Line #35 Literature/TheIlluminaeFiles


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/illuminae.jpg]]
2	->''"Live a life worth dying for."''
3	-->--'''Kady Grant''', ''Obsidio''
4
5	A trilogy of ScienceFiction novels by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. The Illuminae Files are set up as [[ScrapbookStory a collection of documents about three major events in the plot]]. UnreliableNarrator is in full play here, as the majority of the documents are "video files narrated by an analyst," [[spoiler:who is later revealed to be one of the main characters.]]
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7	Our main characters are [[PlayfulHacker Kady Grant]], [[AcePilot Ezra Mason]], [[ActionGirl Hanna Donnelly]], [[TroubledButCute Nik Malikov]], [[GeniusCripple Ella]] [[HandicappedBadass Mali]][[TechnoWizard kova]], [[BadassNormal Asha Grant]], [[EvilFormerFriend Rhys]] [[HeelFaceTurn Lindstrom]], and [[AIIsACrapshoot AIDAN]]. Only Kady, Ezra and AIDAN appear in the first book, ''Illuminae''. Kady, Ezra, AIDAN, Hanna, Nik, and Ella are all in ''Gemina'', the second book, and for the finale book ''Obsidio'', everybody appears.
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9	The series chronicles the main characters' attempts to fight against [[MegaCorp BeiTech]], who attacked the main characters' homes of the [[SingleBiomePlanet ice world Kerenza]], and the [[OurWormholesAreDifferent jump station]] ''Heimdall''. Several parental units and supporting characters are killed, prompting the main characters’ need for [[YouKilledMyFather revenge]].
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11	Several of the characters are romantically involved, especially Ezra and Kady, who broke up during the attack on Kerenza only to get back together during the events of the first book.
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13	The series consists of three main novels and one prequel novella:
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15	* ''Illuminae'' (2015)
16	* ''Gemina'' (2016)
17	* ''Obsidio'' (2018)
18	** ''Memento'' (2020)
19
20	----
21	!!The Illuminae Files feature the following tropes:
22	* AbusiveParents:
23	** Ezra's mother, [[spoiler: [=BeiTech=]'s Director Frobisher]], was so abusive that he and his father fled to Kerenza IV to ensure she couldn't track them down, and Ezra and Kady broke up when he refused to travel off-planet for fear that she'd find him.
24	** Nik's father is heavily implied to be this; part of the reason Nik [[spoiler: plead guilty for a murder he didn't commit]] was because he decided prison was better than living under his father's heel. [[spoiler:After he was released, his uncle brought him to ''Hemidall'' to put as much distance between them as possible. A wise idea, considering the first thing Nik did when he saw his father again was [[TheDogBitesBack break his jaw.]]]]
25	* ActionGirl: Most obviously Hanna, but Kady and Asha both prove that they're far from helpless in a fight.
26	* AcePilot: Ezra, as well as several supporting characters with less screen time. Nik is implied to be one of these as well, as he pilots the ''Betty Boop'' easily on his first try.
27	* AerithAndBob: There's Kady and Rhys... and then Ella and Hanna.
28	* AmbiguouslyChristian: Captain Syra Boll. It is mentioned that she has a degree in theology, and she owns a Bible, but her actual religion is never stated.
29	* AnyoneCanDie: The authors are quite good at building up characters who will ultimately be killed off.
30	** In ''Illuminae,'' [[spoiler:Kady's mentor Byron Zhang, Charles Dorian, and Ezra's friends James [=McNulty=] and Mikael "Chatter" Carlin]] all meet their ends after receiving quite a bit of development. [[spoiler:AIDAN tells Kady that Ezra is dead toward the end of ''Illuminae,'' but it's later revealed that he made it safely to the ''Hypatia.'']]
31	** In ''Gemina,'' Nik is shot and dies in Hanna's arms [[spoiler: though it turns out the Nik who died was from an alternate universe]].
32	** Perhaps the best example comes from ''Obsidio.'' After improbably surviving for two and a half books, [[spoiler:Syra Boll is killed during a mutiny aboard the ''Mao'']].
33	** Kady invokes this in-universe. The report the Illuminae Group sent to [[spoiler:[[AbusiveParents Director Frobisher]] maintained that Ezra was dead to protect him from his mother.]]
34	** This is also implied in a subtle way. Towards the end of each book, there is a point at which the various documents are sent off such that the main characters don't need to survive in order to have told their stories.
