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
Illuminae is a unique take on the sci-fi space genre, that went right past interesting into addicting and consuming!
I was a bit hesitant about Illuminae. I knew I wanted to read it, but I wasn’t sure what to expect when everyone spoke of the different layout of the story but it turned out to be one of the most of visually appealing books outside of children’s picture books that I’ve read in recent years. Our story is told through a series of ‘documents’ like instant messenger chats, emails, computer logs, and debriefs. So instead of getting an up close and personal view of the action we see everything unfold through a secondary play by play. While it does put some distance between the reader and the character, I really loved the format. Some of the pages were far more powerful because of the images and the way the words we displayed, and it’s really amazing how much of the story you can glean from a simple pictograph.
Our main characters have three very different roles within the fleet that is fleeing a warship. Kady, is a bit of a technological genius who doesn’t like being kept in the dark and begins her hacking into the databases of the fleet to find out the truth. I really love her sarcasm and attitude, any character who sasses their way through a crisis is a kindred spirit. Then there is Ezra, Kady’s former boyfriend, who is the opposite of her but wholly devoted despite their falling out. He takes on the roles of a pilot, on a different ship in the fleet. I really love the email interactions between these two, because even though they are limited to contact purely in text form they really have a nice dynamic Then there is AIDAN, the AI on the ship Alexander…and probably my favorite character and the only one you really get to be inside the ‘mind’ of. Ever since HAL came to the screen, we’ve had an obsession with AI taking things into their own ‘hands’ and AIDAN is no exception to that. I loved getting to see it’s self awareness grow and just what happens to an AI that discovers it’s capable of independent thought.
Illuminae is a thrill ride from beginning to end, with a ton of different twists that I wasn’t expecting and and ending that has me ready for the second in the series. I have so many questions!
Reading updates
-
Started reading
-
20 November, 2015:
Finished reading
-
20 November, 2015:
Reviewed