Illuminae

Spaceships and zombies and Computer AI, oh my! It's an epistolary space opera! My favorite read of 2017 (so far!). Loved the story - took me teeny bit to get into the characters, but once those were 'set' for me, I was hooked. I listened to this on in the car on vacation. Enjoyed it so much, I made excuses to get back in the car so I could listen to more of it. When it was finished, I shunted aside the three other audiobooks I'd downloaded for the trip and immediately ordered the second in the series (and wasn't disappointed).

I'll probably come back to this one and read it again in book form as the book format offers a fun visual experience as well. The audiobook format is done with a full cast and sound effects - it plays more like a show more radio production than audiobook, and it's very well done. I'll note with the audiobook (as with any book in that format) you are pulled through the story and don't really have a option of skipping over bits of the story - in this case that would be the illustrations and unusual formatting the printed book offers: I would suggest if reading the printed version - don't skip over these things - you'll miss out on key chunks of the story!

There are several film references within the book - if you want a richer reading experience you may want to watch The Princess Bride and 2001 before diving in (if you haven't seen them already). show less

FINALLY FINISHED!! This rollicking adventure was a blast from start to end. The most intriguing part, of course, was the unique formatting that heightens both the emotions and the stakes of the plot without seeming trite. The highlights for me, though, were the dynamic teen characters leading this thrilling story with humor & aplomb, as well as the unexpected dash of romance, philosophy & poetry woven beautifully within the climax.

Okay, so, full warning: I am absolutely not the right audience for this book. If you love YA SFF horror, this might be great for you. But I can only review based on the actual reader that I am: one who regrets reading this.

So, okay, first -- starts out like science fiction, becomes the kind of horror involving lots of gratuitous on-screen bloodshed and a high body count and eyes being gouged out and the brutal deaths of small children. (Amusingly, it does all this while carefully censoring every swear word, which is the kind of detail that either works for you or makes the whole thing look ridiculous. I was in the latter category.) I can handle the bloodshed. The child harm, though, I was very much not at all on board with. So, show more warning: if you don't like reading books about people crushing the life out of little children, this is not the story for you.

Second, the documentary style of the book. I love epistolary and documentary stories. I LOVE them. The fact that this story was told that way was at least half the reason I read this. But I just don't think it worked, is the thing. I kept mentally rewriting scenes in traditional narrative format, and it was obvious that they'd work better that way. I think the authors chose the documentary style partly to keep the reader in the moment, but -- it did not have that effect, at all. It took longer to get into the story (mostly because it's front-loaded with, like, spaceship specs, which I enjoyed reading, but they are totally irrelevant to the actual story). It took longer to warm up to the characters because they have less point of view time and you hear less of their voices. Because I was less engaged, I kept tripping over minor stuff. (Like, for example, the authors' use of current slang. It's the future! Far future! Slang changes!) This felt more like reading a filmscript than reading an actual book. That's not a good thing.

Third, the big reveal (or, really, sort of a two-part reveal). It was...not that big, or much of a reveal. If you make me wade through blood-covered docking bays, I expect more for it. (This reveal might work much better for YAs, though.)

Fourth, I couldn't help but feel like this future was a little shallow and incredibly heteronormative. The authors do make some nods toward the kind of diversity that is expressed entirely in last names (no cultural differences, and they didn't describe anyone because of the documentary format), but if there was even a HINT that the future isn't 100% straight, cis, and narrow, I missed it. (And, honestly, maybe I did while I was skimming past the bloodshed.) Given that a lot of this is about romance, pairing up, spouses, etc., that got brutally noticeable after a while.

So, in conclusion: this book is not for me on any level. If it sounds like the kind of thing you like, though, it might be for you. (And a quick note on format -- I read this on my iPad and kindle both. They did a good job translating the documents and such to the kindle, but unfortunately there are whole sections where it takes 30 seconds to turn a page because of image loading time. Read in hardcopy or on a tablet is my advice.) show less

When you read a 600 pg book in 1 day, you know it was good.

Written through IM, email, and classified reports, this book tells the story of Kady and her fight to save her ship (and maybe her very recently ex-boyfriend, if she can swing it). When her mining outpost is attacked by a competitor, only a few thousand people make it to the three ships fleeing for safety. Those ships head for the nearest location with a transport portal, more than six months away. They are stalked by the enemy, a well armed attack vessel. Throw in a twist with a rogue AI and a killer virus, and this makes for a great story.

I loved These Broken Stars, and this has that same feel to it. The uniqueness comes in the style it was written in, including the wonderful show more pages with the ships flying through space. It also includes schematics of the ship and the distance the characters have to travel in order to make it out alive. show less

"Illuminae" is an engaging, exciting, and fundamentally original Science Fiction Must-Read novel. Alternatively, it's a Must-Listen-To full-cast audiobook, which changes the novel into an engrossing radio play.

"Illuminae" is the story of an attack by a rival corporation on a rival's illegal mining colony the is interrupted by a navy warship and the aftermath, when thousands of survivors, crammed onto two civilian ships and the, now crippled, navy warship, make a month's long run for safety, pursued a Corporate Dreadnaught that is determined to eliminate all witnesses to the attack.

The story is presented as a series of reports, recording conversations and analysis security video footage with no prose binding them together. This may show more sound tedious but it's done with such skill and with such a clever structure that I believe the authors have produced a novel form that is fundamentally disruptive. It's like the leap from "Tristram Shandy" to "Pride and Prejudice" in terms of form. This is the bloom of an almost post-literate generation that has freed itself from linear text and the straight-jacket of grammar that keeps writing on the ground and has taken to swinging through the trees with the confidence of those who've grown up comfortable with Kanji/Emoli/Gif ideography.

