STARS: 5/5

I have a bad habit of judging books by its covers, and the cover of the “Obsidio” hardback is a real club banger. The book demonstrates the two prominent elements of the series: the beauty of life and space and how insignificant they become when money gets involved. This book is the finale of an anti-capitalist space opera, and I loved almost every second of it.

I was skeptical when I picked up the first book of “The Illuminae Files” trilogy, but it confronted me with something I’d never personally seen before in young adult fiction: a war initiated by a corporation, BeiTech, over resources with no regard for those caught in the crossfire.

So little regards, in fact, that “Obsido” follows the last-ditch efforts of those not wiped out by BeiTech assassins and chemical weapons. Though mass murder is featured in both preceding books, the horror of it never wanes. It’s exhausting, terrifying and forces readers to wonder about the ugliness of unseen wars.

Our heroes are smart, brave and savvy, but they are also teenagers. They make crude comments, curse in just about every other line and question the bonds they formed under fire. They make mistakes — big mistakes. No matter how hard they try to take hold of their fates, they are still at the mercy of forces far more powerful than them, and I’m not talking about creators. I’m talking artificial intelligence and bitter cosmic lattes.

I love a good artificial intelligence character, and AIDAN does not disappoint. While not morally good, it has a compelling character arc and a fascinating fate. AIDAN is the companion of Kady Grant, heroine of the first book in the trilogy, and has committed crimes against humanity in the name of keeping the many alive. Followers of the series are used to reading transcripts of its inner thoughts, and as it grows weaker in power, its mind becomes more fathomable.

In this final book we learn the fate of Kerenza, the planet BeiTech decided they wanted to seize, years after the war. Survivors finally gain the courage to speak out and begin talking about the horrible, ugly things done by soldiers during the seizure and occupation of Kerenza.

Action scenes in “The Illuminae Files” are dynamic. I was too wrapped up in the action to care about how silly I looked. It’s certainly a way to get the heart going.

My one complaint is that I often couldn’t relate to the white main characters  because although they were refugees struggling their way through space, it didn’t always matter. It did matter, however, when the villains were about as colorful and multicultural as my small Houston hometown.

All in all, I’m glad I made my foray back into young adult fiction with this series. I felt a lot of emotions, most of them bad, but definitely more than “A Song of Ice and Fire” author George R. R. Martin ever inspired. “Obsidio” was an explosive finale to a messy story.