I Am Number Four book to movie

I stumbled upon I Am Number Four during an amazon search for young adult fiction that has a paranormal, supernatural, or sci-fi vibe to it.  I had never heard of this series, but saw that a movie was coming out.  My curiosity was in even more overdrive when I saw the book was released August 2010 and the movie is set to premiere February 2011.  I thought to myself, "They must really think this series is the next big thing.  I have to read it to see if they are all crackpots or if it is worth it."

Then, to make the book even more of a hook for me, I read about the author, Pittacus Lore.  How cool is it that the series author is set up to be a an elder alien from the world of Lorien, where the people portrayed in the book are from.  I thought that was pretty fucking cool.  There are even interviews out there from this elder alien.


So curiosity got the best of me and I decided to purchase it to read.  It was a pretty quick read and it was refreshing to read a first person narrative set from a male perspective.  You can only read so many high school chicks fretting and talking to themselves about how awesome the otherworldly guy is they are swooning over.

There are nine children from the planet Lorien that were brought to Earth with their keepers ten years ago.  These nine children were fleeing from the Mogadarians who conquered Lorien at the time of their departure.  The Mogadarians have hunted the children across the universe and found them here on Earth. The children of the Loric race are not named, but numbered.  They are Number 1 through 9.  The Mogadarians can only kill the children in numerical order.  Once one of them is killed, the others get a mark on their ankle representing that one.  So, they know when it is getting close to being their turn to be hunted.  The first three have been hunted and murdered, and now the Mogadarians are after Number Four.  Hence where the story name comes from.  Number Four has had several aliases over the years and now that he and Henry, his keeper, have moved to Paradise, Ohio, Number Four has chosen the name, John Smith.

Number Four, though an alien, is going through all the same annoying things every teenager does.  He has his run-in with a bully, who happens to be the girl he has his eye on's ex.  Some parts of the book are cliche in that sense.  But, it is interesting nonetheless.  It is is good to hear a guy go through the same things girls do in feeling unsure about a first kiss.  But, to top it off for Number Four, he is also going through the transition in his life where he starts getting his powers.

So as Number Four gets his powers and falls in love, he is also being hunted by the Mogadarians.  There are intense emotions throughout the book as Number Four is learning more about himself through all of the above listed circumstances.  Through it all, his keeper, Henry, is one of the best parts of the story.  Henry's character and love for Number Four even though he is not his biological son is inspiring.  The emotion of the story grows until the huge battle that ensues at the end of the book.  The fighting was well crafted and the description really drew me.


So, now I read the book and the movie comes out in a couple months.  What do I have to say about it?  I hope the movie does it justice.  I am pretty excited about Alex Pettyfer playing Number Four in the movie.  Also exciting about Diana Agron playing Number Four's love interest, Sarah.  The cast they have chosen seems like it will be a good one, but that doesn't always make a movie.  We will see how it goes.  What I have to sugest to you is that you read the book before you see the movie.  Especially since there is going to be a series of books.  This is just the beginning and it looks like The Lorien Legacy is set to be awesome.



You can purchase I Am Number Four Here.

I miss Battlestar...So Say We All

Do you ever wake up on a Sunday morning and the first thoughts on your mind are, "I miss Battlestar Galactica"?  Yeah, not many people do.  But I did this morning.  I was thinking about what an awesome story it was.  I was fracking excited to see that the entire series is up on Netflix Instant Queue though.  Maybe I will have to watch it all again from the beginning.

For those of you who have been under a rock and not watched any of this series, you need to.  You need to start from the beginning and continue until you finish it.  If you watch this series all the way to the end you will not be disappointed.  Unlike the Lost fiasco.  Although for some odd reason there were a lot of people who actually liked the ending of that series.  But, I digress, Battlestar Galactica was a series that everything any sci-fi geek would love.  There was incredible depth to all the characters, many twists and turns in the storyline, and the special effects were amazing.  I know for myself, I love special effects, but if there is not a storyline to go along with them, I get annoyed.  You have to have an excellent story or all the effects are just eye candy.  People don't sit back several years after seeing it and think, wow, I loved those effects.  No, they think of the story and Battlestar Galactica had that.  It has been almost two years since the series ended and I still get goosebumps when I think about it.  The effects are an afterthought.  The story is what grabs you.  So, in so many words...WATCH IT!

I can't imagine many people have not watched it.  But, I know there are still some.  For instance, my husband's uncle.  He puts on the sci-fi guy front, but he still to this day has not watched it.  I try to lure him in with the hot chicks that are throughout it.  Which by the way geek girls, if by some crazy chance you are with a guy who is not a geek, tell him about the hot chicks, that will get him to watch it with you.  But, not only are they pretty, they kick major ass too.  See, I told you it is an all around awesome show.  It has everything!

SyFy's Stargate Universe

One of the best television shows out now in my opinion is Stargate Universe.  The premise of this series is that a group of individuals who were on a distant planet studying a new Stargate were attacked.  While they were being attacked the only means of escape for several military personal and civilians was the Stargate they were studying.  They had no idea where they were going when they went through the gate, but it was either that or death.  When they arrived to the other side of the gate they found themselves on a spaceship created by the ancients.  They also found themselves in a part of the space no one had ever visited yet.  They also had no way to get back to Earth.  So starts the story of Stargate Universe.  A group of unlikely people who are strangers to each other, trapped on a ship millions of light years from home.

Actor David Blue, who portrays Eli

My favorite unlikely character is Eli.  Eli is the video game nerd who cracked the hidden code in a game that the government had planted.  This code was the code that unlocked the new kind of gate I was speaking of.  So here is this guy who was a college drop out who loved to game and he is now on a distant planet unlocking a stargate.  They get attacked he, along with everyone else, goes through the gate and arrives  on Destiny.

SPOILER ALERT!  Stargate Universe is in its second season and it has just dropped a huge bomb on viewers as to what the ship Destiny was created to do.  It was created to travel to the ends of the universe because the ancients had found a signal that they believe to be THE signal.  The FIRST signal that was created at the moment of creation.  They are on their way to find where everything began.  Instead of now being stuck on this ship and trying to get home, those who are living aboard Destiny will be accepting their own fate and not seeing it as a demise, but their own destiny.  I am eager to see where this goes.  The writers and creators of this series have truly stepped it up.  I think I understand now why Stargate Atlantis ended so suddenly and with such a crappy ending at that.  The writers had Stargate Universe in their back pocket and wanted to get it out for our viewing pleasure as soon as possible.