Aurora Rising, the new sci-fi adventure by the New York Times bestselling authors of the Illuminae Files Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, is officially available. It’s about a group of misfits and their mission to save the galaxy. No big deal.
Picture this. The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the academy would touch. . . .
A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass tech whiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger-management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into Tyler, in case you were wondering
And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline cases, and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.
NOBODY PANIC.
Are you ready to meet the Aurora Squad? WATCH THE TRAILER HERE.
Learn More About the Characters and Their Squad Roles:
The Alpha: Tyler
Alphas are the leaders of Aurora Legion squads, and almost without exception, they treat this as Very Serious Business. Alphas generally possess an encyclopedic knowledge of regulations and an intimidating work ethic, but most are also charismatic leaders. After all, it helps if your followers want to, uh, follow you.
Only the most talented academy cadets are accepted into the Squad Leader stream, and Alphas are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of any given mission, as well as the lives of their squad.
No pressure. . . .
The Face: Scarlett
If you’re dealing with an Aurora legionnaire smoother than a glass of single-malt Larassian semptar, odds are you’ve just met a Face. Diplomats by nature and by training, it’s their job to deal with friends or foes—and a good Face can often turn the latter into the former with a few well-placed words.
Whether it’s making first contact, mediation of a local dispute, or talking their way out of a steaming pile of alien dookie, Faces are well versed in the cultures, traditions, and languages of many species, and are skilled negotiators.
Playing cards against one is not recommended.
The Ace: Cat
Trained to fly anything from shuttles to cruisers to freighters to shipkillers, Aces are the pilots of Aurora Legion squads. You bring them a needle, and an Aurora Ace can thread it with the ship of your choosing.
Aces have a reputation for being daring, confident, even reckless, and above average in the looks department. Just ask them—they’ll tell you themselves.
Being an Ace requires lightning reflexes, quicker thinking, and reproductive organs of solid titanium. Let’s be real: their job is as cool as they are.
The Gearhead: Fin
Gearheads are the mechanics of Aurora Legion squads, responsible for keeping the team’s machinery and equipment going in the field, and for cobbling together anything they may need that wasn’t brought along. Most of them are mad inventors.
They have a reputation for being ingenious and fascinated by gadgets, and are often covered in grease. Common personal traits include missing eyebrows and a recreational interest in things that go boom.
The Tank: Kal
Tanks are the members of Aurora Legion squads trained to bring the pain, and a disturbing percentage of them enjoy it. They’re big, they’re bad, and they’ll hit you where it hurts most.
Tanks are specialists in martial arts and are required to master fighting under varied gravity and planetary conditions. Beneficial traits include detailed knowledge of multi-species anatomy, a tolerance for pain, and a recreational interest in hurting small fluffy things.
The Brain: Zila
Brains are the science and medical officers of Aurora Legion squads. Most possess frighteningly high IQs and official nerd squad membership cards, and have a tendency to run toward dangerous situations on the grounds that they “might be interesting.”
Brains are responsible for treating injuries, providing their Alphas with scientific information on the fly, and occasionally figuring out how to blow things up with only a toothpick and a stick of gum.
I don’t want to stereotype or anything, but people with that many brain cells are sometimes a little . . . weird.
She’s the Mystery Girl for a reason. You’ll just have to read the book to learn more about Auri!
