Aurora Burning (The Aurora Cycle #2)
Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW
? BOOK 1: AURORA RISING
? CAST
AURORA JIE-LIN O’MALLEY—THE GIRL OUT OF TIME. AURORA SET OUT FROM TERRA WITH TEN THOUSAND OTHER COLONISTS OVER TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO, DESTINED FOR OCTAVIA III. HER VESSEL, THE HADFIELD, WAS LOST IN A STRETCH OF INTERDIMENSIONAL SPACE KNOWN AS THE FOLD, ONLY TO BE REDISCOVERED CENTURIES LATER BY AURORA LEGION CADET TYLER JONES.
AURORA WAS THE SOLE SURVIVOR.
AFTER HER RESCUE, AURI BEGAN HAVING PROPHETIC DREAMS AND EXHIBITING TELEKINETIC POWERS. ON THE RUN WITH THE MISFITS OF SQUAD 312, SHE WAS EVENTUALLY LED BACK TO OCTAVIA III. HERE SHE DISCOVERED THAT THE PLANET INTENDED TO BE HER HOME WAS ACTUALLY A NURSERY WORLD FOR THE RA’HAAM—AN ANCIENT GESTALT ENTITY COMPOSED OF MILLIONS OF ASSIMILATED LIFE-FORMS SLUMBERING BENEATH THE MANTLE.
AURORA ALSO LEARNED THAT HER POWERS HAD BEEN GIFTED TO HER BY THE ESHVAREN, A MYSTERIOUS RACE THAT DEFEATED THE RA’HAAM EONS AGO. KNOWING THAT THEIR ANCIENT FOE WOULD ONE DAY TRY TO CONSUME THE GALAXY AGAIN, THE ESHVAREN HID A WEAPON IN THE FOLD TO FIGHT THE RA’HAAM AND SET EVENTS IN MOTION TO CREATE A “TRIGGER” TO FIRE THE WEAPON.
AURORA HAS LEARNED THAT SHE IS THAT TRIGGER.
AURI IS SMALL IN SIZE, BIG ON MOXIE. SHE’S STILL STRUGGLING TO COME TO GRIPS WITH HER PLACE IN THIS NEW TIME AND GALAXY, BUT SHE FEELS A FIERCE LOYALTY TO THE AURORA LEGIONNAIRES WHO’VE TAKEN HER IN.
SHE HAS A BLACK PIXIE CUT WITH A WHITE STREAK THROUGH HER BANGS AND IS OF CHINESE-IRISH HERITAGE. HER RIGHT IRIS HAS TURNED WHITE, AND IT GLOWS WHEN SHE USES HER POWERS.
TYLER JONES—THE GOLDENBOY. TYLER ENLISTED IN THE AURORA LEGION AT AGE THIRTEEN, AFTER THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER, JERICHO. HE ENTERED THE ACADEMY’S ALPHA STREAM, DEVOTING HIS LIFE TO THE PURSUIT OF GALACTIC PEACE AND ORDER. BUT AFTER RESCUING AURORA IN THE FOLD, TY FOUND HIMSELF IN CHARGE OF A GROUP OF MISFITS, LOSERS, AND DISCIPLINE CASES: AURORA LEGION SQUAD 312.
AFTER BEING CAPTURED BY THE GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY ABOARD THE SAGAN MINING STATION, TYLER AND HIS SQUAD FOUND THEMSELVES ON THE RUN FROM THE TERRAN GOVERNMENT. VISITING THE INTERDICTED WORLD OF OCTAVIA III, TYLER AND COMPANY UNCOVERED AN ANCIENT CONSPIRACY THAT THREATENS EVERY SENTIENT RACE IN THE GALAXY. AND THE MISFITS OF SQUAD 312 SEEM TO BE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN STOP IT.
TY IS A NATURAL LEADER AND A BRILLIANT TACTICIAN, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS SISTER, HE “WOULDN’T KNOW FUN IF IT INVADED HIS PLANET.” HE’S SELF-CONFIDENT TO THE POINT OF ARROGANCE, BUT HE USUALLY HAS THE GOODS TO BACK IT UP.
HE HAS BLUE EYES, BLOND SHAGGY HAIR, AND DIMPLES THAT CAN EXPLODE OVARIES AT THIRTY METERS.
KALIIS IDRABAN GILWRAETH—THE OUTSIDER. KALIIS IS ONE OF THE FEW SYLDRATHI TO HAVE JOINED THE AURORA LEGION SINCE THE WAR BETWEEN EARTH AND SYLDRA ENDED. HE IS A MEMBER OF THE WARBREED CABAL—THE SYLDRATHI WARRIOR CASTE—AND HIS FEARSOME COMBAT PROWESS MADE HIM A NATURAL FOR THE TANK STREAM IN THE ACADEMY. HOWEVER, HE WAS SHUNNED AS AN OUTSIDER AND ENDED UP IN SQUAD 312.
