Illuminae (The Illuminae Files: 01) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2015

ISBN-13: 978-0553499117

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook, audio CD

Ezra thought his day had started out badly when his hacker girlfriend Kady dumped him,  but then invading warships from a competing megacorporation destroyed his home, an illegal mining colony on Kerenza IV. Two science ships, the Hypatia and the Copernicus, survived to take on refugees, as did a single warship that happened to be within distance of Kerenza’s SOS, the Alexander.  The Alexander managed to destroy three of the four attacking ships and severely wound the fourth– the ships escaped but were all badly damaged, and are now on the run from the remaining warship, the Lincoln. 

Trapped on separate ships, Ezra and Kady must find a way back to working together and trusting each other as they navigate around fellow colonists who have been infected by a bioweapon that turns them into violent, paranoid cannibals; collaborate with a paranoid AI too damaged to fight off a warship without help; convince station management that they are on the right track; and somehow, save each other and as many other colonists as they can.

The first half of the book feels like miltary science fiction, with some teenage angst in the mix, and an ever-increasing sense of dread… in the second half, the AI, resurrected after it was significantly damaged and deemed dangerous, takes over a chunk of the narrative, and it is terrifying.

The story is not a traditional narrative. Much of it is told through secret IM’s, letters, transcripts of recordings, emails, and company documents. It’s framed as the evidence supporting the secret attack on Kerenza IV, presented to the United Terran Authority by a mystery organization called the Illuminae, incriminating the company responsible.  There are also pages devoted to the thoughts of the AI, who seems to become more reflective as the story continues and it develops a relationship with Kady. The design of the book is incredible. It is worth picking up just to see how the words, illustrations, maps, diagrams, code, and backgrounds fit together. Pages look like you would expect them to if you were actually reading someone’s emails and documents, and pieces of the story that take place outside the ships are designed to tell the story not just in words but visually and actively through what I would describe as word paintings. There are even “countdown” pages that tell you how much time has passed and how much there is left before the Lincoln reaches the Alexander and attacks, creating a strong sense of urgency.

As long as it is, and as oddly as the narrative turns from the story focused mainly on Ezra and Kady and the human side of grief and disaster to Kady’s attempts to convert the paranoid AI from a course of violence against the people remaining in the fleet to using its power to save them from the Lincoln, this is a book I couldn’t put down. The emotions are intense, the settings are vivid, the terrors feel absolutely real. Although I found this in a middle school library, it certainly isn’t limited to the enjoyment of that audience– older teens and adults can also enjoy this book. Highly recommended.