Review: ‘The Fate of Ten’ is Fast-Paced Fun (Lorien Legacies, #6)

Cynthia Ayala ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

The Mogadorians have begun their invasion and it’s up to the Garde to find a way to stop them and save the human race—and Earth—from the annihilation that Lorien suffered. But there is a plan, one that has raised the stakes for the Garde and has given them a fighting chance. With a power hidden within Earth, they can save the planet and themselves.

Published on September 1, 2015 by HarperCollins, The Fate of Ten is the sixth novel in the young adult sci-fi Lorien Legacies, also known as the I Am Number Four series, which follows young adults as they fight an alien invasion and try to save the world.

The Fate of Ten is an incredibly fast-paced novel, the quickest novel in the series, and generated such a flow with the style of writing. It’s the sixth novel in the series and has become longer than initially projected. At times, that can bode ill for any piece of work, but author Pittacus Lore keeps up the pace of the novel and builds it. The story isn’t lost on the reader, it is a basic story about a group of heroes trying to save the world from invasion. But the clichéd plot is elevated and brought to life by the writing and the characterization. The cast is filled with kids, and the heroes are orphans, aliens, outcasts who spent their lives running from death only to come together and face an enemy bigger than them that stacks the odds against them. Stories like this have been done before and continue to be done, so a story has to be captivating in order to make readers want to pick this novel up and read it.

Lore knows how to captivate with this story. Admittedly the story has taken a turn sharp turn from where it began and it leaves the reader unsure as to where the story is going. The elements of the story are dragged out because there is no feasible reason for this novel to be as long as it is, and while the writing is, for the most part, solid, it’s evident in the structure of the story in comparison to the series that the author is unsure as to how he wants to end the series. The story as a whole reflects this with all the character shifts and numerous climactic moments.

However, the storytelling is fast-paced, it builds and builds and holds together very well, as it should. There is momentum in the story and it’s tied up between a few characters. That is really the biggest saving grace of the story; the fact that the story is so fast-paced and filled with plot twists and well-structured action sequences makes it impossible for the reader to put down. That is also one of the downfalls. It moves so fast that the reader is forced to re-read sections just to figure out which character’s POV we’re seeing. Yes, all the strong visuals are there, but when it comes to dialogue, the structure falls a little short and differentiating between characters by font style isn’t enough.

Overall, The Fate of Ten is a hooking book and the story held together well. There were scenes that are completely jaw-dropping and unexpected. The events that have begun the ending of the series were completely incredible and gut-wrenching.