The Resisters #1: The Resisters - Softcover

A Letter from Author Eric Nylund
Video Games and a Gateway to Reading
One of the bugs had to be the largest rhinoceros beetle that ever existed. It stood upright, fifteen feet tall on its oversized, spike-encrusted hind legs. Its head curved up to form two barbed horns.

The monster bug’s exoskeleton shifted color from navy blue to midnight black depending on what angle Ethan stared at it. It had a dozen tiny eyes that stared back at him.

It was a real bug...but not entirely, because on the thing’s abdomen was a seam, segments of armor plate, and tiny letters that read:

WARNING: !!! EXTREME HYDRAULIC PRESSURE !!! OPEN WITH MINIMUM IMPACT TORQUE 40,000 PSI.

For more than a decade I’ve had the extreme good fortune to write bestselling and award-nominated novels and have a great day job at Microsoft Game Studios.

In 2001, I wrote a video game prequel novel called HALO: The Fall of Reach. Soon thereafter I received a few letters and e-mails from kids who explained they never liked to read, but they liked HALO, and they picked up and fell in love with my books. (Why these kids were playing an M-rated game is another issue... ).

A few letters and e-mails soon became dozens, hundreds, and then thousands. I found myself pleasantly surprised, becoming a gateway into the world of reading for kids who normally might not have discovered the joy of books.

After reading the HALO novels, my fans would often write back, asking what else they should read. I’d steer them to Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and the Robert Heinlein juvenile series (sadly, hard to find). These were the books that got me hooked on reading and science.

I found, however, that there was a surprising shortage of good science fiction for voracious kid readers today.

So I’ve started writing the Resisters series. It takes the best of the “kid-growing-up” parts of the HALO books, the drama of Ender’s Game, and the adventures in those Robert Heinlein juvenile books (Have Spacesuit Will Travel, Space Cadet, and The Rolling Stones).

The Resisters is good old-fashioned science fiction adventure fun, aimed at readers 8 to 14 years old (and for those of us who are young at heart who enjoy middle reader and YA fiction).

I hope The Resisters get kids reading, into science, and keeps them hooked for a lifetime.

Eric Nylund is a New York Times bestselling and World Fantasy Award nominated author. He has written science fiction and fantasy novels, comic books, and has helped make many blockbuster video games.

Eric has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in chemistry. He graduated from the prestigious Clarion West Writer’s Workshop in 1994.

He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his family.

You can learn more about Eric at www.ericnylund.net.