Voyagers take aim to be a make new Star Wars for the untested contemporaries , aright while everybody is getting excited about the upcoming Force Awakens . There are six book coming out in the next year , written by people like City of Ember author Jeanne DuPrau and Skinned author Robin Wasserman . Check out an excerpt !
In the Voyagers series , the Earth is going to “ go dark ” unless we describe a new tycoon root — so two team are sent into infinite to find something to make unnecessary our major planet . And Team Alpha travel from planet to planet , run through more and more grievous office on their quest .
In accession to the first six - book series , Voyagers also has a liberal game , usable in the iTunes entrepot or Google Play , in which kids “ collect robots , toy cool games , and study a ton of skill , applied science , engineering , and mathematics . ” There ’s alsoa websitewhere kids can create their own tailor-make robot commander . The first script is out now , and here ’s the schedule for the full series :
1 : Project Alpha by D. J. MacHale : 2025-04-21
2 : Game of Flames by Robin Wasserman : 2025-03-01
3 : Omega climb by Patrick Carman : 2025-05-25
4 : eternity Riders by Kekla Magoon : 2024-12-22
5 : Escape the Vortex by Jeanne DuPrau : 2025-03-12
6 : The Seventh Element by Wendy Mass : 2025-03-18
And below is an exclusive extract from the first Holy Writ , Project Alpha by D.J. MacHale :
Excerpt from Voyagers : Project Alpha written by D. J. MacHale . right of first publication © 2015 by PC Studios Inc. publish by Random House Children ’s Books , a sectionalization of Penguin Random House LLC , New York .
“ The first competition is about how you want to spend your time here . You will be living in dorms . male child in one , girls in the other . They are working and well-to-do . ”
“ Kind of like inner circle , ” Niko said .
“ However , ” Phillips continued , ” one of you will be invited to stay in your own individual quarters with a queen bed , a individual bathroom , and your own icebox . ”
“ Who gets to stay there ? ” Carly inquire .
Phillips held up a handkerchief - sized favorable flag .
“ Your first challenge , ” he announce . ” Scattered throughout the arena are a few dozen prosperous flags like this one . Some are in plain sight , others you ’ll have to hunt for . The first person who remember four flag will be stick in the superior quarters for the length of your hitch . interrogative sentence is , how badly do you want it ? ”
The child all digest staring at Phillips , not sure of how to react .
Phillips point to a door on the far side of the airdock and say , ” The arena is through there . The challenger commence . . . now . ”
Anna took off running . Niko was right behind her . The others come quickly .
The final phase of the Project Alpha competition was under mode .
It began as a frantic free - for - all , like a monumental Easter egg hunt with a tidy sum more at stake than snapping up a few deep brown egg . Anna sprinted across the empty airdock and spotted the first flag hanging next to the door leading to the stadium . She snatched it off the lure and hold it up in triumph .
“ That room is mine ! ” she declared , then flap to the others and ran out the door .
Gabriel , Niko , Ravi , and Siena sprint for the door and blare through right behind her .
Dash took his meter . He did a quick CAT scan of the intact space , checking for more fleur-de-lis . There were none , so he hightail it for the doorway but stopped when he saw that pile next to it was an uneven assortment of equipment . There were several gyre of red climbing Mexican valium , a pile of fleecy pullovers of various bright colors , and four ice axes hanging from hooks .
“ unknown equipment to be in an aeroplane repair shed , ” Carly said as she jogged up from behind him .
“ mayhap there ’s a masthead inhume in there , ” Dash state , and apace dug through the jacket .
“ Too obvious , ” Piper said as she vanish by them .
She spin the wheelchair around like an expert and backed into the door , pushing it open . She drift outside but held it for the other two .
“ amount ? ” she called .
Dash and Carly turn over each other quick looks and ran outside .
The air temperature had plummeted to below freeze .
“ This is unimaginable , ” Carly say . ” We ’re in the desert . ”
“ Cool , ” Piper said with admiration . ” Literally . ”
“ That suffice one matter , ” Dash order . He ran back at heart and moments subsequently came back with three jackets , a coil of rophy , and three methamphetamine axes . ” This stuff is here for a rationality , ” he said as he handed jacket and axes to Piper and Carly .
The three slipped on the jacket , then read the orbit to see nothing but slow fog .
“ What ’s this about ? ” Piper asked in a low phonation as if not wanting to be heard by anyone other than Dash and Carly .
“ Our first test , ” Carly said . ” I ’ll bet there ’s a whole lot more run on here than a race for a couplet of flags . ”
The three moved forward cautiously , straining to see through the heavy mist . None say it out loud , but they felt safer together than move at it alone .
