Book Review – ‘Obsidio’ (#3 Illuminae) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Hold on to your nickers!

Genre: Y/A, Science Fiction

No. of pages: 615

From Goodreads:

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they’ll find seven months after the invasion?

Meanwhile, Kady’s cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza’s ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha’s past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.

With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken.

This series is the coolest kid at school. It was everything I wanted an epic sci-fi novel to be. We get all of the characters back in a high stakes battle for survival. The first half is all about the build and moving the chess pieces around on the board. The second half is mind-blowing action, twist and turns. I felt like I was reading this in a wind tunnel. So much going on. I couldn’t put it down.

Though I enjoyed ‘Gemina,’ I missed Kady. But we get her back and all the crazy characters interacting with that same witty sarcasm I’ve come to love. It suited their dialogue, their age, and helped with the heavy tone of the trilogy. Because there is a lot of carnage. Not everyone survives and you never know what unexpected thing is going to happen next to take away someone you love.

Death is handled delicately. It’s balanced with humanity. Everyone is important, everyone has a back story. There are no unimportant characters. I frickin love this aspect about the Illuminae Files. And it shines brightly in ‘Obsidio,’ as the reasons for all those sacrifices takes the forefront.

I’m sad for this series to end because I absolutely loved my time reading ‘Illluminae,’ ‘Gemina,’ and ‘Obsidio.’  But I will definitely be re-reading this sometime in the near future.

Glad to hear Brad Pitt has optioned ‘Illuminae’ for development – it’s a movie I’m really excited to see come to the big screen.

The use of graphic as a part of the narrative is still something that enhances the story for me. It adds another element, like art, evoking even more emotions than you can get from words alone. The abstract formation of a mentally unstable A.I., to the handwritten notes passed secretly between characters.

I lost a little bit of my love for the series in ‘Gemina,’ new characters, a completely different setting, but ‘Obsidio’ manages to draw everything together and deliver what I was missing. And I am ecstatic about this book. It is one of my favorite sci-fi titles of all time! It has been so long since I was totally engrossed and compelled with a read in this genre. Hats off to Kaufman and Kristoff – you guys are geniuses.

The book is a brick though, my wrists ached from holding it up, and I’m uncertain if you’d get the same reading experience in ebook form because most of the graphics are a two page spread. But it would have made it much easier to read.

I’m not going to talk about individual characters because of spoilers – and this would turn into a 10 page essay. But in comparing the ones who survive to how they were at the start of the series, they have been shaped a little differently, grown up. But are still the teens we know them to be. I will say it didn’t feel like there was this massive transformation – only because it didn’t suit the narrative tone. And well, this isn’t one of those naval gazing types of books. It’s more about action and space wars, there is a hint of philosophy and inward soul gazing, and that’s all you needed for a YA series like this.

My only worry now is what to read next… and is it going to stack up to the glory of ‘Obsidio.’

Overall feeling: OHMYGODOHMYGOD!

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