A Thousand Diamonds: ILLUMINAE by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Illuminae 

by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

“you deserve every star in the galaxy laid out at your feet and a thousand diamonds in your hair. You deserve someone who’ll run with you as far and as fast as you want to. Holding your hand, not holding you back.” (232)

Told entirely through a compilation of interview transcripts, hacked emails and instant messages, journal entries, medical reports, and other documents, Illuminae tells the dramatic story of Kady and Ezra. They are residents of a small planet called Kerenza that is being illegally mined for precious hermium when BeiTech Industries initiates a war. It just so happens that this war begins right when Kady and Ezra break up. Three ships are nearby: the battle carrier Alexander, a research vessel called Hypatia, and a freighter named Copernicus. Artificial intelligence AIDAN is to blame when one of the ships is destroyed—yes, the residents of the ship were infected with Phobos, a mutagenic, manufactured bioweapon, but did AIDAN go rogue or is “he” trying to protect Kady?

As the remaining residents try to outrun incoming BeiTech warships in the hopes of reaching Heimdall, a hyperport, Kady and Ezra each battle others and themselves to save the Kerenza citizens from BeiTech, AIDAN, and Phobos. Kady is an exceptionally talented technology hacker, and when she “meets” AIDAN, she begins to realize the enormous sacrifice she must make to save the others.

It is difficult to fully realize characters through piecemeal chapters and snippets of correspondence, but Kaufman and Kristoff manage it beautifully. Oddly enough, my favorite character is probably AIDAN, just for “his” mostly calm rationales and glimpses of humanity mixed with an interesting mashup of villain and hero.

There is a lot going on in this book, and it takes a few “chapters” to become accustomed to all the names and ships and planets. The narrative devices are also jarring at first, but then after the first 50 or so pages, it becomes utterly intriguing. What this book lacks in a constant, in-depth point of view it triumphs with well-placed narrative and unceasing action. Can’t wait for the second book of this intended trilogy!

On an entirely superficial note, the book itself is gorgeous; while I purchased a copy for the library, I loved it so much I went ahead and bought one for my own collection.

If you love These Broken Stars, also by Amie Kaufman, and Beth Revis’s Across the Universe trilogy, then you will love Illuminae.

Destiny Is Not a Matter of Chance: ASH by Shani Petroff & Darci Manley

Ash

by Shani Petroff & Darci Manley

After the Event, in which seven billion people died, the survivors created a system to ensure nothing like that would happen again.  People are placed into what is essentially a caste or “ring” system, starting with the highest, most powerful Purples through the rainbow to the lowly Ashes.  As people are born, specialists extract their destinies, down to the day and time – and to maintain order, all must fulfill their destiny. Dax is a rarity, a Blank – one whose destiny could not be extracted, the lowliest of the low.  Madden is an elite Purple, being groomed to take over a position on the ruling board.  After Dax’s brothers commit the ultimate sacrifice in the name of breaking free from predetermined destinies, Dax and Madden are thrown together in a plot of intrigue, secrecy, and danger.

While many elements of the plot are left unexplained – for instance, how exactly does a specialist extract a destiny from a baby? – the action is never sparse in this newly-wrought science fiction novel by Petroff and Manley. 

VERDICT: For lovers of stories about rebelling against “the system,” like The Hunger Games and Divergent, the Destined series is bound to entertain and enthrall.

Note: I reviewed this book for School Library Journal.

Escape is Impossible: The Rig by Joe Ducie

The Rig 

by Joe Ducie

When Will Drake is sent to an oil-rig-turned-prison in the Arctic Ocean, he immediately cases the place for means of escape. He has escaped two previous prisons, and Will is determined to escape this ultimate challenge and leave behind the rigorous schedule and the ever-watchful Warden.

He gets more than he bargains for, though, when he accidentally discovers a top-secret experiment, Crystal-X, happening in the depths of the rig. With his newfound knowledge, he must decide between staying quiet and following through with plans of escape or whistle-blowing the entire operation – with plans of escape.

Overall, this book is marketed towards middle and high school students, which is appropriate. There is some cursing, but not as much as one would expect on a floating prison with the world’s worst criminals. While characterization could be stronger, as the reader peels away the layers of Drake he becomes more relatable and sympathetic. The whole “playing God in the basement” aspect of Crystal-X is a bit unbelievable, so just sit back, relax, and let the story lead you.

This would make a great movie, as long as it’s not directed by the people who butchered The Maze Runner. I also loved the idea of a floating prison and would immediately snap up any other books that decide to take on this premise. Amazing idea!

"They hungered for us" - IN THE AFTER by Demitria Lunetta

In the After

by Demitria Lunetta

“After They came, I did not leave my house for three weeks.  The broadcasts stopped after the first few days, but they were not helpful anyway.  They kept repeating the same things.  Aliens had landed, they were not friendly, half of the planet was dead.They were horrifyingly fast, traveling across the globe at an alarming pace.  They didn’t destroy buildings or attack our resources, like in so many crappy Hollywood movies.  They wanted us.  They hungered for us” (9).

