By: Cynthia Ayala

Lore gives a deeper insight into Five, the betrayer, with this additionally novella in the Lost Files companion series.  A captivating narrative that allows readers to sympathize with an otherwise unsympathetic character.

Author: Pittacus Lore

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published:  February 11, 2014

Series: Loren Legacies: The Lost Files

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Coming-of-Age

Nine of them were sent to Earth, saviors of Earth, seekers of justice for their own planet.  Nine were sent to fight a war, separated for years.  Five betrayed them, Five was lost to them before they even met. Here is his story, his path to the darkness and rage inside him.

Five’s Legacy is the seventh eBook novella in the Lorien Legacies companion series The Lost Files.  Written by Pittacus Lore and published on February 11, 2014 by HarperCollins, this novel centers around Five, the character in the Lorien Legacies #4 who betrayed them all. Tthis eBook novella gives readers a deeper insight into where he came from and what set him onto the darker path.

Plot based, this novel was well constructed. Lore has given readers a chance to get to know Five and his situation, how it differs from all the rest. This novella also displays his narrative, who he is as a person. His personality differs from the rest of the characters in the series and so does his past, but not by much. Moreover, the latter of the aforementioned sentence is really what sets his character apart. The story highlights his darker side and inhibitions, showing where they stem from without painting him in a bad light. Instead, Lore uses those to build the character from the inside out and make him relatable to the reader. In fact, his darker side is what makes him more human. He’s a kid, not a hero, and Lore takes this opportunity to show that, to bring him to life.

Characterization is key in this sort of novella due to the fact that readers and fans of the Lorien Legacies series (more commonly known as the I Am Number Four series) have already been briefly introduced to this character who starts off as a likable kid before turning into one of the most hated characters in the series. Lore is able to build sympathy for the character who was dealt a bad hand and got caught up in all the wrong situations.

Given the fantastical and science fiction elements within the story, the backdrop of it – a lost and lonely kid turned bad by getting caught up in the wrong crown – makes the story very grounded without coming off as a cliché. This is a concept that readers are all to familiar with, but the representation of it creates something worth reading. Scene specifics keep the flow of the action sequences and story running at a slow and steady pace even though the events continue to happen one right after another.

Lore writes with an easiness to it, with a skill to deliver so much in such a short amount of pages. Events take place one right after another and the inside plot, the real driving point behind the characterization, resonates off the pages. Readers finally get to know Five, transcending how fans of the series look at his character and view his decisions.

In short, Five’s Legacy works as a short companion novella for the Lorien Legacies series. The narrative and traits of the character resonate off the pages, and the story itself gives more depth to the betrayer, inciting sympathy from the readers.  ★★ ½ (out of 5 ☆‘s | B-)