35	** Subverted for [[spoiler:Kady and Hanna]]. The epilogues of ''Illuminae'' and ''Gemina'' respectively confirm they will make it to the end, but give no hints as to whether others made it out as well or they’re the {{Sole Survivor}}s.
36	* AMillionIsAStatistic: Averted. The Illuminae Group makes a point to list the name of every single individual who dies because of [=BeiTech=] in their reports, including [=BeiTech=] operatives who were [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness written off and summarily murdered]] as part of [=BeiTech=]’s cover-up. Notably, [=BeiTech=] officials who were actively trying to murder the Kerenza and ''Hemidall'' survivors to the very end, such as the crews of the ''Lincoln'' and the ''Churchill'', do not receive this courtesy.
37	* AttackItsWeakPoint: Rhys is able to kill 4 other [=BeiTech=] soldiers in full combat gear with just a pistol, due to being a technician and knowing the weak spots of their armor.
38	* ArmiesAreEvil: Although the story also focuses on showing their human side (Well, very few of them. Actually only one, Oshiro from Obsidio), the [=BeiTech=] soldiers are guilty of numerous war crimes, resorting to the defense that they are JustFollowingOrders or making excuses that their crimes are ultimately justified, because the colony was illegal. If they bother to make excuses at all, as most literally revel in their crimes.
39	** There is also a bit of this element with General Torrance and his increasingly totalitarian approach to running the fleet of escaping Kerenza refugees, resorting to conscripting literally anyone who has useful skills, [[spoiler: eventually doing so at gunpoint with fatal consequences.]] Though he is at least somewhat more justified by his desperate circumstances, being pursued by a superior enemy warship after having suffered massive damage and lost much of his original crew.
40	* BadassFamily: House of Knives are implied to be this, but we only really see Nik and Ella in action. [[spoiler: The rest suffer from TheWorfEffect, as they are no match for a [=BeiTech=] hit squad that they were not expecting to find there.]]
41	* BadassNormal:
42	** Asha Grant. Other people in the series are expert hackers, incredible pilots, or trained killers, and she's... A pharmaceutical tech turned nurse.
43	** Michelle Dennis, a relatively untrained computer programmer with no combat experience, arguably saves every single survivor on Kerenza and off of it by [[spoiler: shooting a [=BeiTech=] soldier before he can raise the alarm and stop Hanna's group from taking ''Magellan'']]. Not bad for someone whose only job was to plug in a memory stick.
44	* BattleDiscretionShot: In the small comic portion of ''Obsidio'', Hanna cuts out part of a battle "because of ratings."
45	* BettyAndVeronicaSwitch: Happens with Hanna’s two main love interests in the second book. At first it appears that Jackson is responsible and reliable, while Nik is a drug dealer from a crime family. Later on, [[spoiler: Jackson turns out to be TheMole for [=BeiTech=], while Nik proves himself to be heroic and sympathetic.]]
46	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Hanna (blonde), Ella (brunette), and Kady (naturally brunette, but dyed bright pink).
47	* BondOneLiner: One from Hanna, of the "snarky response to attempted PreMortemOneLiner" variety.
48	--> "You might only get one shot. So shoot. You know who said that? Hanna [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] Donnelly, that's who."
49	* BrickJoke: At the beginning of ''Gemina,'' Hanna teases Nik by claiming he might be handsome with a mustache. At the end of ''Obsidio,'' Nik has grown a mustache as part of his "disguise." Hanna decides she likes him better without it.
50	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot:
51	** Instead of attempting planetary genocide, [=BeiTech=] could have simply reported the illegal mining colony to UTA and watched as their competitors paid one fine after another. Kady lampshades this during her debriefing after the initial attack on Kerenza. Even [=BeiTech=] realizes this; the attack was considered a grave mistake and [=BeiTech=]'s director Taylor, who ordered it, was executed shortly after. However, [=BeiTech=] still attempted to cover everything up by trying to kill everyone even remotely involved, including their own people.
52	** In a similar fashion, most of the people aboard the ''Alexander'' might have survived if [[AIIsACrapshoot AIDAN]] had thought through the consequences of its decision before it [[spoiler:released the ''Copernicus'' survivors infected with Phobos from the hangar bay]]. Or if it had been straightforward with the ''Alexander's'' human commanders about why the survivors shouldn't have been brought aboard in the first place...
53	* ChekhovsGun:
54	** Nik's [[spoiler: parachute]] in ''Obsidio''
55	** Hanna's drug stash in ''Gemina''.
