Official Synopsis 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.
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Setting: Space, sometime in the future
My Copy Came From: I borrowed this from my local library.
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Review: I’m sorry to see this series end, as it introduced me to one of the most fascinating characters I’ve read in quite some time! Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, is the last book in The Illuminae Files, a science fiction / young adult series set in space. It’s told in a different format, in that it uses video surveillance footage (and someone’s transcription of that footage), instant messages, pictures, swirly shapes, black pages with white text, and various other ways to tell the story. The different format felt more toned down in this installment. I didn’t understand what was going on half the time, but that doesn’t matter. The format lends itself to a quick read where you really don’t need to know what’s happening. It moves so quickly that you’re soon involved in the next scene.
Along with Kady and Ezra from book one, Illuminae, and Hanna and Nik from book two, Gemina, we meet Kady’s cousin, Asha, and her love interest, Rhys. Neither Asha nor Rhys was terribly exciting, and I found myself skimming over their sections. I thought most of the characters were too melodramatic, and could’ve done without all the bad language.
The star of this book, and the entire series, is AIDAN, an artificial intelligence who is anything but boring and bland. He steals the show here, with his villain/hero persona; one where you were never quite sure what he was going to do. He’s one of the best characters I’ve read in quite some time, and I love how his story was handled here. It’s hard to imagine that an artificial intelligence can work it’s way into your heart, but he most certainly does, and in a big way. He is far and away the best thing about these books.
All in all, Obsidio is a good, satisfying conclusion to a fun series. I’d definitely recommend this series to those who enjoy reading fast-paced science fiction and those who enjoy books told in different formats.
Bottom Line: A satisfying conclusion to The Illuminae Files. AIDAN steals the show once again!
Obsidio: Amazon Goodreads
Illuminae (Book One): Amazon Goodreads My Review
Gemina (Book Two): Amazon Goodreads My Review
luvtoread 
I love this series. It’s so hard to pick a favorite character. Probably Ella with Nik a close second.
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OOh – great choices! I love those two characters!
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I really loved most of the main characters in each book. I even loved Aiden.
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He’s my favorite 🙂 I really love him!
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So agree about AIDAN! And this is definitely a satisfying conclusion! Great review!
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Thank you! AIDAN is such a great character! I love him!
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You’re welcome! I agree!!
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If you like books that have the multi-media approach to storytelling, you should check out House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski or VAS: An Opera in Flatland by Steve Tomasula. House of Leaves is much more popular, but I think Tomasula’s book is an outstanding look at the connection between sterilizing “undesirables” throughout history and the modern decision to get a vasectomy.
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Thank you for the recommendations! I think you’ve mentioned House of Leaves before; it sounds familiar! They both sound fascinating 🙂
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House of Leaves is a famous experimental book, one that you could walk into a Barnes and Noble and purchase. That’s uncommon!
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