Illuminae - The Illuminae Files _01

Great ideas, interesting and believable characters, witty and relatable dialogue, all delivered in a unique way that really draws you into a fantastic world and a story that careens along at full speed from start to finish.

Illuminae is essentially a collection of recovered documents that describe a violent incident between two warring corporations in space. The story is set on a planet where a young couple, Kady and Ezra, have just broken up and suddenly find themselves being evacuated onto different spaceships and fleeing the area towards the nearest jump zone. The mining activities of one corporation have been attacked by the other, with the illegal nature of their operations preventing them from having any real recourse, and the attackers looking to finish the job by chasing and destroying the retreating surviving fleet.

It is made up of emails, dairy entries, internal communications and the thoughts of the on board A.I. Consideirng the mish mash of formats it is surprisingly easy to follow and it moves at a really good speed. I don’t normally read anything that revolves around a romance but this one does not feel contrived or false and more importantly there is no element of insta-love.

Through their time on different ships, they discover talents that might be applicable to to either helping or hindering their quest to get away. With a possibly mad A.I. onboard Kadys computer hacking skills come in handy and allow us an insight into the inner workings of the ship, whislt Ezra's talent behind the stick of a fighter plane gives us a first hand look at plenty of action and provides some of the higher stakes moments

There are some very well done twists and I felt like I saw the ending unfolding in front of me at exactly the right time.

All in all this was a really fun and enjoyable science fiction romp. I read it in three huge chunks and was always looking to pick it up when it was not in my hands. 4.5 stars