56	* ChekhovsGunman: The House of Knives. One group of members is introduced at the beginning of ''Gemina'', but most of them suffer from TheWorfEffect when they're ambushed by a [=BeiTech=] hit squad early in the book. [[spoiler:This comes back to bite [=BeiTech=] after the events of ''Obsidio'', when the survivors tell the House who murdered their group aboard ''Hemidall.'' The House of Knives avenges their murdered members by name-dropping the Illuminae Group in the right circles to get them hired as a clean-up crew by [=BeiTech=]. This enables the group's RevealingCoverUp, which sends [=BeiTech=] down in flames.]]
57	* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: In the first book, it's the ''Lincoln'' and the people who were infected by Phobos. In the second book, it's the lamina and the [=BeiTech=] team, and in the last book, the main villains are the people on ''Churchill'' and ''Magellan.''
58	* TheComputerIsYourFriend: AIDAN is programmed to "prioritize and protect" the human crew in its fleet above all else. When the Phobos infection overruns one of the ships in book 1, AIDAN "prioritizes" the others and "protects" them by nuking the infected ship and ordering fighter pilots to shoot down the escape pods. (They refuse, which, while noble, is [[TheExtremistWasRight very bad in the long run]].) It only gets worse from there--until this is ultimately subverted when [[spoiler: Kady successfully calls AIDAN's bluff on a threat to nuke the science ship if it tries to break off from the warship, knowing no amount of mental gymnastics could make that count as "protection"]]. Eventually [[spoiler: it willingly sacrifices most of itself. The fragments that survive later admit it took extreme and inhuman measures, but maintain that it was for the greater good.]]
59	* ContrastingSequelProtagonist: We see this with each of the major characters in all three books.
60	** In ''Gemina'', Hanna is an ActionGirl in contrast to Kady's truly brilliant PlayfulHacker. Nik likewise is a TroubledButCute organized crime member, in contrast to Ezra's conventionally heroic AcePilot. The two of them also lacked a real relationship before the events of the book, as Hanna was involved with Jackson, an officer on Heimdall, in contrast to Ezra and Kady's rocky love affair.
61	** In ''Obsidio'', Asha is a mere pharmaceutical tech turned nurse, who nonetheless becomes a resistance fighter. Rhys is a member of the [=BeiTech=] occupation force, stuck in a role he never intended. The two of them were also slightly older than the other four, being at least legal adults at the start of the series.
62	* CorporateConspiracy:
63	** The series kicks off with [=BeiTech=]'s [[{{Pun}} hostile takeover]] of WUC's illegal hermium mine on Kerenza IV, including wholesale slaughter of the Kerenza population. [[FromBadToWorse It gets worse]] — during the attack they also released an experimental pathogen that causes even more mass death after the evacuation.
64	** In Gemina, they're at it again, taking over the Heimdall jump station to prevent the Kerenza survivors from making it back to civilisation to testify against [=BeiTech=]. Murdering the station commander is only the beginning.
65	* DieHardOnAnX: In this case, on the jump station Heimdall.
66	* EarnYourHappyEnding: By the end of ''Obsidio,'' every single survivor from Kerenza and [[spoiler: ''Hemidall'']] has lost at least one loved one as a result of [=BeiTech=]'s actions, and every single main character has stared death in the face at least once. But, ultimately, [[spoiler:[=BeiTech=] is held accountable for the atrocities they've committed and the survivors are free to rebuild their lives]].
67	* EmptyPromise: Near the end of ''Obsidio,'' AIDAN agrees that it will not kill anyone (or let anyone die) without express orders from the ''Mao's'' captain in exchange for not being shut off. Both Kady and the captain are wary of this trope after AIDAN's previous actions, [[spoiler:but eventually agree. Then, during the final battle, AIDAN seizes control of the [=BeiTech=] dreadnought ''Churchill'' and sets it on a suicidal collision course with the defunct ''Kenyatta.'' When Kady reminds it of the promise it made, it replies, "ILied."]] Readers who picked up the AI's tell ([[spoiler: <ERROR>]]) would have seen that one coming.
68	* EvenEvilHasStandards: To an almost comical degree. [=BeiTech=] is ok with many "morally questionable" things, but apparently, having vulgar words in their reports is not one of them, as they requested vulgarities to be censored in the Illuminae report.
