Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff’s Obsidio is the final book in the Illuminae Files Trilogy.
Picking up immediately after the events of Gemina, the survivors of the Heimdall space station boarded a container ship known as the Mao. Nik, Ella, and Hanna escape the space station aboard the Betty Bop before meeting up with Kady and Ezra on the Hypatia. Realizing that the weary Hypatia can no longer carry them, all of the Kerenza IV survivors cram onto the Mao forcing a ship meant for 1,000 to carry more than 3,000. Oxygen and supplies are running dangerously low, forcing the Mao to head for Kerenza in the hopes of something salvageable, but at the projected rate, the oxygen may run out before they get there. Meanwhile, on Kerenza IV, some civilians managed to survive the initial assault by BeiTech. Oppressed by the BeiTech soldiers and forced to mine Hermium in order to refuel BeiTech ships, the colonists form a ragtag rebellion in the hopes of rescuing their families and freeing themselves from the soldiers.
This book has a huge cast of characters, all of which can be split into one of two groups: the Mao group and the Kerenza group.
The Mao group consists of many of our favorite characters plus of few new extras. Kady, Ezra, Nik, Ella, and Hanna all do a relatively good job of sharing the spotlight, all equally contributing to the narrative. While all of them have their individual struggles (that I will touch on later), they all face the same overarching challenge: lack of respect. Each character is a talented powerhouse in their own right, having already proved their competence in their previous books, however, many of the adults just see battle weary teenagers that should not involve themselves in any decision making. Despite their credentials, many of them face adults who refuse to show them the respect they deserve or hear the valid points and ideas these teenagers raise. The only person who escapes this is Kady as she is literally the only person with the skills and history to do her job.
In addition to the overarching conflicts, our couples have more personal issues to deal with. Kady and Ezra are an established couple who rely on each other from mental and emotional support. Having been involved with the plot the longest, the two are the most trusted of the teenagers and, therefore, are the most involved, adding on extra stress and concerns. Individually they provide a sense of leadership and groundedness for all of the Mao protagonists.
Meanwhile, Nik and Hanna are finally coming out of their high stakes, adrenaline filled situation. They must now come to terms with the events that occurred during Gemina and figure out the direction of their relationship while also finding ways to be involved on the Mao.
Consisting of entirely new characters, the other group at play is the Kerenza group. The main leads of this set of characters are BeiTech Engineer Rhys Lindstrom and Kerenza Nurse Asha Grant. Many other characters support and surround these two, enhancing the story and giving the leads more depth, however, they rarely get a voice.
Asha Grant is the beloved cousin of Kady Grant. In their time together, the two became best friends, almost sisters, but everything changed when BeiTech attacked. Now Asha works at a BeiTech occupied hospital, barely surviving the sadness around her. In the hopes of rescuing her loved ones captured by BeiTech and freeing the Kerenza colonists from their oppression, Asha joins a ragtag rebellion. Her hellish live was running smoothly until she sees her ex-boyfriend Rhys in a BeiTech uniform.
Rhys Lindstrom spent most of his time with the BeiTech engineers, repairing the ships damaged in the invasion. Repairs are nearly complete when he is called down to Kerenza in order to repair machinery. Once he arrives, he realizes the true horrors BeiTech has brought to the frozen mining planet.
Obsidio is a truly amazing finale to the high octane Illuminae Files. From book one, this series has provided nearly non-stop suspense and action as the plot barreled its way through obstacle after obstacle. In previous books, the plots were burdened by exposition and the establishment of a status quo before taking it away. However, the status quo has already been established in this third installment, so Obsidio can jump straight into the action without slowing down.
Like the previous books, Obsidio is full of suspense, death, and danger around every turn. This is only enhanced by two countdown clocks, preparing readers as the time ticks closer to confrontation. Each countdown clock is tied to one of the two tales weaving its way through the story and adds its own layer of tension each time it is shown.
Unfortunately, Obsidio is not well equipped to handle the two stories. Asha and Rhys’s story is an intense tale, full of new characters and deserving of a book all on its own. By the combining this tale with the Mao’s voyage, the new characters aren’t given adequate time to truly become multilayered people. There were simply too many new voices between the Mao group and the Kerenza group to effectively define the supporting cast, but all the perspectives did work to create a multi-layered in-depth understanding of the Kerenza attack.
However, one character that went through a lot of development was AIDAN. The psychotic AI responsible for murdering the passengers aboard the Alexander is also responsible for saving countless universes as her directed Nik and Hanna on how to fix the wormhole, leaving it in a gray area on whether to trust it or not. Over time, the AI has become more human and more relatable as it begins to take note of specific humans. Like in the previous books, AIDAN has a god-complex and can be a little too good at its job, but now it is slowly morphing into a broken but multifaceted character.
I give this 615 page book 5 stars.
The Illuminae Files
Told through a collection of hacked emails, video, and various other files, Illuminae tells the story of the survivors of the Battle of Kerezna. It tells the story of how survivors escaped the planet, how the were pursued by a BeiTech dreadnought, and how one girl fought