE of us came here.
WE look like you.
WE talk like you.
WE live among you.
BUT we are not you.
WE can do things you dream of doing.
WE have powers you dream of having.
WE are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen.
WE are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books—
BUT we are real.
Our plan was to grow, train, and become strong, and
become one, and fight them. But they found us and started hunting us first. Now
all of us are running. Spending our lives in shadows, in places where no one
would look, blending in. We have lived among you without you knowing.
But they know.
THEY caught Number One in Malaysia. Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya. They killed them all.
I AM NUMBER FOUR. I AM NEXT.
Official Teaser 2
We may be walking past you right now.
We are watching you as you read.
We may be in your city, your town.
We are living anonymously.
We are waiting for the day when
We will find each other.
We will make our last stand together - if
We win,
We are saved, and
You are saved as well.
If we lose, all is lost.
What this story is
about?
In a prelude, the writer introduces to the
readers about the cruelty
of the Mogadorians by showing a scene where one of the Garde
children (the Loric) — presumably Number Three is killed by the Mogadorians.
“…in that instant the
blade of a sword, long and gleaming, made of a shining white metal that is not
found on Earth, comes through the door and sinks deeply into the man’s chest.”
“He closes his eyes
just before the sword strikes. And then it is over.”
At the time the story begins, the Garde
children have lived on Earth for some years and are now teenagers. Numbers One,
Two, and Three have been killed, and Number Four knows he is next. This is
because whenever one of them is killed, each of the others receives a scar. Number
Four who takes the name of John Smith and his guardian, Henri, learn of the
death of Number Three and they quickly move to Paradise, Ohio, assuming new
identities. This is how they have lived their life – by constantly running away
from one place to another. There, John befriends conspiracy theorist Sam Goode,
adopted a dog name “Bernie Kosar” and meets an amateur photographer, Sarah Hart.
“When one of us is
found and killed, a circular scar wraps around the right ankle of those still
alive.”
“We were living in
Arizona, in a small border town near Mexico… We moved to Minnesota the next day…
We got in the car and drove away, this time to Maine.”
“One kid, gangly with
thick glasses, stands alone. He’s wearing a black NASA T – shirt and jeans, and
can’t weigh more than a hundred pounds…I notice a girl taking pictures, moving
easily from one group to the next. She’s shockingly beautiful with straight
blond hair past her shoulders, ivory skin, high cheekbones, and soft blue eyes.”
Sarah and John's relationship develops.
Henri continues training John to use his legacies (superpower), now with an
increasing sense of urgency. Henri is unsettled, and tells John that it is not
safe to stay. He is also concerned as John is late in developing his
telekinesis, a power which he will need to fight the Mogadorians. However, John
ignored Henri’s warning and he is firm with the decision to stay in Paradise,
Ohio despite he knows that the Mogadorians is coming to hunt him. His selfish
decision has caused devastating effect to their life as the Mogadorians have successfully
tract them down. The encounter between John and the Mogadorians sparks violent
fight between them which causes unavoidable damages to the town.
“Henri,” I say.
“Yes?”
“We’re not leaving.”
“Yes we are.”
“You can if you want, but I’ll go live with Sam. I’m not leaving”
“The beast must stand
thirty feet tall, maybe forty, towering over Henri. It roars, pure wrath in its
eyes… I cry out in horror, knowing that Henri is about to be crushed.”
Overall, the storyline is not bad, just
that the ending is quite predictable for me. The main attraction of this book
is that it is full of action (fighting scenes). But how long can Number Four withstands
the attack from the Mogadorians? Can they defeat the Mogadorians? To find the
answers to these questions, you must grab a copy of I Am Number Four.
[Source 1:Wikipedia ]
[Source 2: Wikia.com]
As I have mentioned earlier, DreamWorks
Pictures bought the rights to the film in June 2009; it was released on
February 18, 2011 and was the first DreamWorks movie to be distributed by
Disney's Touchstone Pictures. So, I shall include a link to this movie and I
hope that you will enjoy both the book as well as the movie. Happy reading everyone! [To watch the movie, please click on the link below.]
[ Click Me! ]
This is the trailer for I Am Number Four:
I stumbled upon an interesting letter (written by Pittacus Lore) when I was browsing the information about this book. As I have mentioned earlier, Pittacus Lore is actually a pen name used by the two authors of I Am Number Four. However, the thing that captures my attention is that, Pittacus Lore is actually one of the character in I Am Number Four. The details are: Pittacus Lore is Lorien’s ruling Elder. He had been on
Earth preparing for the war that will decide Earth’s fate. His
whereabouts are unknown.Now, how many times do you see, the author is actually one of the character in the story itself? For me, personally, this is a fresh information for me. So, for your reading pleasure, I will include his letter here. I hope that this letter will increase your curiosity about I Am Number Four. Once again, have a happy reading time with I Am Number Four from Pittacus Lore...