69	* EveryoneHasStandards: At one point in ''Gemina,'' Hanna strips to her underwear to [[ItMakesSenseInContext avoid being crushed by an elevator]]. The tech who transcribed the footage ([[spoiler:actually Nik]]) outright states that since said underwear was clearly for the benefit of her boyfriend, Jackson Merrick [[spoiler:(actually Sam Maginot, a.k.a. [=BeiTech=] agent Rapier)]], he will not describe it.
70	* FieldPromotion: By the end of the series, [[spoiler: literal kids]] wind up in charge because anyone more competent with rank has been killed off. Same goes with Rhys in Obsidio, as he had only been deployed to Kerenza IV after all technicians on the surface were killed by rebels there.
71	* FirstKiss: In ''Gemina'', Hanna and Nik [[spoiler: each end up kissing AlternateUniverse versions of the other who die soon after.]]
72	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
73	** Ezra makes an ASCII flower for Kady, and mentions he spent hours on it. [[spoiler: So when he supposedly constructs a perfect, gorgeous portrait of her while ''hiding in the vents from zombies''? That's one of the initial clues AIDAN has started impersonating him.]]
74	** In an After-Action Report (AAR) partway through ''Illuminae,'' Ezra reflects that the only difference between an AI and a human is the ability to lie, because what programmer in their right mind would let a machine do that? [[spoiler:We later find out that AIDAN has told a whole slew of lies, most notably pretending to be Ezra to lure Kady to the ''Alexander.'']]
75	** Early in ''Gemina,'' Hanna responds to Nik's flirting by telling him she'd still have plans to wash her hair if it was "the last Saturday before the destruction of the universe." [[spoiler:Two weeks later, they're facing exactly that.]]
76	** AIDAN gets <ERROR> messages all the time, but most notably [[spoiler:whenever it tells a lie]]. During ''Obsidio,'' it promises [[spoiler:not to kill anyone else without a direct order from the captain. <ERROR>]]
77	* HatePlague: The Phobos virus in ''Illuminae'' is a bioweapon [=BeiTech=] developed and used on Kerenza IV in its genocide of the colony. Initially it was meant only to make its victims compliant, but mutated into turning them into mindless killers driven by fear and hate. And unfortunately, the refugees aboard the ''Copernicus'' were infected...
78	* KickTheDog:
79	** Torrence orders the execution of several of his pilots for not wanting to help him cover up AIDAN destroying the ''Copernicus'' in ''Illuminae''.
80	** Falk [[spoiler:shoots the ''Heimdall's'' commander for answering his question right after the takeover]] in ''Gemina''.
81	** A [=BeiTech=] soldier named Marcino [[spoiler: shoots a little girl for stealing protein bars and not being registered]] in ''Obsidio''.
82	** [=BeiTech=] does it again when Rhys discovers [[spoiler:they've just been dumping the bodies of Kerenza IV citizens in mass graves, while being casually told that most people were slaughtered and the rest will be too.]]
83	* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Fighters and ships use railguns and missiles, while people usually carry a VK rifle and .50 pistol.
84	* MeaningfulName: The Norse god Heimdall controlled the Bifrost, leading to the Nine Worlds, and the jump gate ''Heimdall'' has seven waypoints.
85	* MindVirus: The Phobos virus in ''Illuminae.'' The original version attacked fear centers in the brain, temporarily giving victims symptoms similar to PTSD and rendering them unable to resist an invading force. Later, it mutates and begins eroding brain function, driving the infected irreversibly insane and turning them into [[TechnicallyLivingZombie Technically Living Zombies]].
86	* MoralityPet: One of the [=BeiTech=] ground commanders in ''Obsidio'' has several pets back on his homeworld, so when his soldiers take a liking to a stray cat, he looks the other way. [[spoiler:During the final battle, his last act is to throw a rock at the cat, scaring it away from an incoming missile.]]
87	* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
88	** [[ObstructiveBureaucrat General Torrence]] isn't winning any points for good ideas; some of his actions include executing two good pilots with a hostile warship on his tail and throwing computer techs in the brig when all hands are needed to wrangle AIDAN.
89	** AIDAN creates a far bigger problem than it solves by [[spoiler:releasing those afflicted by [[HatePlague Phobos]] from their quarantine]]. Even if said action did ultimately give it the means to stop the ''Lincoln'' once and for all.
90	** Later, the AI [[spoiler:releases carbon monixide and kills two thousand people to relieve strain on the refugees' critically overstretched resources]]. This is the catalyst for a mutiny that gets [[spoiler:[[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Syra Boll]]]] killed.
