Illuminae


Kaufman, A. & Kristoff, J. (2015) Illuminae. New York, NY: Random House Children's Books. 

After a recent breakup, Kady and Ezra find themselves in the midst of a battle between defending Kerenza and surviving what could be the final assault of the evil mining corporation called BeiTech. BeiTech is bent on destroying any spaceship that comes against it, so it has destroyed all the escape wormholes and trapped all the escape ships. Kady loses her mom aboard the Copernicus, whose members are victims to a viral outbreak.  In the midst of reviving their romance, Ezra's whereabouts become a mystery and Kady begins to have somewhat of a romantic interlude with AIDEN, an artificial intelligence entity.  Kady continues to search for answers and to expose the horrors that BeiTech, which happens to be run by Ezra's lunatic mother, has done

This is begins a series surrounding BeiTech's attacks and those who rise against it.  Themes of loss, trust, and survival are present, along with the idea of artificial intelligence becoming more human-like.  The style in which this novel is written blends diagrams, dossier-style, classified documents, interview scripts, and screen shots to accompany texts. This format gives the novel a completely different feel and also blends several presentations.  The novel could be used to present debates on ethics, validating a rebellion, and cause and effect.

The following is a book trailer for Illuminae.


The second installment in The Illuminae Files is Gemina. Two new central characters will fight the next BeiTech assault.


Requirement: Best Fiction for Young Adults Quick Picks
Book cover images found on Amazon.com
Video by Megan Precourt published on June 23, 2016

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