about the book
The story begins at the edge of a galaxy in a remote frigid asteroid belt on icy Kerenza IV. The year is 2575 and for more than two decades, the mega Wallace/Ulyanov Consortium has been secretly mining rare herium on Kerenza. For the workers and their families, it is a harsh life.
When the illegal operation is discovered by rival BeiTech Industries, they don’t alert the United Terran Authority (UTA), opting instead to covertly capture the profitable mining operation for themselves. The colony is caught off guard, and most of the people are massacred.
Teens Kady Grant and Ezra Mason thought their break-up hours earlier was messy until they frantically have to dodge missile blasts, toppling buildings, and armed soldiers. Now they just hope to escape their ruined world on one of the last three ships. Ezra finds refuge on the battle carrier Alexander; Kady barely makes it onto the freighter Copernicus; and her pathologist mother ends up on the science vessel, Hypatia. Just over 5000 souls survive the attack.
Since the three vessels are too damaged to make a gate jump, they head toward the nearest manned planet, a six-month journey—all the while chased by BeiTech’s deadly dreadnaught. If caught, no one will survive. While Kady purposely flunks tests to escape being drafted, heartsore Ezra gladly takes on fighter pilot training. A crafty hacker, Kady makes startling discoveries concerning the health of the survivors and the viability of the Alexander’s Artificial Intelligence Defense Analytics Network (AIDAN).
The three ships have lost their leaders and those in charge are not being honest with the survivors. The estimate for survival is scary low. Before boarding the ships, a few were exposed to BeiTech’s germ warfare, a virulent mutating Phobos virus which causes the infected to turn into violent, murderous creatures. With everyone trapped on the ships, the virus is spreading fast. AIDAN’s prime directive is to protect the ship but instead it seems to have gone rogue.
Kady is the only one who knows the truth. Not only does she have to save herself, Ezra, and her mom, she has to get the Illuminae Files, documentation of the terrible Kerenza attack, to the UTA. It may not be possible—the estimated survival rate is dropping fast.
about the author
Amie Kaufman was raised in Australia and Ireland. One of her homes was just a block from the library, which she frequented regularly. Not surprisingly, she and her sister spent their summers re-creating their favorite books: roughing it in the backyard, treasure mapping their neighborhood, and “sailing” local seas.
She didn’t study writing in college. Instead, she earned honor degrees in history, literature, law, and conflict resolution. She did write a lot though—history papers about amazing emigrant Irish women; English lit papers about Shakespeare and the James Bond girls; law papers about human rights and stampeding elephants; and papers about different types of mediation.
Amie has won a slew of awards, is a New York Times bestselling author, and has been published in 24 countries. She co-authored her first series, The Starbound Trilogy, with North Carolina author Meagan Spooner, a close friend, ex-flatmate, and travel companion.
Amie’s series, Illuminae, is co-authored with Jay Kristoff. Both Melbourne residents, Amie approached Jay to ask for help with baffling US tax forms, since he was a published American author. One meeting led to another and pretty soon they were tossing around email ideas for a story they might like to write together. They divided the work along character lines but then constantly re-wrote sections until it was hard to tell who wrote what. It took them over two years to complete the first book in the Illuminae series.
Amie writes whenever she can, in both short bursts and long intense sessions. She says she’s merely glad to find time to write. When she isn’t writing or working as a mediator, she eats a lot. Her husband is an excellent cook and she is a dedicated taste tester. She lives on a Melbourne beach with her hubby, their quirky rescue dog Jack, and their incredibly large personal library of books.
Sources:
Author website
Author biography: Starbound Wikia
Author interview: Random House
Book trailer: Illuminae
Also by Amie Kaufman:
Gemina (Illuminae Files, Book 2) with Jay Kristoff. Knopf Books for Young Readers. 2016.
Their Fractured Light (Starbound, Book 3) with Meagan Spooner. Hyperion Press. 2015.
This Shattered World (Starbound, Book 2) with Meagan Spooner. Hyperion Press. 2014.
These Broken Stars (Starbound, Book 1) with Meagan Spooner. Hyperion Press. 2013.
about the author
Jay Kristoff was born in Perth, Australia, in 1973, stands six-foot seven-inches tall, is majorly into shenanigans and tomfoolery. (He claims to be a tragic nerd.) He thinks he has tricked the world into believing he is an author just because he wrote an award-winning Japanese steampunk series, The Lotus War, and co-wrote the New York Times’ bestseller Illuminae with Amie Kaufman.
Jay graduated from college with an arts degree and has worked for eleven years as an art director in creative advertising for television. He is currently a marketing administrator. In order to find writing time, Jay reserves a meeting room at work and writes during his lunch break. On a good day, he’ll pound out 1000 words. On a bad day, he’ll fall asleep on his laptop. Thankfully, he doesn’t drool. When the Melbourne writer gets home in the evening, he walks his lazy Jack Russell terrier Samwise, eats dinner, watches the tellie with his bride, then writes until one or two in the morning. (That explains why he falls asleep during lunch.)
When not working or writing, he’s an introverted stereotypical nerd who is into everything Dungeons and Dragons, video games, collectable card games, and comics. Nobody messes with this nerd. Even little old ladies are frightened when this hulking giant saunters by. They don’t need to be scared, he’s really a nice dude.
Sources:
Author website
Author biography and review: Fantasy Book Critic
Author biography: Amazon
Author interview: Dark Matter Vine
Also by Jay Kristoff:
Gemina (Illuminae Files, Book 2) with Amie Kaufman. Knopf Books for Young Readers. 2016.
Endsinger (Lotus War, Book 3). Thomas Dunne Books. 2014.
Kinslayer (Lotus War, Book 2). Thomas Dunne Books. 2013.
Stormdancer (Lotus War, Book 1). Thomas Dunne Books. 2012.
read more!
Gemina (Illuminae Files, Book 2) by Aimee Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
The Hypatia finally makes it to the Heimdall space station—the only surviving aircraft with news and proof of the deadly attack on Kerenza. But the survivors don’t have much time. The Bei-Tek strike team isn’t far behind and they plan to destroy Heimdall and any chance of news of their massacre getting out. Hanna, Nik, and Ella are quickly thrust into the impending confrontation as they work to save Heimdall and preserve the evidence.
Stormdancer (Lotus War, Book 1) by Jay Kristoff
The Shima Imperium has nearly destroyed its own island, once filled with exotic creatures. With its industrial pollution, the Lotus Guild is encroaching on the land, and the decadent Shogun is starving his own people. The Shogun has tasked his imperial hunters to bring him a thunder tiger, an extinct ancient creature that is half-tiger, half-eagle. Yukiko, the daughter of the Fox clan’s hunter, has a secret talent that can lead her to a living thunder tiger—a creature that would much rather see her dead.
These Broken Stars (Starbound, Book 1) by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
When their luxury spaceliner is ejected out of hyperspace and plummets to a nearby deserted planet, Major Tarver Merendsen rushes Lilac LaRoux, the pampered daughter of the universe’s richest man, to the nearest escape pod. After landing, they are at odds from the get go, but quickly learn that they must work together if they want to survive the inhospitable planet. Turns out they are not alone. There is other sentient life…the deadly kind.