Book Review - The Power of 5 Series - Anthony Horowitz

A few weeks before Christmas I realised that the final book of Anthony Horowitz's Power of 5 series had finally been published this year, I was so excited, I have been waiting literally years for this book to come out! I had the first book at a talking book back when I was doing a postgraduate course at Southampton University and I needed something to listen to on the walk down to the train station.

Horowitz is most famous for his Alex Rider books - a film was even made of the first book 'Stormbreaker' a few years ago. They are good, but not my favourite examples of his writing. I do find him a great writer, and have often used his short stories in school when teaching - particularly 'The Man With the Yellow Face' which is a brilliantly constructed text. His writing has a gritty, realistic style, and he connects extremely well with teenagers. The Power of 5 series is no exception. However, it has the addition of a magical fantasy aspect to the novels, which I really enjoy. I love a good Young Adult novel, and I don't think there is any shame in reading a 'children's' book at all.

The Power of 5 series is about a group of 5 children who have the power to save the world from the 'Old Ones', a mysterious force that's only desire is to create misery and pain. The series is cleverly constructed - in the first novel 'Raven's Gate', you meet the character of Matt, a troubled teen put into a fostering programme that brings him face to face with supporters of the Old Ones - the rest of the series builds up until in the final novel all 5 teenagers are pitted against the evil force.

The final novel, 'Oblivion' is an apocalyptic novel that I found extremely emotional to read at times. Horowitz has really imagined what it would be like if human beings were pushed right to the limit. The descriptions of famous cities (including London, Dubai and New York) and what they have been reduced to are particularly evocative, and, as always, Horowitz kept me gripped until the very end.

I really enjoyed reading the first 4 books in the run up to Christmas and couldn't wait to get my hands on Oblivion, which I finished as soon as I possibly could - I'd recommend these books to people who have enjoyed books such as the Cherub series (Muchamore) and The Hunger Games.