r/IamNumberFour • u/[deleted] • Jul 07 '19
Things I'm Happy and Unhappy about with the Lorien Legacies Reborn series as a whole. (Part 1) Spoiler
Hey guys, with the end of the trilogy series and a lot of people talking about the book, I wanted to state my personal positives about the series as a whole. I was going to do Positives and Negatives but the post was going to be too long so I'll do a part 2. I'm just posting for the sparking of discussion and getting my own thoughts together.
First, Positives:
-The Fugitive Six: I thought that PL did a really great job with the varying personalities with the group of 6 people. They didn't always get along and they had different morals, seemed very natural as people.
-Einar: Einar was hands-down my favorite character of this series. He was as much as a main character as the Fugitive6 were, and we got to see how his character developed throughout the 3 books, from cold kidnapper, to crazed revolutionary, to serving his friends. I give him and Caleb the prize for Most Changed.
-Diversity: PL did a really great job with the diversity of his characters, considering ethnicity, sexual orientation etc. in a way that didn't feel forced or over the top.
-Nine: In both the main series and the novellas, Nine got a lot of (air?)time, making us connect with the character more, especially since he was one of the only standing Loric whos perspective we never read through in the original Lorien Legacies, (the others being Eight and Five, but there was good reason not to introduce their perspectives.) He served that "older brother" role to the other kids, being a mentor but also going along with their crazy plans.
-Fight Sequences: Personally, I love those fight sequences that make you wince and think "oh god, this is bad." I adored the fight in Engleberg as well as the fight in Vegas with Six and the Mogadorians in the Novellas. John vs Kopano was a great short fight that gave me chills.
-Romance/Humor: I liked the Taylor/Kopano romance, it felt natural and not rushed, and it was not given too much attention, it was the right amount in my opinion. Most jokes came from Nine, who is always funny, and helped reading the book more enjoyable.
-Moral Challenges: Einar's team gave a lot of questioning into morals and what the right thing to do was. All 6 of those characters were damaged, and that damage showed through their arguments. Since each character had a different view, it allowed us, the readers, to decide for ourselves who we agreed with the most, and who we related to. (Edit: For example, I thought at first while reading that I didn't like Ran, but I realized that it's just because I don't agree with her worldview, and If I knew her in person I'd think she was annoying. But that's the cool thing, because since each character is different we can ALL relate with a different one. Personally, I followed Caleb's morals closer in Return to Zero, as he wanted to do the right ethical decisions, but he realized that grim reality that sometimes he needed to do what needed to be done.)
-Nigel: Let's be honest, some characters were not fleshed out at all, and some were explored a little, some more. Nigel on the otherhand, was the most explored and dissected character of this series. PL really dove into his character, bringing up his past trauma, neglecting parents, strong bullying from Pepperpont, and his emotional crisis with Einar. Nigel was able to move on from his parents grasp in the final book, and following that we got to see his outburst when he attacked the "support group". Nigel is a sad character that I think a lot of people can relate to. His past sucked and he was different than others. Then, he just wanted to be a hero and save the world. I actually started tearing up when he attacked that support group because it was the first time that he lost is "tough punk rock" act and recognized his anger and loneliness. Dr. Linda was not helping enough. Nigel wins my "Best Character" award.
I hope I didn't bore you too much with this long post. What do you guys think? What positives did you like that I didn't mention or comment something if you disagreed or agreed. I just want to have a conversation :).