“ I see one ! ” Piper exclaimed . She dissipate forward to where a golden flagstone hang from a three - foot - high perch . She grabbed it , spin around back to the others , and held it up , enjoin , ” The sooner one of us gets four , the rather we can get out of this freezer . ”
A hulking shadow moved through the mist behind Piper . Only Dash and Carly go through it . It was a momentary glimpse but it was real . And it was big .
“ What was that ? ” Dash exclaimed .
Piper spun around but view nothing . ” What was what ? ” she asked .
“ I realize it too , ” Carly serve . ” It count like a big guy , moving fast . ”
“ Anna ? ” Dash called out .
“ I make another one ! ” Anna call from somewhere in the space .
“ I do n’t like this competition , ” Carly said nervously .
“ Maybe that ’s the point , ” Dash allege . ” They ’re quiz our nerve . ”
“ I ’m freezing , ” Piper say , her tooth chattering .
“ Then let ’s move , ” Dash said , and they remain on .
They walk cautiously but after take only a few steps , Carly slipped and had to fight to keep her balance .
“ Whoa ! Ice ! ” she cried as her foot slew out , and she come to the ground hard . ” Ow . That is just rude . ”
Dash helped her to her feet . ” It ’s an ice rink rink , ” he enjoin . ” Do n’t take the air ; lantern slide . ”
“ Look ! ” Piper exclaimed , pointing .
Another big apparition shoot through the upstage mist .
“ That ’s not Anna , ” Piper said , her representative cracking . ” It looks like a Sasquatch . Or a Wookiee . ”
“ There ’s something over there , ” Dash said , moving ahead .
The three conservatively slip onward until a massive white hill appear out of the mist .
“ It ’s a big bucks of snow , ” Carly say . ” Or a monster igloo . ”
“ There ’s a cave , ” Dash said .
A jagged opening was cut in the face of the huge frozen mound .
“ Did the shadow thing go in there ? ” Piper ask nervously .
“ We should go see , ” Dash said . ” I ensure it ’s part of the game . ”
“ I ca n’t , ” Piper said . ” I wo n’t be capable to turn the president around in there . ”
“ I ’ll go , ” Carly said .
“ We ’ll go together , ” Dash said , and the two of them slipped through the porta .
“ Cool , ” Piper said . ” Be thrifty . ”
It was gloomy at bottom , but the ice feed off a faint glow that was enough for them to see by .
“ It ’s an ice tunnel , ” Carly said . ” There ’s get ta be a flag in here somewhere . ”
The tunnel wriggle sharply , create unreasoning turns with no fashion of sleep with what might be lurking around the next corner . Dash and Carly walk articulatio humeri to shoulder until . . .
CRACK .
The strait came from beyond the next sharp twist .
They froze .
“ Something ’s in there , ” Carly whisper .
Dash fight the impulse to turn and run . or else , he steel himself and yell a word of advice . ” There are two of us ! ”
He lifted the ice ax and hold it out threateningly , though his hand were didder .
CRACK !
Whatever was making the speech sound was moving nearer .
It was too former to call on and head for the hills . Carly and Dash campaign closer to one another and strain up .
A pace crunched the ice just beyond the turn .
Dash raise the ice axe . . .
. . . as a hand appeared from around the corner , beckon a golden flag .
“ I ’m afraid you are too late , ” said a girl as she tread around the niche .
“ Siena , ” Dash said with a protruding gasp .
Carly could breathe again .
“ There is a cavern at the end of the burrow but there was only one flag , ” Siena said . ” Check for yourself but it would be a waste of time because if there was more than one , I would have taken it . ”
“ Did you see a big guy rope lallygag around ? ” Carly asked .
“ No , but nothing would surprise me . This is quite the elaborate challenge . My guess is they erected a mood - controlled natural enclosure to domiciliate this glacial environment . Now if you will excuse me”—she press past the others , channelize for the mouth of the cave—”I have two more flag to obtain . ”
“ You already found two ? ” Carly asked .
Siena held up two flags as she disappeared around the frigid bend .
“ Is it me or does she vocalise like a estimator ? ” Carly whispered .
Dash express mirth and said , ” Let ’s get out of here . ”
They walk quickly back the way they had come and made it to the sassing of the cave with minimal slippage .
genus Piper was expect for them with a big smile . ” calculate , ” she said , pointing higher up on the frosty mound .
Dash and Carly turned to see three golden flags on a shelf , thirty feet up .
“ I did n’t tell Siena , ” Piper said with an innocent smile .
“ So near , ” Dash say . ” But there ’s no way to get them . ”
Carly hold up her frappe axe . ” No ? ”
The shaft was metallic silver with a black caoutchouc hand grip on one end and a nasty - looking detail on the other .
“ They ’re go up tools , ” he enunciate .
“ You need two to go up , which means we both ca n’t do it , ” Carly aver .
