After an alien force known as the Icon colonizes Earth, decimating humanity, four surviving teenagers must piece together the mysteries of their pasts--in order to save the future.

In rural Ohio, friendships and a beautiful girl prove distracting to a fifteen-year-old who has hidden on Earth for ten years waiting to develop the Legacies, or powers, he will need to rejoin the other six surviving Garde members and fight the Mogadorians who destroyed their planet, Lorien. Friendships and a beautiful girl are distracting to a teenager who is hiding on Earth while he waits to develop the powers he will need to rejoin the other six...

Twelve-year-old Gratuity Tucci has a hard time writing an essay on "The True Meaning of Smekday" due to her complex life after Earth was overtaken by aliens and her mother was kidnapped and taken to Happy Mouse Kingdom in Florida.

After facing off with the Mogadorian ruler and almost being annihilated, the Garde go into hiding. They must learn to master their Legacies and learn to work together as a team. When they receive a sign from Number Five -- a crop circle in the shape of a Loric symbol -- they know they are close to being reunited. But could it be a trap? Time is running out, and the only thing they know for certain is that they have to get to Five before it's too late....

"Queen Levana is a ruler who uses her "glamour" to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story - a story that has never been told... until now"--

"Cassie Sullivan and her companions lived through the Others' four waves of destruction. Now, with the human race nearly exterminated and the 5th Wave rolling across the landscape, they face a choice: brace for winter and hope for Evan Walker's return, or set out in search of other survivors before the enemy closes in"--

The Garde, broken and divided, discover that the Mogadorians have commenced their ultimate invasion plans and will stop at nothing to thwart it.

After the first wave, only darkness remains. After the second, only the lucky escape. And after the third, only the unlucky survive. After the fourth wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it's the dawn of the fifth wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see.

Princess Winter, admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, teams up with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, to defeat Queen Levana and find their happily ever afters.