 A large, unexplained object lands, hosting thousands of hungry, predatory “Them” that rapidly kill, eat, and take over every continent and city.  Amy is alone at home when it happens, and barricades herself inside, thanks to her father’s foresight.  When all becomes quiet, too quiet, Amy ventures outside the safe boundaries of her house to scavenge and find survivors.  She ends up rescuing a toddler, whom she calls “Baby,” and they live three years in silence, as “Them” are attracted to noise.

Eventually, Amy and Baby are rescued by an elite, organized force that resides in New Hope, a highly-regulated society of survivors.  Amy’s mother is the director and assures her daughter that the confining rules of New Hope are for the betterment of future mankind.  When Amy stumbles upon experiments involving the fearsome Them, she begins to realize her mother is not telling her everything.

In The After is a 2015 Lone Star-awarded book, and for good reason – the writing is smoothly-paced, the action has peaks and valleys, and the subject matter of the book is fascinating, albeit in a morbid way.  Those in the lower grades, like sixth and seventh, might not be the best audience for this gruesome subject matter and grotesque descriptions of Them eating people: “The creatures pounced, not bothering to kill their prey before feeding.  They ripped skin and flash from their victims, who screeched in agony” (14) and “They feed for a long time, eating every bit of their dead, their sharp teeth chewing through skin, muscle, and bone.  Their feeding noises sicken me, slurps with the occasional crunch” (68).  So, gird your iron stomach and go ahead and read this, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Hungry For Some New Dystopian Lit? -- HUNGRY by Swain

Hungry

by H.A. Swain

Swain’s near-futuristic dystopia Hungry explodes onto this well-trod genre with a fresh idea, tense plotting, and relatable characterization.  Fans of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Lois Lowry’s The Giver will flock to Swain’s story about a future in which Earth’s resources, ostensibly decimated by wars and superstorms, have vanished, along with any flora and fauna.  Mega-corporation One World swoops in to salvage the remaining humans from starvation by altering their DNA so that they no longer experience any pesky hunger pangs; One World also supplies all nutrition through a formula-like substance called Synthamil.  

In a world in which any type of food is illegal, young Thalia, daughter to One World scientists, begins to suffer inexplicable spasms in her abdomen.  Instead of being shipped off to a “specialist” to eradicate her natural hunger pangs, as was wont to happen, Thalia is determined to seek the truth behind the hunger and One World’s monopoly on food.  She teams up with a non-“privy,” Basil, who leads her further into the resistance movement than she would have thought possible.  Thalia is faced with a decision – do the easy thing or do the right thing, all while battling her genetic “mutation” that makes her mouth water and her stomach growl. 

From the Inner Loops to the Outer, to the Hinterlands and beyond, Thalia’s journey is fast-paced, scientifically-plausible, and scarily possible.  Swain completes a unique tour de force with Hungry, one that requires us to examine our current society, our place within invisible and sometimes all-too-visible hierarchies, and the moralities of genetic engineering.  

* Read this review and more in the May 7, 2014 edition of School Library Journal!

To Salvage The Savaged -- SALVAGE by Duncan

Salvage

by Alexandra Duncan

Ava is a seventeen-year-old girl born aboard a spaceship, the Parastrata; when she makes an understandable, yet regrettable, mistake, she is cast out by her patriarchal family to the unfamiliar and unforgiving Earth below.  With just her aptitude for “Fixes” and her spirit for survival, Ava must navigate through the Gyre, a floating wasteland of trash in the Pacific, to ultimately end up in Mumbai, where she searches for her modrie, her blood-aunt.  

Duncan delivers a finely-paced dystopian science fiction novel that relentlessly charges through the finer plot points, which may leave readers confused as to how exactly Earth resulted in a technologically-advanced wasteland.  Another small hiccup is the strange dialogue given to Parastrata’s inhabitants, and Ava, without explanation, which may be off-putting to slow and reluctant readers.  However, the strength of Ava’s character bears the story well through its 528 pages.    Fans of Beth Revis’s Across the Universe and Matched by Ally Condie will appreciate Duncan’s first dive into the genre.

"I Have Magic Hair That Glows When I Sing" - CRESS by Marissa Meyer

Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, Book Three)

by Marissa Meyer

So, I read Cress when it was published and wasn't impressed – I quickly gave up, probably due to book series exhaustion.  Given the opportunity to review Fairest, a kind of interlude between books three and four of The Lunar Chronicles, I came back and re-read Cress, and I’m so glad I did.  My second reading entranced me, and I began to realize what a master Meyer is at entwining all of the characters without losing plot-lines or world-building.

