Illuminae

I think it's important to mention upfront that sci-fi novels are absolutely not my thing. I am all about romance, people's stories and relationships. These are the things that drive me through a book and engage me. It was therefore with some surprise that I found myself absolutely desperate to delve into Illuminae, a book that falls very firmly into the sci-fi category and not only that but I absolutely loved it. It lived up to every single amazing review I'd seen of it.

This book is such departure from any other book I've ever read. Instead of being written as a straighforward narrative, filled with chapters we have a book full of email conversations, surveillance reports, interviews and printouts from the memory of an enormous Artificial Intelligence computer called AIDAN. and despite it's very hefty size (it is a BIG book) I flew through it in 4 days. I could not put it down, when I wasn't reading it I was thinking about it. I was lucky enough to not only have the e-book to digest but also the audiobook and I'd switch between them both and sometimes listen to both in conjunction as the audiobook is done with a whole cast of different narrators playing the different roles in the book and it brought it to life so beautifully. I used this method at the beginning of the book and it really helped to draw me in.

The story is set in the year 2575 where a small outlying ‘settlement' in space is attacked by a major company called Bei-Tech who are apparently doing this because their is illegal mining going on. Huge numbers of the residents of Kerenza perish in the attack but some surivors flee into space aboard 3 spacecrafts, the Copernicus, the Hypatia and the Alexander but they are pursued by an enemy ship, the Lincoln who seem intent on their destruction. They must travel across space to a ‘jump station' where they will be able to escape but their ship is damaged and the AI, AIDAN, is developing a mind of it's own and they have a journey of almost a year ahead of them and with each day the enemy ships get closer. To add to all their dilemas there is a virus spreading onboard the Copernicus which is rendering it's victims mindlessly violent to the point of murder and there is no way of stopping it's mutation.

The story focuses upon 2 surviving teens, Kady and Ezra, from Kerenza who are travelling on board two separate spaceships, the Hypatia and the Alexander. Boyfriend and girlfriend until the day of the attack they begin communicating with each other via the ships comms and they begin to realise that things are being hidden from them by the crew about the attack on Kerenza and about how dire their position really is. Ezra is recruited as a pilot on board the Alexander whilst Kady, a computer genius, begins hacking into the ships on board computers to locate information about what is being hidden from them.

The book was non-stop action the whole way through. I initially worried about how much detail we could really gain from the writing style and would it almost be emotionless but instead it is rich with emotion and full of wonderful detail about life on board the spacecrafts. There are so many twists and turns that for the first time in a long time this book actually had me shouting out loud “NO WAY did that just happen.” Just when you thought it was settling down and you could catch your breath then another twist would come and you'd be right off again on that journey with Ezra and Kady and thinking “this book is amazing”

This books forms part of a trilogy of novels known as The Illuminae Files and I am absolutely going to read the second novel Gemina which is already available and will be in the queue for book 3, Obsidio, when it is released in 2018. As we moved towards the end of Illuminae I began to wonder how on earth we were going to have a second book as the serious peril people were in would mean a whole new cast of characters. I am really keen to see where the author's are going to take the remainder of the series.

I couldn't recommend this book highly enough, if like me sci-fi really isn't your bag then please do not let that put you off. This was one of the most engaging and unique books I have ever read and I imagine it will remain with for a long time to come.

4.25/5 stars I listen to his heartbeat. Hear him breathe. As though becomes motion and motion becomes all that lies between him and his end. As the black is burning blue with the light of tiny funeral pyres. As his missiles and bullets take away his enemy. All they were and will ever be. I can taste it in his whispers. See it in the tiny photograph he has taped to his console. All he thinks of amid this loveless dance. All he cares about here on the edge of forever, is her. He does not want to die. Not because he is afraid. Simply because of he cannot bear the thought of leaving her behind. And there, in that tiny moment, I envy him. I'm going to be completely honest here. Sci-fi scares me. If it isn't cutesy or fun, it takes a lot of time for me to summon enough courage to read it. Add in the thickness and formatting of Illuminae, well I've never been so intimidated by a book. Yet, after months of sitting idle on my shelves, I picked it up out of curiosity around 6pm that night. I ended up reading all 600 pages in one sitting, finishing around midnight. And just, holy cow. I kept on telling myself, “I'll just read 50 more pages” over and over again until the entire book was complete and I was left empty inside. Once you get used to the formatting and start truly understanding the stakes the characters are in, it is impossible to put down. I loved this book. I loved it so much. In fact, it was the first book I have ever read in one sitting, without the intention of reading it in one sitting. I've already forced my friend to buy her own copy of it. Okay. So plot. The plot. In 2575 a large, powerful company called Bitch Industries (okay, so it is actually BeiTech Industries, but if you take the e's away...) destroys this planet, sending the inhabitants the survive to flee onto three spaceships: the Alexander, the Hypatia, and the Copernicus. The two main characters, Kady and Ezra, escape onto three different spacecrafts: the Hypatia and the Alexander respectively. Kady and Ezra used to be dating, but they had just broken up the morning of the attack. Now, separated on the spaceships, they communicate together via IM and slowly begin to realize that there is more threat to the spaceships then they realize... Characters....CHARACTERS... Kady “I am frequently underestimated. I think it's because I'm short.” I didn't really like Kady at first. I'm not sure why, but I just didn't. However, around the 200-page mark, something clicked and I suddenly loved her. Her snarkiness, her attitude, her kick-buttness. She was such a strong, smart, independent women and I loved her for that. Ezra “I should have told you I loved you every day. I should have given you the stars.” Ezra. Ezra, Ezra, Ezra... He was kind of the exact opposite of Kady for me. I loved him at first, but slowly I started to care less for him. Towards the end, it was almost as if he was in the way. For me, at least. He was a sweet, loyal guy, and very romantic. He did say and do a lot of very cheesy, romantic things. But in the end, he didn't really do anything to move the plot along. This may just be my opinion, however, and I could be totally and completely wrong. AIDAN “Am I Not Merciful?” AIDAN isn't human. He's the AI on the Alexander and though he was beyond creepy and disturbing, he is my absolute favorite. He was the reason why I couldn't put this book down.I enjoy weird, gray characters and AIDAN was definitely that. He wasn't even gray, but more of a dark, dark gray, or perhaps a light black. I understand that if it wasn't for Aidan, then half the crap they went through wouldn't have happened. Yet, I feel like he truly added something incredibly important to the story. Despite the fact that he is an AI, I believed he truly showed how important it is to be human, and how being human is something even machines would strive for. The Romance Yes, the book starts of with stating that Kady and Ezra have a thing together, however complicated that thing may be. Yes, in the first two hundred pages or so the romance is more of an issue. But when things start kicking off, the romance is the last thing I was worried about. In the end, I didn't really care for the romance too much. I was more focused on if they were gonna survive as opposed to if their relationship was gonna survive. This book is much, much more than the romance aspect. It may be there, and I was rooting for it to stay alive, but there is still so many other things that add to this book. The FREAKIGN FORMATTING If you know anything about this book, you know about the formatting. Never in my life have I ever seen another book that could even compare to this one. It's IMs, it's pictures, it's medical files of [a:Laini Taylor 324620 Laini Taylor https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1224474224p2/324620.jpg], it's pages and pages and pages of the names of people who died. It's just. Woah. It's just. I can't even describe how unique it is. In Conclusion...I haven't seen a negative review of this book, which should be a major clue that if you haven't read it, then you need to pick it up right now. Reading this book is such a crazy experience. It is the closest thing you can get to being on a rollercoaster, without actually being on a rollercoaster. Don't get me wrong, though, just because I loved this book, doesn't mean it didn't scare the crap out of me. It did. Which is the reason why it didn't get a full five stars. I had a very hard time sleeping that night I finished it and is probably the main reason I haven't picked [b:Gemina 29236299 Gemina (The Illuminae Files, #2) Amie Kaufman https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1469408557s/29236299.jpg 44560442] up yet. I'm not ready to be scared again just yet.

