The Third Planet from Altair

Choose Your Own Adventure #7

by Edward Packard, Paul Granger (Illustrator)

This daring space mission could be your finest -- or it could be your last!

You are flying through space -- past Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn -- toward the third planet from the star Altair. You descend to a strange world of deserted cities, glowing caves, and man-eating plants. You are here to find the source of the mysterious signals being transmitted to earth.

Depending on how you decide to go about your search, you could be captured by alien beings, flung millions of years into the future through a time warp, or you could witness the creation of the universe.

What happens next in the story? It all depends on the choices you make. How does the story end? Only you can find out! And the best part is that you can keep reading and rereading until you've had not one but many incredibly daring experiences!

Genres: Fiction, Choose Your Own Adventure, Science Fiction, Gamebooks, Young Adult, Childrens, Fantasy

117 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1979

About the author

Edward Packard attended and graduated from both Princeton University and Columbia Law School. He was one of the first authors to explore the idea of gamebooks, in which the reader is inserted as the main character and makes choices about the direction the story will go at designated places in the text.

The first such book that Edward Packard wrote in the Choose Your Own Adventure series was titled "Sugarcane Island", but it was not actually published as the first entry in the Choose Your Own Adventure Series. In 1979, the first book to be released in the series was "The Cave of Time", a fantasy time-travel story that remained in print for many years. Eventually, one hundred eighty-four Choose Your Own Adventure books would be published before production on new entries to the series ceased in 1998. Edward Packard was the author of many of these books, though a substantial number of other authors were included as well.

In 2005, Choose Your Own Adventure books once again began to be published, but none of Edward Packard's titles have yet been included among the newly-released books.

Reviews

[Jeffrey Caston · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is more of a 3.5/5. It was entertaining enough, but this one, I felt, really put the "babble" in technobabble for this sci-fi setting.

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this series as a kid and loved them. I read every one the library had and I think I read this one twice. I first read them as they are supposed to be read: choosing as I went until it was over. Then as I reread them I was careful to mark each choice with my fingers so that as I reaches an ending I could go back to the previous choice and choose again. Sometimes I used up all of my non-page-turning fingers and had to resort to paper. (Once or twice I dropped the book which made me scream in frustration.) Then I flipped through it again to make sure I read every page. It sounds so OCD now but I loved it. I wish I could remember which other ones I read.

[Josiah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Choose Your Own Adventure was still in its infancy when The Third Planet from Altair debuted in 1979, but the franchise was already showing potential to stretch the boundaries of storytelling. Edward Packard dedicates this book "To all those who would like to travel faster than light", an appropriate sentiment for a story clearly meant to inspire future generations to make such "impossible" dreams reality. For millennia, humans have wondered if we are alone in the universe, and the question is finally answered when an observatory atop Hawaii's Mauna Kea detects a repeating, indecipherable code from outer space. It is traced to the third planet orbiting the star Altair, sixteen light-years from Earth. The starship Aloha is dispatched to travel to the Third Planet using state-of-the-art time-contraction science, and you are one of four crew members chosen for the expedition. The others are Captain Bud Stanton, an old hand at space travel; Professor Henry Pickens, a cosmological consultant; and Dr. Nera Vivaldi, a familiar name to Choose Your Own Adventure devotees. Your mission is to learn who is sending the coded message and why. Are you up for the challenge of being the first humans to meet an alien life form?

As you approach Altair, antimatter storms become extreme; could this be a clue to the coded message's content? Once you're in orbit around the Third Planet, you could investigate its moon first, whose surface is entirely underwater. But the planet is why you came here, and as you hover in preparation to land, you sense something is wrong. Spectacular, futuristic city structures are everywhere, but the place seems deserted. Was the message coming from another planet, or did the inhabitants recently evacuate? You could take a quick reconnoissance trip to the surface with Pickens, Vivaldi, or your underwater robot assistant, Bluenose. You and Bluenose find scary new life forms under the deep, stormy seas, as well as evidence that the people of this planet haven't abandoned it after all. If you go with Pickens instead, you'll also see signs that intelligent beings still occupy the Third Planet, but there are dangers in the air you're breathing and the frequent antimatter storms. Is exploring further worth risking your life? Choose Vivaldi as your search partner, and you may discover the identity of the Third Planet's people—the Alanians—and a few hints to their ultimate fate. In wild space not every choice can have a happy result, but you are dedicated to exploring the final frontier, even if it means encountering horrors worse than death.

