Memento

“I remember you telling me when I was younger that a man without a library is a man without romance in his soul.”

“I understand now that the idea of unconditional “wrong” is flawed. To acknowledge life’s complexity, one must acknowledge the subjectivity of morality, and know that all manner of atrocity might be justifiable if done for the greater good.”

(Illuminae 0.5) Memento by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Audiobook Narrator: List of Links below...

LINKS to get the book: via Goodreads

My Rating:

An important note on Review spoilers. Back button to return here.

Recommended 4 star Science Fiction prequel novella to the Illuminae Files series. This book is largely about a new engineer, Olivia Klein being posted to the UTA Battlecarrier Alexander just weeks before the beginning of the Illuminae files. It's largely about the interaction between the Artificial Intelligence Defense Analytics Network (AIDAN) and this newly assigned engineer. The theme and most content give us some reflection on how and why her replies to AIDAN's inquiries later leads us into the the Illuminae Trilogy.

Generally:
It's an interesting novella.

My Notable Notes:
Olivia... our protagonist in this novella, so reminds me of myself and so many young impressionable people anxious to begin their lives, always thinking they are doing well when in fact they are not thinking at all. Even worse, as is too often the case, the best intentions inevitably lead to the worst possible unintended consequences.

Likes and Dislikes:
While the twists weren't particularly notable there was at least one that caught me off guard. I'm always pleased when an author catches me not paying very close attention.

The Technical:
About the writing critique? Critique of the team that has put together the Illuminae books is beyond my skill level. I could find some common author trick to mention, or explain how doing this (foreshadow, break to boring description) or that manipulates the reader's experience... with any work, but this series is just about the best work I've seen in publishing. I'll just say, wow, you're in good hands with this publishing team.

Conclusion:
It's worth reading. I'm happy I waiting until after I completed the Trilogy before reading it as it is a short novella and barely leads you into contemplating some of the complications that occur during the next three novels. I doubt reading this "prequel" will spoil anything further into the series, but not knowing anything in this prequel will diminish your Illuminae Trilogy experience.

Read on: January 30, 2021
More about me here and here.
View all my Goodreads reviews
or visit my Home/2021 HTLM Reviews Page

Authors & Narrators Links

• Amie Kaufman (Author),
• Jay Kristoff (Author),
• India Dupré (Narrator),
• James Fouhey (Narrator),
• Lincoln Hoppe (Narrator),
• Emma Bering (Narrator),
• Johnathan McClain (Narrator),
• Ryan Gesell (Narrator),