Illuminae (Illuminae Files, #1)

by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

For fans of Marie Lu comes the first book in an epic series that bends the sci-fi genre into a new dimension.
 
 “A truly beautiful novel that redefines the form." —Victoria Aveyard, bestselling author of Red Queen

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
      The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit.
     But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.
      Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, maps, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.
 
“Prepare yourselves for Illuminae.” —EW.com
 
“[Y]ou’re not in for an ordinary novel experience. . . .”  —Bustle.com
 
“A truly interactive experience. . . . A fantastically fun ride.” —MTV.com
 
★ “[O]ut-of-this-world awesome.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred
 
★ “…stylistically mesmerizing.” —Publishers Weekly, starred
 
★ “[A]n arresting visual experience.”—Booklist, starred
  
★ “[A] game-changer.” —Shelf Awareness, starred

“Brace yourself. You're about to be immersed in a mindscape that you'll never want to leave.”  —Marie Lu, bestselling author of the Legend trilogy
 
"Genre: Undefinable. Novel: Unforgettable." —Kami Garcia, bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures & author of Unbreakable
 
“An exuberant mix of space opera, romance, zombies, hackers, and political thrills.”  —Scott Westerfeld, bestselling author of  Zeroes and Uglies
 
“Stunningly creative. Smart, funny, and romantic.”  —Veronica Rossi, bestselling author of Under the Never Sky
 
“This is one of those rare books that will truly keep your heart pounding.” —Beth Revis, bestselling author of Across the Universe
 
“This book is xxxxing awesome.”
—Laini Taylor, bestselling author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone

• ISBN10: 0553499114
• ISBN13: 9780553499117
• Publish Date: 20 October 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 608
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780553499117

Reviews

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

Well, this novel certainly caught me by surprise. It came to my attention via a NetGalley email and I thought, “Heck, why not?” I’m starting to ease my way, slowly, into mainstream science fiction. Maybe too slowly, as my husband, when I was explaining this book, kept saying…”Oh, that’s like X or that’s like Y. Haven’t you read that yet?” There are so many hours in the day, y’know?

[Kelly]

Fucking incredible.

Illuminae is one of the most unique and incredible experiences that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Presented in a series of documents, security footage and instant communications, it tells the story of Kady and Ezra and what is ultimately the evacuation of their home planet in Kerenza after it was attacked. Their world is blow apart by BeiTech, a mega corporation who have overtaken the small planet Kerenza to mine for resources while killing it's inhabitants in the process. Both Kady and Ezra managed to escape and now on board space vessels who are looking for a safe passage into another galaxy, with the in pursuit BeiTech warship determined to ensure no survivors remain alive. What ensues is a phenomenal science fiction story with an intense romance that will leave readers feeling exhilarated.

"Am I not merciful?"

The unique format is nothing short of brilliant. The storyline is told through a series of documents, interviews, images and various forms of correspondence presented as a inquiry portfolio. The illustrations, the recorded email and messages recorded only heighten your experience as a reader. It left me utterly breathless.


Images taken from ARC

As a reader, you're thrust into what is an internal inquiry on board the survival ships, in order to understand what happened prior to boarding. With resources low on board both vessels, civilians are recruited to fight against the pursuing hostiles. Ezra will join the assault while Kady finds herself in intelligence training on board the Hypatia, allowing her access to online network communications. It soon becomes apparent that any information inhabitants are given is little more than propaganda, and Kady uses her position to access the secure communication system in order to find answers.


Images taken from ARC

It's within the system where she communicates with Ezra while a deadly plague threatens to wipe out all on board. AIDAN, the artificial intelligence that commands the vessel is dysfunctional at best. Through the turmoil, emerges a tentative friendship between Kady and Ezra, repairing their relationship and trust in one another once more.

The storyline was intensely fierce and Kady an extraordinary heroine while Ezra was charismatic and charming. Although told through the perspective of being a bystander, the in depth reports, interviews and conversations allow readers to immerse themselves within the storyline effortlessly, observing what is essentially conspiracy theories and witnessing Kady expertly working her way through a series of digital breadcrumbs. I had expected a well written space opera, but what I found was an intelligent and brilliantly written science fiction thriller that far exceeded my expectations. Tenfold.



Mind fucking blown. Believe the hype. Every. Fucking. Word.

Illuminae is a visual masterpiece. Blending engaging characters with a unique format and explosive storyline was nothing short of breathtaking. Both Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff have created a phenomenal and flawless narrative that will captivate readers until the final page is turned. Strap yourself in for one hell of a ride.
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2015/10/illuminae-aussie-epicness.html

[violetpeanut]

So good! Seriously , go preorder this now! Full review to come.

[ellieroth]

":) You think?"



Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Esta es la cosa, lo qué sea que auspicie mis decisiones a la hora de escoger un libro debo decirle GRACIAS. Porque este año no solo estoy leyendo temas muy variados, sino también una gran cantidad de narraciones diferentes, Illuminae al igual que Me Being Me Is The As Crazy As You Being You, libro narrado en listas. Illuminae no está narrado en listas, sino en algo mucho mejor: en archivos de gobierno ultra secreto.