91	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: In ''Obsidio'', Rhys openly questions orders the soldiers were given (a.k.a genocide), attacks another soldier named Marcino for carrying them out and later reports him to his commanding officer, Jake Christie. Marcino simply laughs the attack and Rhys's YouMonster moment off, while Christie merely reprimands Rhys for "Snitching" and advises him to never do that again or be prepared to suffer terrible consequences. This turns out to be the final push Rhys needs to commit to [[HeelFaceTurn helping Asha and the Kerenza IV Resistance]].
92	* OurWormholesAreDifferent: In the Illuminae universe, wormholes are created by mobile jump gates, like ''Magnellan'' or ''Alexander'', or are surrounded by jump stations like ''Heimdall.''
93	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Those infected by Phobos certainly qualify as zombies.
94	* PlanetTerra: Goverment is called United Terran Authority (UTA) and people celebrate "Terra Day."
95	* PoorCommunicationKills:
96	** If AIDAN had ''explained'' its reasoning for shooting down the escape pods, and asked the human commander to give the kill order--well, things were already pretty screwed up by that point, but it certainly would have helped.
97	** In ''Obsidio,'' Syra Boll [[spoiler:is shot during a mutiny]] after she fails to take the complaints of a new crop of refugees [[spoiler:from the destroyed jump station ''Hemidall'']] seriously. To be fair, she had a lot on her plate at the time...
98	* PretentiousLatinMotto: ''Centrum Tenenda.'' Hold the center.
99	* RevealingCoverup: [[spoiler: This is invoked by the Illuminae Group; they get themselves hired as a clean-up crew for [=BeiTech=] to get access to the last few pieces of evidence they needed before reporting everything to the UTA. The first book, which shares its name with the group, is their initial report to [=Beitech=], while the second and third books include court transcripts as the contents of the files are entered into evidence.]]
100	* TheReveal: For most of the back half of ''Illuminae'', [[spoiler: it's not Ezra Kady's talking to, it's ''AIDAN''.]]
101	* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: In ''Illuminae'', Ezra undergoes a pysch eval as part of the UTA's conscription process. Not very impressed with the interviewer, he snarkily asks if the real psychologist died and he's talking to a medical intern or something. Given how many people [=BeiTech=] just killed? Yeah.
102	* SearchingTheStalls: In ''Gemina,'' a [=BeiTech=] soldier enters a bathroom, then spots Nik's jacket and starts looking for him. Nik shoots him in the head over the partition.
103	* SymbolicCastFadeout: In ''Gemina'', when a team of 24 mercenaries arrive at a space station to kill everyone on it the author displays a chart showing each mercenary's face, name, codename, and mission specialty. As the heroes gradually kill off the mercenaries the author periodically reshows the chart with all the dead mercenaries x-ed out.
104	* TechnicallyLivingZombie: Anyone infected with the mutated Phobos virus, referred to as the afflicted. They're reduced to psychotics who kill simply for the fun of it, don't appear to feel pain or fear, and are noted as possessing unnatural strength.
105	* TheStrategist: Hanna shows off her skill in this area, especially in Obsidio, in which the titular plan is mostly hers. This is what happens when a girl is raised on strategy games mixed with combat sims.
106	* UncertainDoom: After the destruction of the ''Copernicus'', Kady holds out the faint hope that her mother made it onto one of the handful of lifeboats that escaped to the ''Alexander'', which is one of her motivations for wanting to make it there. As the true nature of the Phobos virus becomes apparent, however, she decides she’d prefer to think of her mother as dead rather than alive and [[FateWorseThanDeath driven insane by the virus.]] [[spoiler:Subverted. Sharp-eyed readers will spot the name “Helena Grant” on the confirmed casualty list after the destruction of ''Copernicus''.]]
107	* WorkingWithTheEx:
108	** In ''Illuminae'', Kady dumped Ezra the day of the attack on Kerenza IV. They wind up working together to resolve the conflict.
109	** An even more stark example comes from Obsidio, in which Asha and Rhys's relationship ended with the two of them on opposite ends of the universe. Then Rhys comes to Kerenza IV as part of [=BeiTech's=] occupation force. [[spoiler:After seeing firsthand the horrors his fellow soldiers have perpetrated, Rhys performs a HeelFaceTurn and works with Asha to sabotage the invaders.]]
110	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Towards the end of Obsidio, Issac Grant writes messages to the kids. His message to Nik is this, saying that he is proud of the decisions he has made in spite of the world telling him otherwise.
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Context Literature / TheIlluminaeFiles