There is nothing to like a quest to understand everything, even if there is nothing to know. 
 I am a sucker for books packed with action (and conflict), addicted to them like girls and their book boyfriends. The Lorien Legacies books continue to be more exciting than the last; The Rise of Nine was one helluva book. There's still three more books to come, but man, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT ANYMORE! Okay, since I read The Fallen Legacies novella I may have a smidge of a sense what would be involved in Book Four... but this is a review for The Rise of Nine - looks like I'm already itching for book four... and five... and six... This series is addictive as hell! There is still so much more awesomeness to come and we're only halfway through. Imagine what I'll be like for the final book. Dead, I imagine, from an overdose of Loriens... or Legacies... both. THE LORIEN LEGACIES! 
 Like The Power of Six, The Rise of Nine was told through John's (Four), Six's, and Marina's (Seven) perspectives. It begins with Marina, Six, Ella (Ten), and Clayton flying to India, as they believe that is where another member of the Garde is after reports of a God-like child, which we discover is actually Eight. While those four are occupied with that, John and Nine are also making their own discoveries involving their chests, their Legacies, and about themselves. John doesn't stop moaning about the loss of Sam and Sarah, and Nine is the one telling him to get his act together. Both groups come across difficulties forcing them to use their Legacies and through a sequence of events find their paths to one another so that they can defeat Setrakus Ra once and for all - at least fight him. 
 'We are not going to Ohio to see if another one of your humans is all cozy and safe. This is not our home, Four. These humans are not our brothers and sisters. Everything we do here on Earth is for our real home, for our real brothers and sisters, for the Elders who sacrificed their lives to put us on that ship ... 
 If you don't have Lorien in your heart, then you should say so right now. I won't run around with a traitor. Our only goal is doing everything we can to be at full strength so we can defeat Setrakus Ra and his army. That's it. Got it?' 
 I decide to remain silent. My feelings for Sam and Sarah will never subside. I know this. But Nine is right about what comes first. We are of help to no one if we do not increase our strength, and that only happens if we can find the others. 
 p. 118 from e-ARC 
 Sam makes no appearance in The Rise of Nine sadly since the Mogadorians have him as a sex slave in their brothel captured him, and Four and Nine could not rescue him at the end of The Power of Six. However, there is Sarah towards the end, and my faith is restored in her. Felt so sorry for her. But the humans aren't the makers of this story. It is the members of the Garde. The new addition to the journey, Eight, has some amazing abilities/Legacies, providing Marina with a boy to crush on and this also provides an opportunity to come to realisations about certain things and into her own self. Six was just as kick-ass ever. And Ella, well, she's not bad too. Besides his constant moaning over Sam and Sarah, John comes to understand a lot. The chapters of him with Nine show how cheeky Nine can be - a substitution for Sam's hilarity in The Rise of Nine. Even with their constant bickering and physical fights, I sensed a real brotherly bond form between the two. Where Sam is a friend, Nine is a brother. I just loved it! And then when all the Garde come together (minus one - Five)... wow! 
 Fifty pages in there was a full-scale, explosive, film-imagined action sequence full of missiles and helicopters flying balls of fire. Imagine the action a hundred pages in, then go to the climax and the end. The action doesn't stop. Even if it's an exchange of words. I didn't know what to expect in the oncoming chapters. Pair the action with the perilous adventure and the new revelations about the world of the Lorien Legacies, you have here an amazing science fiction series that will have you wanting more, and you'll see yourself return as soon as possible. I reached the end of The Rise of Nine and swore because I wanted more. I'm addicted; it's my crack. It wasn't a cliffhanger, but it was just a too sudden ending; it was a fantastic close for Act 1. Now, it's Act 2 and I certain it's going to kill me. Damn you, Pittacus Lore!