UPON MEETING AURORA, KAL FOUND HIMSELF IMMEDIATELY UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF “THE PULL”—AN IMPOSSIBLY INTENSE SYLDRATHI MATING INSTINCT. NOT WISHING TO FORCE AURORA INTO A SITUATION OR A RELATIONSHIP SHE COULDN’T UNDERSTAND, KAL DECIDED TO LEAVE THE SQUAD. BUT AFTER AURORA CONFESSED FEELINGS FOR HIM, HE RESOLVED TO STAY AND DEVOTED HIMSELF TO PROTECTING HIS BE’SHMAI (BELOVED).
KAL STRUGGLES WITH HIS WARRIOR INSTINCT CONSTANTLY, AND HIS BATTLES WITH THIS SO-CALLED ENEMY WITHIN HINT AT A DARKNESS IN HIS PAST HE HAS YET TO SHARE.
KAL IS AN EXCELLENT BROODER. HONESTLY, HE COULD BROOD AT A PROFESSIONAL LEVEL.
HE HAS DREAMY VIOLET EYES, OLIVE SKIN, AND LONG SILVER HAIR. DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HIS CHEEKBONES.
SCARLETT JONES—THE HEARTBREAKER. TYLER’S TWIN SISTER (OLDER BY THREE MINUTES AND 37.4 SECONDS), SCARLETT ENLISTED IN THE AURORA LEGION ALONG WITH HER BROTHER—NOT OUT OF ANY SENSE OF DUTY TO LAW AND ORDER, BUT RATHER TO KEEP TYLER OUT OF TROUBLE. SHE JOINED THE DIPLOMACY STREAM AND APPLIED HERSELF LESS THAN ANY CADET IN ACADEMY HISTORY, BUT HER ALMOST SIXTH SENSE ABOUT WHAT OTHERS WERE THINKING HELPED HER BECOME A BRILLIANT FACE.
SCAR HAS A BLACK BELT IN SARCASM. THOUGH SHE’S UNFOCUSED, SHE’S HIGHLY INTELLIGENT, AND SHE CAN QUICKLY LEARN ENOUGH ABOUT ANY SITUATION/CULTURE/SETTING TO FIT INTO MOST SCENARIOS SEAMLESSLY. INCIDENTALLY, THIS MAKES HER A TRIVIA-NIGHT QUEEN.
SCAR IS PALE, STATUESQUE, AND HAS FLAMING RED HAIR CUT IN AN ASYMMETRICAL BOB. SHE’S NEVER HAD A RELATIONSHIP THAT LASTED MORE THAN SEVEN WEEKS, AND THE TRAIL OF BROKEN HEARTS SHE’S LEFT IN HER WAKE WOULD BE AS LONG AS MY ARM.
I MEAN, IF I HAD ARMS …
FINIAN DE KARRAN DE SEEL—THE SMART-ASS. FINIAN IS A BETRASKAN AND A MECHANICAL GENIUS WHOSE ABRASIVE PERSONALITY AND LESS-THAN-STELLAR INTERPERSONAL SKILLS SAW HIM PICKED LAST OUT OF EVERY GEARHEAD IN HIS YEAR AT AURORA ACADEMY.
FINIAN CAUGHT THE LYSERGIA PLAGUE AS A CHILD, AND THOUGH THE DISEASE FAILED TO KILL HIM, IT EXTENSIVELY DAMAGED HIS MOBILITY. SENT AWAY FROM TRASK TO LIVE ABOARD A ZERO-GEE SPACE STATION WITH HIS THIRD GRANDPARENTS, FINIAN USED HIS TECHNICAL SKILLS TO CONSTRUCT AN EXOSUIT, WHICH HE WEARS CONSTANTLY. THE SUIT ALLOWS HIM TO MOVE UNASSISTED AND CONTAINS AN ARRAY OF USEFUL TOOLS AND DEVICES.
FINIAN HIDES HIS INSECURITIES BEHIND A WALL OF CYNICISM. LIKE ALL HIS PEOPLE, HE HAS PALE SKIN AND HAIR, AND HE WEARS BLACK CONTACT LENSES OVER HIS EYES TO PROTECT THEM FROM UV RADIATION.
HE DOES NOT HAVE A HOPELESS CRUSH ON SCARLETT JONES, THANKS FOR ASKING. ANY RUMORS THAT HER BROTHER WOULD BE A SATISFACTORY CONSOLATION PRIZE ARE NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS EITHER.