Review originally posted at A Reading Brit

The Plot

Illuminae is a solid read with great twists, and a complete book come the end! This wasn't one of those books where the end doesn't feel like the end. Illuminae saw the full story through, from beginning to end, with only the odd little thread leaving just enough to carry through to the sequel.

The end also happened to be my favourite part of this book. And whilst there is spoilers below, I won't go into detail about the ending. It was awesome, and everything suddenly made sense like pieces of a puzzle finally slotting together. I never guessed the twist, and that's what makes it great. Oh, and the humour. I was laughing so much, every other page had something that had me snickering. Seriously, just read this book.

I should mention, this whole book is written in a series of reports, interviews and IM messages. I haven't read many (if any) books in an epistolary format, and if they're anything like this one, I've been missing out. It blows my mind how there's a full novel, with great characters, a sound plot and even description, all in this format. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff are a force to be reckoned with.

The World

I admit, whilst I said there was great description, this description only covers the immediate surroundings of the characters. The ships they were on, and that's about it. The rest of this world is a little lacking. There's some psychotic mining companies who commit mass murder, basically destroying a planet, and there's government of some form.

Beyond that, though, I feel like I don't know much. I'm sure the next book will give me more detail, because I definitely need more detail! How are things run? Humans didn't encounter any form of life after leaving Earth? How far has humanity spread? That's just a few questions that popped to mind as I was writing this review. Give me an hour and a notebook and I'll fill it up with questions I want the answers to!

The Characters

The characters is where this book really excels. In the style this book is told in, character is everything, and boy, were there some characters in this.

AIDAN

I'd seen AIDAN related merch everywhere, and loads of people talking about how they liked him. And I was just confused. About half-way in, and I couldn't grasp why a psychopathic AI that killed thousands of people was likeable. And then I got to the last quarter of the book and suddenly I loved him too. The care he showed for Kady, and to be honest, whilst he was crazy, his reasoning made sense. Yeah, it was probably an extremely solution to the problem, but it was one of the logical solutions.

His later caring for Kady, and seeing all his internal thoughts and conflicts was a joy, and I agree with everyone else. I need more AIDAN. Oh, and the way his thoughts were formatted on the page was glorious. This is a book that has to be read in paper-copy to truly experience.

“I am glad yOu aRe wIth me.”

Kady

Our badass teenage hacker/tech extraordinaire. There's not a computer system that will stand in her way. She's fierce, determined, and a protagonist worth cheering for. And I definitely cheered with her, throughout, whether I was cheering for her against AIDAN, or cheering for her against Ezra, she always held her own. She was awesome. I've included the below quote mostly because I relate.

“I am frequently underestimated. I think it's because I'm short.”

Ezra

Ezra, Kady's ex and the reason she keeps fighting when all other hope is lost. Ezra is super romantic, but also definitely has a mouth on him. He's not afraid to stand up for what he believes in, and he provides the occasional comedic relief too, which I respect. The quote below sums up why I like him so much. His somewhat child-like humour kept me entertained through, as well as Kady's somewhat withering responses to it.

“I am now raising my... oh, dear ... yes, it's my middle finger at Mr. Postgrad here.”

Would I read it again? Yeah, and if I don't hurry up and read the next one, I will.

Will I be picking up the next in the series? Yep, definitely.

Would I recommend it? Fancy a sci-fi, set on 2 spaceships, with a little romance, a psychotic AI and all written in epistolary style? Go for it! Don't fancy that? Read it anyway.

Is it going on my favourites shelf? Yes.