I have read the books about the Lorien Nine by Pittacus Lore and was excited to see a new book by him. I received this as an audiobook and it was a computer generated reading. At times I definitely noticed the robotic narrator, but the majority of the time I was so captivated by the book that it didn't bother me. I'm sure reading the book would be great and once it is narrated by a real person the audiobook version will be great. The story is about the journey of Syd, a teen who is half human and half alien. I can't wait for the next one in the series to be released. Especially since it ends on a cliff-hanger.

Love all the books I've read by Pittacus Lore. Couldn't finish this one due to the computerized narrator. I knew it would be computerized going in, but I couldn't adjust to the style. I'm sure the storyline was excellent, as all of the books I've read so far are.

This story is a wildly creative tale that keeps you on the edge of your seat to see what will happen next. I could picture the characters and imagine their surroundings because of how well the author describes it all. A great story!

Sydney and his mom have been on the run and hiding for 10 years. At the age of 12 his mom had let him in on one of the many family secrets and told Sydney that he was half alien, as in his dad is from another planet. Sydney and his mom had been making their way across the US when their past catches up with them and Sydney finds out that his dad is still alive and he must find his dad and in the process help save humanity. Unfortunately, once Sydney leaves planet Earth he may never be able to return. Sydney find friends in unexpected places and has to figure out who he can really trust.

A wild ride! Excellent world building that sucks you in to a Middle Grade/YA space explorer' journey into new worlds! Ashfall Legacy is told from Syd's perspective -- a teen who is half-alien, half-human and who speaks with a very distinctive YA voice. I would say I didn't identify this with books as much as I could because the female characters were under developed which is a short-fall of the book. It is a focused on the male characters, which is not just due to the main character being a male. If you enjoyed the other books in the Lorien Legacy series, you should probably give this one a shot.

Good introduction. Seems like it will enticethe supposed targeted age range of 10-14 especially for the cursing. Seriously too many f-bombs. I have read s o many other science fiction books so it did not feel that fresh. Luckily the characters were loveable and somehow not obnoxious. I might have adored this at 15.

I enjoyed this book, I felt immersed in this sci-fi universe while reading it and truly fell in love with some of the characters. Zara and Syd had amazing character introductions and development and were easy to relate to. I loved the twists of the plot, and was surprised about this new take of humanity. I found it interesting how the story didn’t portray the cliche of having a love interest and appreciated how it maintained focus on the plot. I see this work as a great combination of an awesome extraterrestrial adventure as well as a call to action about the environment and the actions of humans in general.

I was a huge fan of I Am Number Four when it first came out and enjoyed all of the Lorien Legacy books I read after so I was excited to see a new series by Pittacus Lore and I received an advanced copy audiobook from NetGalley.

Syd has lived most of his life on the run. At the age of 10 his mom explained how his dad—now presumed dead—was from Denza. Syd’s mother, a scientist, had fallen in love with him before he returned to space on the mission he never returned from. Syd toys with the idea that his mom’s story may be the product of an unhealthy mind, but most of the time he’s fully supportive of this life they live.

One day, Syd helps a stranger conquer an impossible to beat video game, opening a message directly for him. Soon, Syd is on his way into space with his long-lost uncle. His world is turned upside down as he’s introduced to new life forms and a world he could never have imagined. Denza and earth are both in danger and it falls to Syd to help protect the future of both.

This book started out great. I was drawn in and interested by the complexity of a half-alien, half-human living a life on the run with his human mother. I love the idea of a dangerous alien breed on earth, hunting them down (a lá the Lorien Legacies). Unlike the first series though, Ashfall Legacy is a more traditional type of sci-fi novel. Syd travels to space, there are alien races, and advanced technology, strange planets, and lots of histories of the aforementioned. I guess I’m more of a sci-fi lite reader, so this became a bit much for my preferences even though it had a similar feel for everything I loved about the Lorien Legacies series.

I notice several reviewers mentioning the quality of the audiobook preview. To clarify, the reviewers copy of the audiobook is a synthetic voice galley and does not represent what the final audiobook will be. I actually didn’t find the synthetic voice to be any bit of a distraction from my listening experience.
Ashfall Legacies, while a stronger sci-fi than I generally enjoy, is an engaging adventure and an interesting new series from Pittacus Lore.

Ashfall Legacy will be released 8/17/21

*I received a copy of Ashfall Legacy from NetGalley and Harper Audio in exchange for an honest review*

First off, I don’t usually read sci-fi but this book sounded interesting enough to want to read.

When I started it, I didn’t want to finish because I thought I had to read the other books in the series starting with I Am Number Four. I found out that it can be read on its own so gave it a try.

Unfortunately, I didn't like it. It’s about a half human/half alien boy who goes in search of his missing father.

The audio is not the final narrator - but I did not have a problem listening to it on a higher speed. That wasn’t the problem. The book just did not hold my interest.

I have received this arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sydney’s only memory of his father is eating donuts before he left on a business trip. That was 10 years ago, and he never returned.

Now, he and his mom are on the run. Running from unknown shadows chasing them. Why? Because Sydney isn’t exactly totally human.

After learning that he is still alive, Sydney leaves Earth on mission to rescue his father.

——
My Rating: 4⭐️

This books storyline vaguely reminded me of Ad Astra, a son searching the galaxy for his missing father. But that is where the parallel mostly ends. Written in first person, from the perspective of Sydney, this story goes on an adventure as epic as the galaxy he explores.

What I Liked:
The writing. Pittacus Lore displays his skill in weaving a world and telling a story. There are so many textures and layers.

