Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle, #1)

by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES • From the internationally bestselling authors of the Illuminae Files comes a new science fiction epic . . .

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the academy would touch . . .

A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass tech whiz with the galaxy's biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger-management issues
A tomboy pilot who's totally not into him, in case you were wondering

And Ty's squad isn't even his biggest problem--that'd be Aurora Jie-Lin O'Malley, the girl he's just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler's squad of losers, discipline cases, and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

NOBODY PANIC.

• ISBN10: 1524720968
• ISBN13: 9781524720964
• Publish Date: 7 May 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Edition: Illumicrate Exclusive
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 480
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781524720964
• Special: Exclusive Design Sprayed Edges

Reviews

[kalventure]

"If your squad was hard to find, or you're still looking, then this one is for you."

Friends, this book is such a damn treat that even the dedication has me weak in the knees. Aurora Rising is one of my most anticipated releases of 2019 and I nearly had a coronary when my request on NetGalley was approved. After fangirling over the Illuminae Files intensely, I had a lot of expectations for this book and I am happy to say that this was the fast-paced, character-driven adventure that I was looking for.

"A billion stars are waiting to greet me [...] For a brief second, all the Milky Way is silence."

Aurora Rising is told in the alternating first-person perspectives of our six main characters. That's right, there are six or seven POVs in this book, and if you've read my reviews for awhile you know that I typically struggle with multiple POV narratives. I am so pleased to say that I didn't have a difficult time at all keeping track of the action, story, or characters because each POV has a distinct voice and the narrative flows easily. Which is honestly masterful.

The humor and writing style for Kaufman and Kristoff books just feels like home for me and it was so fantastic to dive into a new space world of their making. Honestly the way that this book opens up is so darn clever and self-aware, and I was gripped instantly. The downside of this was that I felt a little jarred on the worldbuilding front: I was sucked in based on the characters and Tyler's predicament but had a lot of questions about what is going on. Which definitely appears to be the point because the information does come once the pressure and high stakes situation is resolved, doled out slowly.

This may not be a problem for every reader, but I am one that likes to dig into the nitty gritty details and understand everything, which is why worldbuilding is so important to me as a reader. I found myself wanting to know more about the world, their traditions, & history and being confused because there were a lot of terms specific to this world that were used long before an explanation came. For example, the uniglass was mentioned a number of times but it wasn't until chapter 5 (14%) that we got a description of what the technology does (it's cool as hell by the way, I want one). That being said, the narrative and action is so engrossing that I was captivated from the first page and completely devoured what we were given.

"Once we walked the dark between the stars, unequaled. What have we become?"

This is a character driven and action-packed story, much like the Illuminae Files. I found that the worldbuilding is secondary to the characters and most that we learn about the intricate worlds of the galaxy in 2380 is shared in relation to our main characters and the people that they meet. There are many planets and alien species that the humans, referred to as Terrans, have encountered and we as the reader experience this information as our outsider Aurora O'Malley encounters it. Which I love as a storytelling device because it makes the exposition feel authentic and not info-dumpy as there is a reason to explain everything within the narrative. With the addition of her uniglass Magellan, she is able to research the history to find out what happened over the last 200 years and I enjoyed the little Magellan briefings interspersed throughout the book for additional worldbuilding.


Our squad, artwork by @kiranight_art and available on Kristoff's website

Our ragtag group of misfits known as Squad 312 is ultimate squad goals. I absolutely love every single one of these characters with all of my heart and the path from dysfunctional to found family made my heart grow three sizes.

Zila Madran: Brains is freaking hilarious and so misunderstood. She's a quiet and quirky scientist with tons of knowledge, even if she doesn't get all of the rules of society like "don't shoot people with your disrupter pistol."

Tyler Jones: Alpha is a total Golden Boy that until now has always followed the rules.

Scarlett Jones: Face is Tyler's twin sister fluent in her own brand of sarcasm ("scarcasm") as well as many other languages. Which is helpful as a diplomat.

Aurora "Auri" O'Malley is our girl out of time.

Kaliis "Kal" Idraban Gilwraeth: Tank is Syldrathi (alien Elf) and a badass warrior with a soft compassionate side.

Cat "Zero" Brannock: Ace is a badass pilot with tattoos that gives me so many Kara Thrace vibes. She's the childhood friend of Scarlett and Tyler and is totally not in love with Tyler.