You may choose to divert course away from Altair when the first antimatter storm hits, until the deadly weather dissipates. But even then, nothing comes easy. Time warp disruptions and black holes can crop up suddenly; the Aloha could become lost in the labyrinth of space-time with no way of knowing if you've been catapulted billions of years into the future or back to the creation of the cosmos. Will you wander the stars as long as you live, the four of you doomed to never see another living creature? The vastness of unoccupied space is frightening and lonely when you know you can't escape. If you avoid all these pitfalls, Vivaldi may alert you to a signal from Caprion, a region where the Big Bang is thought to have originated. Your mission is to Altair, but should you pass up an opportunity to solve the universe's grandest mystery? Going to Caprion means you never arrive at the Third Planet, but you may find a destiny more awesome than any space agency assignment. Understanding the hows and whys behind the universe, as well as humanity's existence, is within reach.

Edward Packard contributed several extraordinary books to the early Choose Your Own Adventure canon, but The Third Planet from Altair isn't among the best. I'd rate it one and a half stars, and be willing to consider two. It isn't as innovative as the author's Inside UFO 54-40 and Underground Kingdom, nor as well-plotted as Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey? and The Forbidden Castle, or as atmospheric and suspenseful as The Curse of the Haunted Mansion and Who Am I?. Numerous storylines in The Third Planet from Altair peter out with little to no satisfaction, and even if you ride a thread that reveals most of the plot, the meaning behind the Alanians' coded message isn't as exciting as one might hope. The book ranks nowhere near the top of Edward Packard's best Choose Your Own Adventure offerings, but The Third Planet from Altair played a notable role in early gamebook history, and every fan of the genre should read it at least once.

[Prahasti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Menurut teman-teman, menjelajah antariksa bakal menyenangkan tidak?⁣
⁣
Yuk jelajahi antariksa dalam serial Pilih Sendiri Petualanganmu no.7⁣
⁣
Di buku ini, kita sebagai pembaca berperan sebagai tokoh utama. Kita sedang meluncur di antariksa dan menuju planet ketiga dari tata surya Altair. Kita datang ke tempat itu untuk mencari sumber isyarat aneh yang dipancarkan dari situ ke Bumi.⁣
⁣
Dimulailah penjelajahan kita. Apa yang akan kita temui di sana tergantung dari pilihan kita sendiri. Apakah kita akan bisa kembali ke Bumi? Ataukah tersesat di antariksa? Tertangkap makhluk asing? Semua ditentukan dari keputusan yang kita ambil.⁣
⁣
Saya pernah membaca serial ini waktu kecil, meminjam ke sepupu saya tapi tidak pernah mempunyai sendiri bukunya. Akhirnya setelah dewasa saya berkesempatan untuk punya sendiri dan membacanya lagi jadi seperti nostalgia.⁣

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of the choose your own adventure books, such a unique idea to help young minds think. This story is fun and also an adventure to another wold.

[David Smither · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old Choose-the-adventure type book with lots of different sci-fi paths. A good place to search for inspiration when having students write fiction.
Unique feature: Lots of weird endings.
Genre: Fantasy (Real genre: CYOA sci-fi)

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these when I was nine/ten years old, voraciously devouring them and re-reading them over and over. My grade five teacher saw how much I loved them, and brought a "how-to" book to give to me, and I remember writing one of my own. It was probably terrible. Still, these books were one of my gateway books to reading non-stop for most of my childhood.

