The Power of Five
Raven's Gate | Evil Star | Nightrise | Necropolis | Oblivion
Anthony Horowitz
“You are meant to be here. There are no coincidences. It's all happening the way it was meant to be. ”
6.4/10
Across five books, The Power of Five follows five teenage heroes drawn together by an ancient, world-ending prophecy. From quiet villages to hidden temples, the story spans continents and centuries, weaving together elements of fantasy, adventure, and mystery in a fast-paced, imaginative series from Anthony Horowitz.
Judging the Book by Its Cover
The editions we’re reviewing are the Walker Books 2015 publications with cover illustraitions by Dan Matutina.
(The cover plays no part in our final rating, but it’s always fun to discuss!)
We really enjoy how cohesive this set is — lined up on a shelf, you instantly know they belong together. We also appreciate that the spine includes the book number; too many series skip this small but much-loved detail, and it makes such a difference when collecting a full set. You can read more about why cover design matters in our Power of a Book Cover feature.
The series looks great overall, but we don’t think the bright coloured spines quite match the darker atmosphere of the stories themselves. We do like that each cover features one of the mythical beasts from the series — it’s a clever nod to the worldbuilding — but Jess isn’t keen on the modern art style. It feels a little too bold for what’s inside.
They’re striking, if not exactly what we’d expect for the tone of the series. They follow many of the same stylistic choices of other YA series being rebranded at the time. If we hadn’t already been familiar with the books (and spotted them on a good deal), we might not have been tempted to pick them up — but they do make a nice, eye-catching addition to the shelf.
Closing the Book
We really like this series overall, but the five-book limit (a stylistic choice that makes sense thematically) leaves things feeling a little rushed. No one character gets enough time to shine, and at times it feels less like The Power of Five and more like Matt… and the Other Four. It’s a shame, because the other heroes could have been just as engaging given the same focus.
Jess felt it would have worked better if all five main characters had been introduced earlier in the series, giving us more time to get to know them. As it stands, some of the supposed leads feel more like side characters. Matt and Jamie each get entire books dedicated to their stories, which lets them develop far more than the others. Scott, who has the potential to be the most compelling of the group, never really gets the full arc he deserves.
Most of the characters in The Power of Five are interesting — but not all of them. The core group shows a lot of potential, and it’s satisfying when we see them working together, but those moments are too few to really sink our teeth into. It’s clear Anthony Horowitz is trying to fit five lifetimes’ worth of story into five books, and that ambition sometimes leaves characters feeling flat or unfinished.
The idea of destiny versus choice runs through the whole series, and it’s strongest when the characters are given room to wrestle with it. Matt, especially, feels caught between what he has to do and what he wants to do — we just wish that same tension had been explored more fully in the others.
Even with those shortcomings, there’s still a lot to appreciate in how Horowitz tells a story.
Horowitz’s writing style is easy to read and follow — never overly complex but always clear and purposeful. The series feels cohesive, which is impressive for a five-book arc, especially when some long-running series can start to feel disjointed. Each book even leans into a slightly different genre, which we loved: Raven’s Gate plays out like a modern fantasy, Evil Star is an adventure romp full of ancient mysteries, Night Rise dives into political thriller territory, Necropolis reads like a horror movie come to life, and Oblivion brings them all together in one big finale.
The overarching plot flows well, though some books are definitely stronger than others. A few moments feel a bit forced — like events that happen because the plot needs them to, rather than because they naturally follow the story’s logic. The ending in particular felt anticlimactic; after such a long build-up, the resolution arrives suddenly, and certain worldbuilding choices make earlier plot points feel strangely irrelevant.
Overall, we enjoyed this series for what it is — a fun, fast-paced adventure with flashes of darkness and creativity. But we couldn’t help wishing there was more of it. It’s presented as a YA series, though we think it’ll appeal more to younger teens than to older readers, who might find it harder to stay hooked when the focus shifts from book to book.
Rob loved The Power of Five when he first read it as a teenager, and he still enjoys it now — just with a little less of that page-turning urgency it once inspired. It’s a series that younger readers will likely devour — fast, exciting, and full of cinematic moments that would work brilliantly on screen. For us, it’s a nostalgic read that still holds a lot of charm, even if we now see its rough edges a little more clearly. The Power of Five might not reach its full potential, but it’s easy to see why it captured so many imaginations.
💡 Looking for more ancient monsters? Check out our game review of Elder Sign
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