Finian de Kerran de Seel: Gearhead is a bisexual Betraskan (alien) tech-whiz that can tinker with anything. He's disabled and has to wear an exosuit but has sarcasm and jokes for days.

If you love AIDAN from the Illuminae Files, you will no doubt enjoy Magellan! He's the smart aleck uniglass that Tyler gives to Auri that likes to chime in at inopportune times with his knowledge and I love him.

"'This thing may be smarter than I am,' I murmur.
'Aw, don't feel bad, boss. You're only human.'
'I wasn't talking to you.'
[...]
'I'm seventeen times smarter than him. And three times better looking. You should be talking to me.'
'Silent mode,' Tyler orders. The uniglass falls quiet."

I don't have many legs to stand on with this, but Bex demanded that I include my comment about Aurora Rising being like Dragon Age in space... without dragons in my review. Okay this is largely because they say "Maker's Breath," but I also kind of saw similarities between Kal and Sten from DA:O and it made me giggle. This was not helped by the fact that there was a "such as they are" response to questions. Now I want to play those games again. But I digress, one of the things I love about Kaufman and Kristoff's books are the Easter eggs and references they leave: they are a damn treasure.

In addition to our cast of characters, I absolutely loved the attention to detail when it comes to the technology and science, even though it took some time for it to be explained in the midst of the life-and-death opening. From the Fold that makes their space travel more efficient to the uniglass, it felt like a world within our human possibility but appropriate for a couple hundred years in the future.

Aurora Rising is a stellar start to another amazing adventure in space with Kaufman and Kristoff at the helm! They are incredibly talented in not only creating lovable and three-dimensional characters you fall in love with, but also in crafting a beautifully written and quotable story. While I was left wanting for a bit more worldbuilding, this book is well-plotted and action-packed without any dull moments. This book is funny and heart-breakingI loved reading this book and I will be counting down the seconds until I can continue with my favorite squad!

Here are some classic moments:
- Tyler using leaking O2 as propulsion, like that Iron Man inspired scene from The Martian
- They say 'Good hunting' when cleared for missions and now I want to rewatch BSG for the millionth time.
- "Listen here, Lord Elrond."

I do have a couple of SPOILERY questions that I am hoping will get answered in book 2!
- In going through my notes for this review, I noticed in one of Aurora's initial waking up memories (location 350 in arc) that the people went all glowy one-eye and said Eshvaren to her while she was getting on the Hadfield. What does this mean, and why did all of them die in cryo?
- and how the hell did Battle Leader de Stoy and Admiral Adams (so close to Adama my HEART) know that Auri was special? What the heck was the purpose of them sending her with 312? How did they know something was up with the GIA?
- what was the white flash at the end of the last vidcall with Auri's dad? How exactly did Octavia III and its inhabitants wind up like this?

REPRESENTATION: bisexual rep (Finian), characters of color (Auri is half-Chinese, Zila is black), disability rep (Finian)
CONTENT WARNINGS: death, loss of a loved one, persecution, racism, torture, war

🤝 Buddy read with the lovely Bex! 3

excuse me while I incoherently cry at being approved for an eARC 😭😭😭

Many thanks to Random House Kids for sending me an eARC via NetGalley for my honest review!

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[kimbacaffeinate]

Kristoff and Kaufman are magic together. The tale that unfolds while suitable for young adults is one that will appeal to fantasy and science fiction lovers universally.

Unique and diverse characters from across the Galaxy with their own customs was just as addictive as the world these author’s created. While most of our time was spent aboard their ship, we also spent time on stations, traveling the fold and learning about the wars, galaxies and its people.

The crew of Squad321:

-Tyler Jones: Captain of Squad 321 Tyler lives and dies by the code/rules and he will be faced with difficult decisions.

-Zila Madran: Science officer. Zila has had over thirty-two reprimands in the past two years at the academy. She is smart but I wouldn’t cross her.

-Kal Gilwraeth: Syldrathi born and bred for battle. His race is known for their arrogance and skill. I liked Kal and found information about his world and customs fascinating.

-Finian de Seel: If it’s broke he will fix it. I liked Fin who struggles in his skeletal suit and can be a downright arse.

-Catherine “Cat” Brannock: Ace pilot. She is opinionated, and at times abrasive. She claims to not have “feelings” for Tyler. *raises brow*

-Scarlett Jones: Trained black belt, sister to Tyler and peacekeeper.

-Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley was awoken 200 years after entering cryo-sleep. Rescued by Tyler she may be the key to saving the galaxy. If she doesn’t get them all killed first.

