Traitors in Space: A Pick-Your-Own Path Adventure

A pilot, a medical officer and three engineers are with you on a mission to the moon Titan. You’ve landed, collected your rock samples and reboarded the spaceship. Now all that remains is to go into cryosleep for the journey home. What could possibly go wrong?

This pick-your-own-path book drops readers slap bang in the middle of a life-and-death space adventure. Woken by the ship’s alarm, you discover that an alien life form has jumped aboard and inhabits one of the crew members – and it’s up to you to find out who. At the end of each page are two options to follow, each leading to a different outcome.

With puzzles along the way, and more than forty-five possible endings, the adventure will intrigue even the most reluctant readers. The short, dramatic scenes and mandatory participation build reading skills as well as the kind of agency and control generated by video games. Chunky black and white illustrations give a comic (in both senses) feel to the text, dancing between the stories with energy and wit.

As well as sweeping readers into the action, Traitors in Space demonstrates the endless possibilities of storytelling. It is easy to imagine the author sitting and plotting amid a jungle of papers joined by string. Young readers will jump in on page one and finish heroically on page 160 – or maybe 104 or 78 or 40, there are so many possibilities!