Dash looked up to the flags . He ’d never used ice axis before .
“ I ’ll prove , ” Dash say . ” If I get ’em , we ’ll each take a flag . ”
“ You ’d do that ? ” Piper asked .
“ Sure . You establish ’em , Carly ’s reach up her axe , and I ’m climbing . That ’s fair . ”
Carly handed over her axe and said , ” Be measured . ”
Dash grasped both axes , wrapped the rubber straps around his wrists , and confront the icy surface .
“ How hard could it be , right ? ” he ask , not sounding very positive .
He raised the ax in his right hand and hammered it against the ice . It caught and stick firmly . He did the same with his odd hand , a little fleck higher . With his foot on the surface , he pulled himself off the earth . The surface sloped away from him at enough of an slant that it was n’t a hard upgrade .
“ It ’s easy , ” Dash enunciate . ” If it were any steeper I ’d be in trouble . ”
At that exact moment , his stool pigeon slipped off and his stomach smashed against the frappe .
“ Ouch . ”
“ You indisputable about that ? ” Carly asked .
His solution was to find a better toe postponement and then yank the correct ax out of the ice . He reached up as eminent as he could and hammered it home again .
“ I got this , ” Dash allege .
Looking up , he saw that the shelf was right below the top
of the frozen mound . It only carry another second and three more whacks at the ice to reach it . He hoisted himself up , stood on the ledge so that his brain cleared the top of the pitcher . . .
. . . and came nerve to cheek with a gorilla - like white beast that was climbing up the other side . Its fiery red eyes glowed from deep sockets in a massive , furred head .
“ Ahhh ! ” Dash holler , and pushed away from the beast .
He fall backward on the ledge but had the presence of intellect to reach out with one of the axes to grab at the ice . It stop him from slide all the fashion to the earth but he hung there by one hand . With a spate of adrenaline , Dash slammed the other axe into the ice . He shifted his weight and repeated the cognitive operation until he finished a controlled slide back to the ground .
“ What pass ? ” Piper necessitate anxiously .
“ I saw what was making the phantasma , ” Dash said , breathing hard . ” It was a . . . a . . . monster . A openhanded white ape - looking thing . I fell back and . . . I did n’t get the masthead . Sorry . ”
“ This is getting too gaga , ” Carly read . ” perhaps we should just pay heed together and — ”
“ Help ! ” come someone ’s scream from somewhere off in the fog .
“ Oh human , now what ? ” Piper say .
“ serve me ! ” the despairing voice shout out out again .
“ C’m on ! ” Dash said , and act rapidly into the fog , headed in the focus of the sound . Between zero visibility and the icy aerofoil , it was wearisome going .
“ I ’ve have traction , ” Piper enounce , and zoomed out front .
They presently heard the sound of splashing , thrashing water .
“ I ca n’t breathe , ” the vocalization called out .
“ Be careful , ” Carly phone to Piper . ” You ’re manoeuvre toward — ”
Dash leapt forward and catch the back of Piper ’s wheelchair , cease her from roll off the boundary of the ice and into a froth pool .
“ — water system . ”
“ Oops , ” Piper said , breathless . ” Thanks . ”
“ Who ’s out there ? ” Carly call .
“ It ’s Niko ! ” come the desperate outcry . ” The ice broke and . . . and . . . it ’s so cold I ca n’t catch my breath ! ”
“ Here , ” Carly said , grabbing the roofy and uncoiling it .
“ We ’re throwing you a lifeline , ” Dash called out .
“ Hurry ! ” Niko pleaded .
“ Tie the end to your chair , ” Dash say to Piper .
While Piper loop the end around the arm of her wheelchair , Dash carry the eternal rest of the rope and slid nigher to the sharpness .
“ Where are you ? ” he call out .
“ Here ! ” Niko called .
The fog was so dense , Dash could n’t see him .
“ Ready ! ” Piper call out .
“ Here it comes ! ” Dash holler to Niko , and hurled the rope in the focus of his voice . There was a splashing and then . . .
“ I got it ! ” Niko cried with relief .
“ hang up on , we ’ll rive you out ! ” Dash call .
He at once started pull but the Earth’s surface was too slippery and his foot went out from under him . He sat down and essay jerk it again but only ended up deplume himself closer to the edge .
“ I ca n’t get traction , ” he called to the others with growing terror .
“ I can , ” Piper said . ” allow it go . ”
Dash released the Mexican valium and Piper pulled it all the fashion in .
“ I ca n’t bear on ! ” Niko called .
“ Help me , ” Piper call to Carly . ” Stand on the back and hang on to the rophy . ”
Carly grabbed the forget me drug with one hand and stood on the back of the chair . Piper took hold of the controls . She jammed the vehicle into reversal and eased launch the throttle . slow , the chairperson moved backward .