ESTE LIBRO ES DE LA $%#" %#"$#$#

Si te fijas un poco en la portada, verás más o menos como el libro está narrado. Hay transcripciones de audios, cartas oficiales, copias de páginas web a lo wikipedia, también transcripciones de cámara de seguridad (!!), copias de conversaciones, en realidad, todo tipo de archivo con el que soñaste tendrías cuando fueras un espía. ¡Además con anotaciones! Si alguna vez soñaste con ser jefe de una organización secreta, Illuminae te lo hará sentir.

Con las anotaciones, también encontrarás frases borradas, ilustraciones, no solo estarás en la mente de un personaje sino en muchísimas, pero sin ser agobiante. Este libro es demasiado entretenido y emocionante como para pensar sin son demasiadas personas, aunque por lo general veremos las naves desde la perspectiva de Ezra y Kady.

PERO EN SERIO ES LA COSA MÁS #$%$/%(&%/%&/() DE LA VIDA. F$%$ING GOOD

Cada día que reviso noticias, estoy segura será el día en que me confirmen que será película. Tiene TODO.

Illuminae juega tanto con tus emociones, sobre todo con el suspenso. Hay una frase bastante creepy que luego de la publicación estoy segura verás bastante: DON'T LOOK AT ME, manchado de sangre. Cuando leí ese capítulo, podía claramente escuchar la música de suspenso de las películas de terror antiguas. Fue genial.

Anteriormente no había leído absolutamente nada de estos escritores, por lo que no pude diferenciar el estilo de ninguno, los dos se complementan bastante.

Y, ENTONCES, LOS STALKEE EN TWITTER

Son adorables *-* Pude sentir la personalidad de cada uno diferenciada en los personajes, los dos tienen encanto como sus personajes.

*** Quizá, al igual que a mí, te pueda ser un poco difícil agarrarle el ritmo, sobre todo con esos documentos a lo wikipedia, pero luego, rogarás que las hojas no se acaben. Y ahora se supone que debo esperar hasta 2016 para el siguiente libro y no sé que haré con mi vida, la verdad D: NECESITO EL SIGUIENTE

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3.5 stars

[jnikkir]

I cannot even—

I can't—

ERROR >

ERROR >

DON'T LOOK AT ME.

-----------------------------------------------

Note: Due to the nature of this communication, certain words and spoilers have been redacted. Some details and opinions have been censored but remain in the text and appear with a strikethrough. The original communication can be found on There Were Books Involved.

INCEPT: 09/23/2015
LOCATION: ██████, ██, USA, Terra
OFFICER IDENT: Nikki ██████
RANK: Major Book Pusher

-----------------------------------

At 22:30 (Pacific Daylight Time) on 07/09/2015, I started reading Illuminae. I had no idea what I'd gotten myself into.

How do I even begin to talk about this book? First of all, this thing is huge. You've all seen it. It's pretty ███ing intense. But then you open it up... and from page one, it's clear that this is no ordinary book. It's one thing to read the synopsis, and then hear about the format via word-of-mouth, and even to see some teaser photos as they pop up online, but I cannot stress enough, this book is like nothing you've read before.

...Which is something I'm sure you've heard before. There is a LOT of buzz surrounding this title. But hype can be a double-edged sword. It's overwhelming, and expectations skyrocket. Can those expectations possibly be met? Or will they be shot down in flames like the ████████ after █████ went ████?

Well, I'm incredibly pleased to report: The hype over Illuminae is completely justified. I now understand why they had 50 bajillion copies of this ARC at BEA and ALA and basically everywhere. BECAUSE IT'S ███ING WORTH IT.

Reading Illuminae is an experience.

This book isn't something you sit down and read -- it's something you hear and see and feel and live through. It's something that makes you forget what time it is, when you ate your last meal, the fact that you were supposed to be asleep -- oh, crap, three hours ago, and you have a meeting first thing in the morning! Whoops...

But in all seriousness -- rather than bogging a reader down with gimmicky, “cool” formatting, the dossier-style storytelling in Illuminae enhances the reading experience. The format makes the characters and plot hit home in completely unique ways. What would normally be just a few words in a traditionally-written book ("Lots of people died"? No, you get an entire casualty list) takes pages and pages and hundreds of photos. Instead of the scale of a ship being described, there are schematics of these incomprehensibly-massive space vessels. There's a running death toll aboard the ███████, a countdown to the failure of ███ █████, and an updated percentage of personnel infected by the ████ ████. There are emails, hacked documents, instant messages, medical reports, journal entries, transcriptions of surveillance videos and interviews... There are sterile computer documents, and gorgeously-designed, two-page-spread, pieces of art (there's no other word for it)... and so much more.

It may sound daunting -- and it's true, this book is not playing around -- but everything about it feels natural and authentic for this kind of story. It's formatted this way for a reason, and that formatting makes it one of the most can't-stop-won't-stop books I've ever read.

But enough about the format.

Is the story worth it? What about the plot and the characters?