The perspective. Sydney’s perspective was full of all things teenage boy, but at the same time relatable. I appreciated the conflict and the humor.

The characters. I am intrigued by the different species. Especially the Etherealki. I want to know more!

What I Didn’t Like:
The ending felt a little rushed. The pacing throughout the book was perfect. I felt like a tourist that was able to stop and truly enjoy the sights, but at the end, I felt like I was being pushed out the door.
Would have loved a bit more.

Final Thoughts:
Bravo for a beautiful beginning to what will be an exciting series. The author accomplished something special with this book and I think readers will appreciate the unique story and fantastic characters.

Thank you HarperCollins and Pittacus Lore for an advanced review copy.

I can't speak to the actual audiobook since I listened to a robot narration. The book itself is a basic kind of simple sci-fi book about aliens and space. I didn't dislike it, but there's better out there. Would make for a good intro for mid-grade/ younger teens who have an interest in getting into scifi. Would recommend for them, but not diehard scifi fans.

So, I've never read a book by this author so I thought it would be best to just dive right in with a new series.
At times I found it difficult to keep up with the story and plot. I'm not the biggest scifi fan after all but I always like to give it a try.
The story was great at first but I dont know if it was because it was the robotic voice galley which I knew what I was getting myself into with it but it made it quite hard to follow at times.
It also fell flat a lot especially when compared to two other amazing scifi series.
Maybe if I read it as a physical book instead I would like it.

This was an ok story. Did not live up to my expectations of the his previous books. And the language in it was horrible. For a teen book there was a lot of f-bombs and crude language. It could have been a lot better. I received a complimentary copy of this audio book for review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Again, I will say that I don't really enjoy sci-fi books and again I will be proven wrong. I really enjoyed the world building that occurred in this book. I thought that the characters were great. I just really thought that there could have been more detail to make this more dramatic. I also thought that the cliffhanger end was annoying. But overall, would recommend this to a friend.

I really enjoyed Ashfall Legacy. The character development was strong and the Alien world was well constructed. I felt like I was being transported to another world. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book! I will definitely suggest this book to my students.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of Ashfall Legacy in exchange for an honest review.

This started out promising. It was fast paced and kept my attention for the first few chapters, then lost me.

The story follows Sydney Chambers, a half-human, half-alien boy who is on the run with his mother. His mother has left out many details regarding Syd’s father, who they are running from, and what Sydney is. Syd and his mother are always one step ahead of whoever is hunting them, until one day Syd’s uncle catches up. When Sydney learns his father (earlier presumed dead) is actually alive, he leaves with his uncle to attend a special academy and search for his father.

This is where I start to get lost. It may have been that this ARC was a “voice galley” instead of a regular audiobook, meaning it was very robotic and hard to follow. I tried to get past that, but even then, it was difficult to keep up with all the species of aliens and the sequence of events thereafter.

I was a bit hesitant to review this book because the robotic narration was just so disconnected to me. I felt the story itself is interesting and promising - Syd, a half-alien and half-human boy, searches for his missing father amongst the planets, galaxies, and stars - and I was eager to 'read' it.
I wish I can say more, but the audio was really bothersome to me. The audio made me daze out and fall asleep which is unfair to the author. If there's a text, I would be happy to read it again.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio for the audio for an Honest Review,

It’s been a while since I’ve read a sci-fi book and I really enjoyed this one! I enjoyed Sydney’s adventure and all of the supporting characters. The other species were fun to get to know and I loved all of the classes he took and all of the fun pop culture references throughout the book. I’m still not sure what to think about the twist at the end but I’m excited to see what happens in future books and I was excited to pickup this book every chance I got a chance. My only criticism is that the beginning felt slow and I found it unbelievable how easy it was for him to leave his home and his Mom.

The worldbuilding of this novel was amazing and kept me hooked from the start. Listening to it felt like being able to visualize a sci fi space opera film. The characters were well developed and the dynamics between them were quite fun. I really enjoyed all the twists and turns as expected in this alien dystopian setting, and the conflict kept me intrigued. Pittacus Lore never fails with these fast paced hooked til the end stories!

Great use of modern terms and phrases. Each character has their own set of flaws, and their own point of view, making each character very relatable, ad there is a character for everyone to understand. It makes you always question who you should be rooting for, makes you have to really think about why and how? The plot is fresh and fast enough pace so you never are left with chapters of nothing. the story changes just when you think you got it figured out. I would have loved to see more character bonding, but you can really tell where each character stands with their thoughts, and who thinks that they know everything and are right about what they know and who to trust. Powers and laws, are very clear making sure the reader knows what is possible.

Ashfall Legacy was a very interesting book. The author did a great job in building the universe. The history was very interesting, the settings were believable, and the different races were well developed. When the main cast interact in the alien world, it fells very realistic. I also really enjoyed how humans were written. The trope of humans being weak compared to the other races has been very over played so I enjoyed the mix-up the author did. The main character was well fleshed out. Syd had a lot of different sides and is a somewhat complex character. Plenty of foreshadowing event were laid out well enough to where they weren't all too obvious, making the secrets and climaxes quite satisfying when revealed.
The few critics I have regards to the beginning as well as the side characters. Parts of the beginning felt really repetitive. The constant flashbacks and repetitive points made it hard to go through. Another point that took away from the book is the side characters. For the most part they felt one dimensional. They had one strong trait each and the author ran with it, the rude jock was a rude jerk, the angsty teen was angsty. and the grumpy adult was grumpy. To be fair though there was some character development but not much.
Over all I really enjoyed the book and greatly anticipate the sequel.