Illuminae (The Illuminae Files # 1)

Ariel and I chose Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff for our March 2020 buddy read. Since this is the first book of the trilogy, we are diving into book 2 (and maybe even book 3) for April. We hope you enjoy this discussion for this popular science fiction series, which is written in this fascinating format (you’ll find we tried to be a little bit creative too). Since this a 600 page book, our discussion is divided into 3 parts, covering approximately 200 pages each. Ariel’s comments and notes are in bold-italics.

Let’s start off with the synopsis!

Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the worst thing she’d ever been through. That was before her planet was invaded. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating craft, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But the warship could be the least of their problems. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their biggest threat; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady plunges into a web of data hacking to get to the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: Ezra.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents–including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more–Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

Content Notes: Some graphic descriptions of violence, grief of a loved one.

Why we wanted to read Illuminae

I’ve heard a lot about this book, and so many of my Goodreads followers have reviewed, rated, or added it to their TBR! Since Kriti suggested we read it, I figured it was a good time to dive into it and see what it’s all about. The Sci-Fi elements are probably what’s most attractive about this book for sure. Trying out the first in a series is a really good way to see if I’m hooked enough to continue with the series. I don’t have any expectations positive or negative, so here we go!

I’ll be completely honest – I wanted to pick up this book because like you Ariel, I know many people who have loved it. I know it has a super cool format with chat scripts, redacted documents and other forms of communication – that is all I needed to want to pick up this book. Have I read the synopsis? Only recently after buying the book! I love science fiction and space operas so this should be new and old at the same time. And it’s YA and you know my quest to find good YA there.

Discussion Part 1

Since our formats are different and I don’t have page numbers, we’re basing our discussion off of plot movement. The end of the first part of the book ends with James, Ezra’s friend, dying trying to save people. This first part of the book goes from a light-hearted sci-fi thriller to a sci-fi horror where characters suddenly find themselves in stressful unknowns and survival chance is low. The format took a bit for me to get used to and get accustomed to the world this story is in, but I’m really enjoying it so far and I can already see myself enjoying the subsequent books in the series. 

I agree with you there, Ariel, this book has gone from thriller to horror with a pandemic lurking around there. This and the other book that I am reading (Salvaged) are a whole side of science fiction space opera that I have not read before. The format of Illuminae is like a big puzzle, finding different points of views of the same events, from Kady who is a very smart teenager, a refugee from the Keneza attack, all the way to the captain of the battleship Alexander himself. I am quite enjoying reading the physical book and it is interesting because I have page numbers and our 33% progress does not align. 

There were four pages where they were mentioning the casualties from Copernicus and you know the rabbit hole I went into to find two people who looked the same. I was adamant! I am also creating a timeline that I plan to graph once we are done reading this book. This is an adventure on so many levels. 

Discussion Part 2

This second part has been so jam packed with action. It is expected that artificial intelligence plays an integral role in space exploration and navigation but this  whole other angle that I had not expected to examine in so much detail. There is no minute to sit and think in this book – I feel things get better and then they don’t. If I wasn’t reading other books alongside this one, I would just read this in one sitting. Do you think that is something we should try for one of the other books in the series? Make it a weekend read and read nothing else?

Oooo that’s a good idea! Like we said earlier today, it’s so hard to determine where this story will take us. We are 2/3rds of the way through the book and I have no idea what will happen in the last third!

Ariel, when we were chatting about this book on our video chat, you said how interactive this book is.

everything is so well thought out! It adds a lot to the experience, and I wondered how the audiobook experience will be different. Another of our experiments for later.

Coming back to the storyline, what are you enjoying the most about the characters? Personally, I am loving AIDAN and his insights about humanity. As a computer scientist who works with data and has studied AI and the ethics around it, this is a live demonstration of a lot of things we talk about in scientific circles. Also, Kady… wow! I am no hacker and she is a brilliant one. I am trying really hard not to analyze every move she is making (what is she doing on her tablet? How is she tapping into all these channels?) because I do not know though maybe one day I will learn haha.

AIDAN Is a really good component to the story.

I am really enjoying that. Kady is amazing and a really awesome character in general. Her motivations surrounding her mom and her regrets with Ezra… all very well done. I’m very much enjoying this adventure 🙂

Discussion Part 3

That ending!!!! Mind officially blown. Not going to spoil anything but it’s definitely worth sticking around and sets up a lot of fun and exciting options for book two 🙂

I agree! I like that it gave a hint about all that is coming. A chapter is definitely over and we kind of have a face to the villain now.

General Discussion
(whole book)

What are our general thoughts of having to adjust to reading a uniquely-formatted book in different formats? (Kriti – Physical vs. Ariel – ebook)

For me, sometimes the ebook was less helpful because it was not as easy to flip back to a previous image that might have been useful to refer back to when a certain plot twist was revealed, or if I wanted to flip back to a ship blueprint. But overall, the unique format of the book was really engaging and enjoyable and I really appreciated it. I’m really glad we decided to do an audiobook experience for no. 2, I think it’ll be really unique!

I liked the physical format a lot! There were parts where I think the ebook probably would have worked better to magnify some of the small text. The use of images and text was quite artistic and I loved how Kady’s journey outside the spaceship was portrayed.

I am quite curious to compare the physical book to the audiobook next.

Are you going to be listening to Gemina or reading, Ariel?

Audiobook, just listening! 🙂

Well we will be able to compare our experiences of that for the next one! I’m going to be trying both and be slow because the last time I tried audio+book I was constantly stopping to mark things.

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That’s all for our discussion! You know we love describing our reading experience to you! Here is a summary of our read:

Interested in reading Illuminae and adding to our discussion? Find it on all retail stores. Here are the Amazon links for your convenience.
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
Or find it at your local library!

Cover Photo by NASA on Unsplash