“ Hang on , Niko ! ” Dash foretell out .
The wheels jab into the ice rink and kept proceed as they gradually rend Niko nearer .
“ There he is ! ” Dash call out .
The four other candidate skidded up out of the fog , watching in admiration as Niko was towed to the edge of the ice . Dash grabbed him and deplumate him up on to the slick Earth’s surface . Niko was breathing hard and shivering .
Piper pull off her cap and threw it to Dash .
“ envelop him up , ” she commanded . ” If we do n’t get his torso temperature up , it could hurt his heart . ”
Dash pulled off his own jacket as well and put them on Niko .
“ Rub his back to get his lineage proceed faster , ” Piper tote up .
Dash followed orders and rubbed Niko ’s back .
“ I ’m okay , ” Niko suppose through clack tooth . ” Thanks . ”
Piper and Carly commute high five-spot .
“ I saw a flag and went for it , ” Niko say . ” But the ice give way . ”
“ Did you get the flag ? ” Anna asked .
Niko shook his question .
“ Well , I got three , ” Anna announced . ” The game ’s still on . ”
“ No , it is n’t , ” Piper announced , and hand her flag to Anna .
“ Seriously ? ” Anna said with surprise .
“ extolment . ”
A meretricious horn sounded as smart lights kick on , bath the group in warm white light . The whirring sound of jumbo fans filled the arena as the fog was botch off . Within seconds , the entire area was revealed .
“ precisely as I suspect , ” Siena said with a self-satisfied smiling .
They were in a giant white tent that was large enough to house a twelve - ring circus . ice rink wrap up the entire storey like a giant field hockey rink . Five different ice pitcher’s mound like the one Dash had climbed were scattered about . The water that Niko had fall into was a fosse that surrounded an island with the largest mound .
A alloy catwalk ringed the collapsible shelter high above them . Hanging below it were multiple high - intensity light . The air temperature stand up chop-chop to a more desertlike norm .
“ Well done ! ” Commander Phillips exclaimed as he stride toward them . ” We have a winner of the Tundra Event . ”
Anna held up the four flagstone triumphantly .
“ What is this property ? ” Gabriel asked . ” It ’s like some fun - house north-polar weirdness . ”
“ This is the domain where many of your challenge will take place , ” Phillips reply . ” In here , we can create any kind of environment and situation . Niko , you were never in risk . ”
He pointed to the fosse where several frogman had turn up and throw a thumb - up .
“ I just trust I do n’t die of pneumonia , ” Niko respond .
“ What about the Gorilla gorilla ? ” Dash asked . ” What was that about ? ”
“ Just another element of surprise , ” Phillips explained . ” We need to see how each of you will respond under different course of emphasis . ”
“ How did we do ? ” Carly asked .
Phillips smiled and say , ” That ’s for me to discuss with the rest of the Project Alpha team . Now , everyone back into the hangar where you ’ll be consider to your quartern . It ’s been a foresighted day . Anna , you ’ll be register to your private room . ”
“ Yes ! ” Anna cry out , and hurried off .
Phillips stepped up to Niko and helped him to his ft .
“ How do you find ? ” Phillips expect .
“ Cold and lactating , ” Niko answer . ” But ready for the next contest . ”
“ That ’s what I care to hear . Go get dry off . ”
Niko lead for the hangar , follow by Siena , Ravi , and Gabriel .
Dash stood up and went to Carly and Piper . The three exchanged high fives .
“ Not bad , ” Dash say .
“ Tell me , ” Phillips say to Piper , ” why did you give up your flag ? ”
“ I wanted the competition to be over , ” she said . ” Besides , I did n’t need the prize . ”
“ You did n’t need a individual room ? ” Phillips asked , surprised .
“ Nope , ” Piper say . ” I did n’t come here to be alone . ”
“ I see , ” Phillips said with no emotion . ” Go join the others . ”
The three headed off , leaving Phillips in the eye of the arena . He survey the scene with satisfaction as the crank mellow out around him .
He then looked up to the catwalk .
look down was a unmarried percipient assume a puritanical jumpsuit alike to the one Phillips wore . It was a adolescent with curt blond whisker who stood leaning on the guardrail . At his feet sit a golden retriever .
“ thought ? ” Phillips called up .
“ Eight solid candidates , ” the young man called back . ” Let ’s hope they can treat it when affair really get rough . ”
Correction : An earlier reading of this clause implied that Voyagers was a young - adult book of account series , whereas it ’s in reality place at a middle - grade consultation .
reach the author at[email protected]andfollow her on Twitter @Charliejane
BooksCity of EmberGamesMoviesStar Wars
Daily Newsletter
Get the good technical school , science , and acculturation news in your inbox day by day .
intelligence from the futurity , present to your nowadays .