Cress is ensconced, against her will, in a satellite around Earth doing the bidding of Sybil, a power player in Queen Levana’s entourage.  She spends seven lonely years essentially spying on Earth and all its wonders, including the royal family and Kai.  Like the fairy tale, Cress has floor-length tresses and a sonorous singing voice.  As she sits at her screens and watches videos of the goings-on down below her, Cress begins to sympathize with the plight of Earthens; when presented with the opportunity to defect to their side, she takes it without hesitation.  

What follows is a fast-paced, well-written, and sometimes romantic journey through the Earth’s atmosphere, the Sahara, Europe, and back to the Moon.  Meyer is a master at committing to her details without losing the effect of the storytelling.  Scarlet is my least favorite character, probably because she is the only one of whom I cannot form a clear picture, and thankfully she was not featured that much in this particular book.  The ending of this novel leaves me wanting more, more, more Meyer.  And, if you haven’t read Fairest yet, you must!

This One Time at Prom, We Were Abducted By Aliens, You See... -- The Prom Goer's Interstellar Excursion

The Prom Goer's Interstellar Excursion

by Chris McCoy

Bennett thinks he has struck the jackpot when his long-time crush, Sophie, agrees to go to prom with him.  A few moments after she accepts, Sophie is abducted by horned, red-furred aliens traveling in a wagon-like UFO.  Bennett naturally wants his prom date back, and so he enlists the help of an extraterrestrial band visiting a local In-N-Out to follow Sophie around outer space.  As Bennett focuses on ensuring Sophie is not hunted down by fellow marooned humans in a Hungers Games-like park, he learns the truths behind the band members and their drive to become successful again.

If it sounds implausible, it unabashedly is, but McCoy creates a fun, amusing, and heart-warming story out of the impossibilities.  Witty and action-packed, the plot is boldly glazes over science-fiction details in favor of well-wrought characters.  You’ll root for Bennett to get the girl and even for crusty band member Skark to accomplish his dream of becoming better than the one billionth and sixteenth band in the universe.  The book’s ending, however, is a nicely-placed realistic surprise.

* Catch this review and more in the January 7, 2015 edition of School Library Journal!

Station Eleven by Emily Mandel: Gripping, Poignant, and All Too Realistic

Station Eleven

by Emily St. John Mandel

“The bright side of the planet moves toward darkness
And the cities are falling asleep, each in its hour,
And for me, now as then, it is too much.
There is too much world.”
 Czeslw Milosz, The Separate Notebooks

A very rare five-star review for this stellar, emotional, and frightening (in its literal capacity) book. In Mandel's capable hands, different threads of lives are woven in and around each other before and after a devastating epidemic of the flu. You not only learn about the people after the flu and how they survive, but before -- what made them quintessentially them. This type of book has a high rate of disaster, but Mandel weaves their lives flawlessly. 

It all begins, and ends, with Shakespeare – a famous actor reprises the role of King Lear for theatre audiences, only to suffer a heart attack on the stage.  Only a few hours later, a devastating flu-like epidemic begins to sweep the globe, killing off 99 percent of the population.

Some of Mandel’s sentences are a brain-full; for example: “Kirsten picked up a couple of mildewed binders to study the stickers and the Sharpie incantations—‘Lady Gaga iz da bomb, ‘Eva + Jason 4 evah,’ I <3 Chris,’ etc.—and on a cooler day she might have spent more time here, interested as always in any clue she could find about the lost world, but the air was foul and still, the heat unendurable, and when August emerged from the men’s room it was a relief to walk out into the sunlight, the breeze, and the chatter of crickets” (39% Kindle version).  While rather effusive, Mandel’s poetic prose flows naturally without becoming overly maudlin, even at the end of the world.

I was sad when I reached the end, for more reasons than one, but namely because it was the end of this immersive novel.

Of all the characters, Miranda is my favorite. She let life batter her around and only took charge at the end, but she was the most relatable.

Don’t let this book go unread.

Salvage by Alexandra Duncan

Published by Greenwillow, 2014

Ava is a seventeen-year-old girl born aboard a spaceship, the Parastrata; when she makes an understandable, yet regrettable, mistake, she is cast out by her patriarchal family to the unfamiliar and unforgiving Earth below.  With just her aptitude for “Fixes” and her spirit for survival, Ava must navigate through the Gyre, a floating wasteland of trash in the Pacific, to ultimately end up in Mumbai, where she searches for her modrie, her blood-aunt.   Duncan delivers a finely-paced dystopian science fiction novel that relentlessly charges through the finer plot points, which may leave readers confused as to how exactly Earth resulted in a technologically-advanced wasteland.  Another small hiccup is the strange dialogue given to Parastrata’s inhabitants, and Ava, without explanation, which may be off-putting to slow and reluctant readers.  However, the strength of Ava’s character bears the story well through its 528 pages.    Fans of Beth Revis’s Across the Universe and Matched by Ally Condie will appreciate Duncan’s first dive into the genre.