"Illuminae" is categorised as a Young Adult novel, perhaps because two of the main characters are teenagers, but this makes it no more of soft, easy read than "Hunger Games". The action is graphic and sometimes deeply disturbing. The emotional impact is high but not immature. The portrayal of the damaged-but-trying AI is first-rate. There are strong edge-of-your-seat thriller aspects to this book. It kept me caring and guessing right to the end.

I was so engaged with "Illuminae" that I posted my reactions on booklikes.com as I went along (something goodreads.com doesn't give me the space to do. In the spirit of the novel form used in "Illuminas", I've included the unedited posts below to give you a flavour of my reading experience.

After those posts, you'll find an extract from the audiobook so you can hear for yourself what the performance is like.

"Illuminae" is the first book of a trilogy, so, if you like this, there's plenty more to come.

Source: Unedited Posts from Mike Finn's Booklikes account from the evening of 16th to early morning of 21st June 2018



Time: 6:15 pm 16 June 2018

Subject: Reading progress update: I've read 11%. and I'm worried about how sustainable this narrative approach is

This series received a lot of positive reviews in the press and social media so I picked it up even though I've never read either author

I'm now a little over an hour in.

The good news is that I'm listening to the audiobook which is an all cast production. The actors are good. The action and point of view shifts are plentiful. The unknown but suspected falls across the plot like an early morning shadow.

The conceit of the book is that the story is told through a series of files, reports and emails compiled by a covert agency and delivered to an as-yet-unnamed client.

In this regard, it reminds me of "Sleeping Giants"

My worry is that I ran out of patience for the radio-play with stage instructions read out loud narrative technique of "Sleeping Giants" after about four hours. The book was six hours long.

"Illuminae" is more than eleven hours long and is book one of a trilogy.

I'm hoping for something clever and engaging that fills the gap left by all the stuff in a novel that isn't dialogue.

Date: 11:10 am 18 June 2018

Subject: Reading progress update: I've read 37%. - OK - so the format works if I take it an hour or so at a time

I'm more than four hours into this eleven-hour novel, which, in the audiobook version, is a full cast production.

When "Sleeping Giants" was presented in the same way, I'd lost patience with it by the four-hour mark.

This time, I'm enjoying myself.

I put the difference down to the quality of the writing - the characterisation and the emotion in the dialogue / first-person reports are excellent - I found the report on a Marine SNAFU assault quite moving for example.

There is also a nice balance between a more personal relationship between the two teen protagonists and the more role-driven interactions between the captains of the military and civilian scientific ship.

I find it difficult to listen for more than an hour at a time, but I think that has more to do with the quiet desperation of the story than to the format.

Date 6:45 pm 19 June 2018

Subject: Reading progress update: I've read 54%.just met the AI and...

WOW

No other word for it.

Six hours into something good and suddenly a switch is flipped and I'm six hours into something great.



Date 10:52 am 20 June 2018

Reading progress update: I've read 74%. - I've been here before except I REALLY haven't

I'm rationing this book now as I have real life things that I need to do today. So much for, "I' can only take one hour at a time".

Right now I'm at a part that ought to be making me yawn. I've seen all the "Resident Evil" movies (now there's a confession). I know all about having a kick-ass heroine shoot her way through rabid used-to-be-people killers in a confined space with alarms sounding in the background, red warning lights flashing and severed high-voltage powerlines arcing.

I've so been there,

But never like this.

Never with a smart brave heroine who cannot bring herself to kill.

Never with rabid used-to-be people that I feel deeply sorry for.

Never with an understanding that, when this isn't a first-person shooter game but an atrocity in which everyone is the victim, that winning isn't possible because surviving can cost too much.

Never with so much damned intensity and not a single line of prose.

In my work life, there's a lot of focus on disruption as something that changes the rules in commerce, opening up new opportunities and challenging established ways of working.

The structure of this novel is fundamentally disruptive. It's like the leap from "Tristram Shandy" to "Pride and Prejudice" in terms of form. This is the bloom of an almost post-literate generation that has freed itself from linear text and the straight-jacket of grammar that keeps writing on the ground and has taken to swinging through the trees with the confidence of those who've grown up comfortable with Kanji/Emoli/Gif ideography. To an old guy like me, it's astonishing and wonderful.



Date: 12:51 am 21 June 2018

Subject: Reading progress 100% - wonderful to the very last page

So much for rationing myself. I got my real-world tasks done and then sat on my balcony in the growing dark, listening until nearly midnight.

What a ride. So much emotion. Such a cleverly constructed plot that never felt contrived but continued to surprise and delight.

I'll write a review when the book has had time to settle.

Right now, I'm clear on three things: the audiobook format for this book is a great choice, I have two new authors to follow. I'm so glad the next book has already been published.

Extract from Audiobook version of "Illuminae"

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/263791539" params="color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true" width="100%" height="300" iframe="true" /] show less

I am absolutely floored and astounded by this book. I’ve never read anything like it. It’s like the re-boot of “Battlestar Galactica” meets “Serenity,” told from chat logs and security vids and the musing and ramblings of one of the most interesting AIs since HAL. It’s a graphic designer and Arthur C. Clarke’s love child.

Okay, so, I enjoyed reading this and everything, but the young adult tropes were just egregious. The heroine, Kady (notice she's too unique to spell her name with a t), is so amazing that not only does every man who meet her fall in love with her—as is only to be expected in a dystopian young adult novel—but so do all-knowing shipboard AIs. And it's just incredibly laughable that neither of these two crazy kids flipping die! At the end I wasn't happy and breathing a sigh of relief, I was scoffing and rolling my eyes.