From the fast-paced action scenes to intergalactic discoveries and beginning series ARC the story was a tight, well-paced and took me as the listener through a gamut of emotions. I came to connect with the members of this motley crew and experienced moments of laughter as we witnessed comradery, snark and banter. Seeing them become a unit rocked.

The audiobook is narrated by a full cast. It had added sound effects that heightened our experience. It was brilliant, seamless and a delight to behold. Kim Mai Guest, Johnathan McClain, Candice Moll, Lincoln Hoppe, Steve West and Erin Spencer provided the voices and narration. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[littleread1]

Well that was not the light and funny read I was ignorantly hoping for. I should know better by now. New nightmare fodder anyone?

The audio cast was superb, the characters are all sympathetic and believable, the situation is stressful, and like I said, the bad guys are freaking nightmare fodder.

[KitsuneBae]

Yes. Another winner from one of my fav writers.

[Stephanie]

Gosh, this was good. It's what I want from every book with the synopsis of "a rag-tag group of space cadets", and it d e l i v e r s.

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

Obviously, with the huge (and "huge" probably isn't a strong enough word, let's be real) success of the Illuminae Files series, Jay & Aime's next book was destined to be at the top of everyone and their mom's reading lists. And look, I was cautiously optimistic? Optimistic enough to give it a try, clearly, cautious because Obsidio... well it was not my fave.

So, I am pleased to report that I definitely enjoyed Aurora Rising!! Let us talk about why:

• •The characters are incredible. I daresay I like them more than those of Illuminae. I felt a much stronger connection to them, and just plain cared more about them. I loved that they were (begrudgingly so, at first) such a cohesive team. Even when they didn't really want to be, they were loyal to the core. And they were all such different and unique personalities that it was pretty easy to differentiate, even with so many points of view.



• •Fine, so it low key reminded me of The 100. I'm not sorry, you know that will always be a plus for me. Especially Aurora, for reasons I won't explain (and not because of spoilers for this book, but spoilers for The 100 hah).



• •Space adventure! Obviously if you're picking this up, you're absolutely here for space adventure. And yes, it delivers. There is a ton of action and shenanigans.



• •It read super fast. I was shocked when I found out it was almost 500 pages! You'd seriously never guess, it didn't bore me, or drag, or lag. Good stuff.

Truly, the only thing that I have reservations about is the same thing that irked me about Obsidio- it felt kind of safe? I mean, maybe that is because of my aforementioned Obsidio bias, but I guess I just didn't feel a huge sense of doom, even given the dire situations the gang found themselves in. Regardless, it was worth it.

Bottom Line: Such an enjoyable and entertaining sci-fi adventure, complete with characters that I laughed with, and felt sympathy for.

[alisoninbookland]

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, no the formatting is not the same as the Illuminae Files. Each chapter is from the POV of one our 7 characters. At the end of some chapters, there is a “page” from some kind of manual (training manual perhaps?) that explains people/places/terms used in the chapter.

Wow, oh wow. The Illuminae Files are fantastic. They’re pretty close to perfection for me. I’ve been looking forward to Aurora Rising since I finished Obsidio last year. I was cautiously optimistic. Could Amie and Jay really write YA space odyssey that’s truly epic AGAIN? The answer is a resounding YES.

Epic space-ness is in full force with the story from page one. Botched space missions, Space academy, heist during a party underwater on a SPACESHIP, Government conspiracies, and so much sassy banter. UGH. Perfection. The story kept me on the edge of my seat and I truly hated to have to put the book down.

The characters had perfectly defined voices. You never had to wonder whose chapter you were reading. The ease of the diversity of the character was fabulous. It’s set several hundred years in the future. Of course, we’ve met aliens. Making part of the crew alien was a smart choice. I loved getting a bit of a glimpse of alien races. Finian (Betraskans) is bone white, long boned, and has a really complicated family tree. Kal (Syldrathi) is an olive skinned, violet eyed, member of a Warrior race. There’s never an info dump session. You simply get glimpses through conversation and how others view them.

Squad 312 worked together beautifully. Their camaraderie and annoyances with each other felt very natural. There’s some romantic tension but it really doesn’t get in the way. I’m actually pretty pleased with one of the pairings. It’s not who I would have put together but it works.

The bottom line? Another amazingly, epic space journey that’s a sure start to a new favorite series.

For more reviews and bookish adventures, stop by Alison In Bookland.