Illuminae is a very intimdating book by its apparence, let me start with that. The book has over 599 pages – so it’s massive – and in my case, it is harcovered, something that makes it look even bigger in my bookshelf.
However, once you start reading, you realize that 599 could easily be considered about 300 (maximum), because the book is a huge report on e-mail, IM conversation, radion interceptions, Artificial inteligence reports and everything else that could be used to tell the incredible story of Kady Grant and the attack on Kerenza colony. And regard of the size, although we are not reading a regular, the way Kaufman and Kristoff created an universe through these variety of documents is basically outstanding. Also, the characters are very much alive, including the Alexander’s artificial inteligence system, AIDAN.
In the story, we follow Kady Grant, a seventeen year old refugee aboard the Science vessel Hypatia, where she passes her time trying to the figure what other crew members are hiding and what has been going on inside the Alexander, the military ship scorting Hypatia. Both ships carry refugees from the Kerenza colony, a planet that was brutally anihilated by the company BeiTech. Kady contacts her former boyfriend, Ezra, who is inside the Alexandre, and along with him and a hacker, Byron Zhang, she discover the problems Alexander’s Ai has been facing and all the trouble they are about to go through, as BeiTech ship, Lincoln, chases them in the galaxy.
For those who enjoy an interesting reading and love a great storytelling, Illuminae is an excellent choice. All characters have a different and singular voice – for authors to pull that up can be very tricky.
Eventhough there is an companion novel to it, Gemina, Illuminae feels complete as it is. And please, don’t be like me and stare frightened to the 599 pages for six months, before having the courage to read it.