Illuminae

Illuminae
AuthorAmie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction, Young Adult fiction, Fiction
PublisherKnopf Books for Young Readers
Publication date
October 20, 2015
Publication placeAustralia
Media typeBook
Pages608
AwardsPrime Minister's Literary Award, ABIA, Aurealis Award, Inky Award
ISBN978-0553499117
Followed byGemina, Obsidio 

Illuminae is a 2015 young adult[1] space opera epistolary novel written by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. This is the first novel of the three-book series The Illuminae Files.[2][3] The story is told through a series of documents; including classified reports, censored emails, camera transcriptions, and interviews, all of which were curated for a court case against the main antagonist company, BeiTech.[4] Illuminae is set in 2575 and is the collective story of teenage colonist Kady Grant and her boyfriend Ezra Mason, as they become refugees after becoming caught in a political crossfire.[5]

The series was acquired by Random House in a preempt in 2013.[6] The first book in the series was published in late October 2015. It debuted at #5 on the New York Times Best Seller List Young Adult Hardcover list,[7] and eventually reached the #2 spot.[8] Illuminae was nominated for the 2016 Prime Minister's Literary Award,[9] won the 2015 Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel,[10] the 2016 Gold Inky Award for best teen fiction,[11] and the 2016 Australian Book Industry Award Book of the Year for Older Children.[12]

The sequel, Gemina, debuted at #3 on the New York Times bestseller list[13] and won the 2016 Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction novel.[14]

The third book in the series, Obsidio, debuted at #6 on the New York Times children's series list,[15] as the #1 young adult bestseller in Australia,[16] and as a USA Today bestseller.[17]

An 82-page prequel novella, Memento, was released as a pre-order bonus in the United States for the authors' subsequent unrelated novel Aurora Rising.[18][19]

Synopsis

[edit]

An illegal heavy metals production plant and colony are taken under siege by a rival company, BeiTech. The two main protagonists of this book (Kady Grant and Ezra Mason) manage to escape from the planet, along with several thousand other refugees, but they are being pursued by a BeiTech warship. In an effort to survive, they have to deal with a biological weapon, a mentally unstable AI, and military coups, and Kady strives to find the true meaning of all of this.[20] The contents of this book reflect the story they have gathered in a case against BeiTech for crimes against humanity.

Film adaptation

[edit]

In November 2015, Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, and Warner Bros. bought the rights to Illuminae.[21][22] Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner are set to produce.[23] There has been no more information regarding the movie so far, and the IMDb listing is categorized as "In Development".[24]

Audio adaptation

[edit]

The audiobook Illuminae, produced for Penguin Random House, is an Audie Award Winner. It is a full cast audio adaptation rather than a narrated audiobook, and features a cast of twenty starring Olivia Taylor Dudley as Kady Grant, Lincoln Hoppe as AIDAN and Jonathan McCain as Ezra Mason. It has received 4.6 stars on Audible[25] and is 11 hours, 40 minutes long.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Feldman, Lucy (2015-12-08). "Best Books of 2015: Best of the Best-of Lists". WSJ. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  2. ^ Bell, Crystal (2015-09-21). "This Sci-Fi Space Adventure Will Be Your New YA Obsession". MTV News. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  3. ^ "Holiday romances are headed our way". USA TODAY. 2015-10-23. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  4. ^ "Bustle". Bustle. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  5. ^ Morris, Linda (2015-11-21). "Brad Pitt to turn Australian young adult thriller Illuminae into major Hollywood film". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
  6. ^ "Literary Giant". November 11, 2013.
  7. ^ "Young Adult Hardcover Books – Best Sellers – November 8, 2015 – The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  8. ^ "Young Adult Hardcover Books – Best Sellers – November 29, 2015 – The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  9. ^ "This year's winners and shortlist: 2016". www.arts.gov.au. Archived from the original on 2 March 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  10. ^ 2015 Aurealis winners
  11. ^ "Inky Awards winners". Archived from the original on 2018-02-06. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  12. ^ "ABIA awards (dead-url)". Archived from the original on 2016-09-04. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  13. ^ "Young Adult Hardcover Books – Best Sellers – Books – Nov. 6, 2016". The New York Times.
  14. ^ "Announcing the winners of the 2016 Aurealis Awards!". Aurealis Awards. 2017-04-14. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  15. ^ "Children's Series Books – Best Sellers – April 1, 2018 – The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  16. ^ "Jay Kristoff on Instagram: "In the past 20 days I have: – Visited 14 cities – Boarded 13 aircraft – Flown around 50,000kms – Signed countless books – Met thousands of…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  17. ^ "Obsidio". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  18. ^ "Aurora Rising Preorder Giveaway". amiekaufman.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-09. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  19. ^ "Aurora Rising Preorder Offer". jaykristoff.com. 2019-03-01. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  20. ^ "Illuminae". Amie Kaufman. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  21. ^ McNary, Dave (2015-11-20). "Brad Pitt, Warner Bros. Developing Sci-Fi Movie 'Illuminae'". Variety. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  22. ^ "Brad Pitt, Warner Bros Team to Adapt Sci-Fi YA Novel 'Illuminae' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  23. ^ "Brad Pitt, Warner Bros. Developing Sci-Fi Movie 'Illuminae'". Variety. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
  24. ^ Illuminae (Sci-Fi), retrieved 2023-09-21
  25. ^ Illuminae.
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