I can say with absolute certainty that, had the plot and characters not been on point, the format would have been useless to save it. That's not to say that the design of these myriad documents and tableaus doesn't stand on its own as amazing -- rather, all of this book's elements are so closely connected that if the characters didn't work, if the plot didn't lend itself to this kind of storytelling, the whole thing would have fallen apart. Instead, everything works together to create an immersive experience that is unlike anything I'd read before.

Kady and Ezra are our main characters. They're refugees from an illegal mining colony, Kerenza, who have escaped after it was destroyed. Kady is a hacker, and is not content to sit around and do nothing when she realizes that the facts of their situation are being kept hidden. She's super sarcastic, and does not work well with others. Ezra, her (ex) boyfriend, isn't quite as gung-ho as Kady re: hacking into top-secret files, but he's just as much of a firecracker as Kady in his own way -- his messages to Kady after their break-up are an absolute joy to behold.

Now let's talk about the ship(s)...

Kady and Ezra end up on separate ships after escaping their home -- one on the Hypatia, a small (ish) scientific-exploration vessel, the other on the Alexander, a huge military battlecarrier. (Wait, you thought I meant a different kind of ship? I'm getting to that...) The Alexander, being a military ship, is equipped with all the bells and whistles you'd expect -- really big guns, a bajillion nuclear missiles, a squadron of small fighter-ships... you name it. It's also got AIDAN -- an Artificial Intelligence tasked with protecting itself and its fleet (the Hypatia and Copernicus). But unfortunately for the fleet (understatement of the century), AIDEN was damaged in the battle to escape Kerenza, and he's gone a little bit... over-protective. Add to that the fact that they're being pursued by one of █████'s surviving warships, and a █████ ████ has broken out on one of the escaping Kerenza ships... Things get out of hand pretty fast.

Now back to the other kind of ship. Kady and Ezra have an awesome relationship. One of my favorite things about the book was how their relationship progressed as the stakes got higher and higher (and higher and higher). It's seriously mind-blowing how Kaufman and Kristoff were able to make their relationship feel so tangible and real, given the format of this book and the characters' circumstances. They're on separate ships (they don't even ███ ███ ██ until the ███ing ███ is ███!!!!), and they can really only interact in short instant-message conversations and emails. And yet you get to know them so well -- and I ended up shipping them so ███ing hard.

But there's more to it than just Kady and Ezra...

There's also AIDAN, the AI who is supposed to be protecting its fleet of ships escaping Kerenza. AIDEN is SUCH a cool character -- and it(?) is that, a character in its/her/his own right. I don't want to say much about AIDAN, because spoilers, but AHHHHH. Just. Omg. AIDAN. I have a lot of feelings about AIDAN.

But not only are Kady and Ezra and AIDAN great -- but also, because of the book's format, you get glimpses of so many other people who are part of this story. Illuminae does what is so hard to do in traditional books, because of the narrative structure and focus -- it makes the presence of thousands of other lives, beyond the main characters, felt throughout the book, in so many little ways. That aspect was incredibly well done.

 
In conclusion...

"First, survive. Then tell the truth."

Well, I survived Illuminae, barely, and the truth is, it is just as good as everyone is making it out to be. And I do not say that lightly. The characters, the plot, the emotion, the pacing... everything is so on point, it's insane. It might take a bit of getting used to, with the formatting and all, but once you get into it, Illuminae will make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it will literally make your heart pound as you're reading it.

There are only a few books that I'd recommend to literally everyone -- but this is one of them. It has so much -- so much heart, so much depth, so much excitement, so much plot, so much beauty, so much feeling...

I loved it. You'll love it. Go preorder it. You're welcome.

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Illuminae was a reading experience unlike any other. It's told completely in IM transcripts, e-mails, interviews, medical reports, surveillance summaries, and other documents. After their planet it is attacked, and they boarded the rescue spacecrafts, Kady begins hacking the ship's databases. Something does not add up about what happened, and she's going to uncover it. Of course, she doesn't have access to the other ship in the fleet, but thanks to her ex-boyfriend, she's able to hack that one too. What unfolds is one screwed up story about mutating viruses and psychopathic AI.

I will admit to not 100% following what the heck was going on in Illuminae, but I was hooked anyway. Apparently there's this planet with an illegal settlement, and some tech company decides to blow it up or something. Then their spaceship is coming after the surviving escaped ships. But one ship has survives who inhaled some virus that was let loose, and it's mutating fast, and the people go insane and they're really scary. DON'T LOOK AT ME! I was confused about how this all started and why this BeiTech company is so hell bent on killing everybody, but I found the virus fascinating and terrifying! There's no stopping it! They're in space! But then one of the ships AI, known as AIDAN, is completely nuts and starts killing people in order to save people, and WTF?! AI is a terrible idea when it's that advanced!

There's not much for me to say about Illuminae. It's a very cool concept, the plot kept me on the edge of my seat, but it's something you just have to read for yourself to even get the gist of it. I really have no clue where this series is heading. Will the next part also be told completely in files? What role does the next couple play in this disaster? What is the point of any of this?!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.