This one included outer space, and thus was a major favourite.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Third Planet from Altair” (Choose Your Own Adventure #7) by Edward Packard

Old-school choose your own adventure story-ies. Seemed to be rather brief and no real indication that your choice was doomed!

“The ship explodes silently as it enters the great blue light.”

[Nate · Rating 2 out of 5]

So many of the endings were non-endings. Frustrating.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got a major nostalgia hit today rereading this. It's a fun scifi romp that is nonsensical in all the ways children's books are allowed to be, which is magnificent. I was a bit systematic in the read over whimsical -- systematically went through every available iteration using my fingers to track each split in possibility, just as I did as a kid.

The premise of the book is explored in a silly fashion but the overall concept is pretty fun: first contact arrives in the form of a signal, and we travel to the planet of origin to find the source. There's an antimatter storm that looms over the story as an impending apocalypse.

Still fun. Will be also fun to give to my niece when she's reading, if she's at all interested in reading books on paper!

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went through a phase in middle school (ages 12-13?) when I read several Choose Your Own Adventure. I went through whole notebook pages torn into small bookmarks so I could follow every conceivable path through each book. I wanted to figure out every option! It was time-consuming and I read a lot, but they're not great literature. They're not even that good. It was puzzle-solving, or random guessing. The pictures were not horrendous but not great art. Good enough for passing time in class. I also got really good at doodling and making up stories, same time period.

[Katie Kaste · Rating 4 out of 5]

Choose your own adventure books are fun. I forgot how much fun it is finding a new world. It is hard to know when you are finished. I found about 10 different endings when I decided I was finished. I feel like there are a few more. I might come back and decide what I consider finishing a Choose Your Own Adventure Book. I did enjoy the adventure and defiantly enjoyed the endings where I died. Fun times had by all.

[S. Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another science fiction entry into the Choose Your Own Adventure series, which only makes sense when you're trying to provide dozens of different possible outcomes.

The storyline and possible endings feel far more thought-out and mature than previous efforts of Space and Beyond or Your Code Name is Jonah, and the "negative" endings feature fewer deaths in favor of more vague, open-ending "You Are Screwed" endings. Less overt death, more existential dread.

[WadeofEarth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't love this one. We didn't die, which was new, but when we finished, we had just explored the planet, escaped from danger, and left... my son turns to me and says "is that it?". it was rather anticlimactic.

[Pastor Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

My adventure ended on page 40. This ending seemed like there was a lot more story that could be told, but it just wasn't of interest to the author to continue. Overall a fun concept and style of book.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid.

[Ben Nickell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite choose your own adverture book as a kid! Mostly nostalgic, I'd guess.

[Jeff Cliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the books that got me started on a lifetime love for reading. BUT it's still under copyright. 5 stars - 1 star = 4 stars.

I think I was eaten by a grue.

[Finestrelle2020 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Storia spaziale a bivi a firma Packard, molto migliore di quella del volume 2 a firma Montgomery, ma che pecca di qualche incoerenza. Comunque piuttosto godibile.

[Dane Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those enjoyable Choose your own adventure books that when finished you just end up wishing it was longer (because the subject matter is enjoyable).

Earth has received a message from space and sends a ship with a small crew of scientists to investigate the planet the message originated from, hoping to find intelligent alien life.

The actual mission ends up feeling like a very abridged Interstellar-type affair, with some "sciency" challenges to overcome while investigating the planets of the Altair system.

Overall an enjoyable read that left me wanting more.

[Petercsm730 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Third Planet from Altair, also known as Message from Space, is Choose Your Own Adventure #7 by Edward Packard. The plot follows you and three fellow astronauts (the commander, the scientist, and the doctor) as the first humans to travel to the faraway planet Altair from where a mysterious signal to Earth has been transmitting. On your exploration you might encounter floating crystal cities, giant rats, talking computers, carnivorous plants, hungry ocean blobs, and whatever a 'radio telescope' is. And antimatter storms. You'll definitely come across antimatter storms. Often.

This book started off with some exciting choices but after reading a little further I realized the planet is mostly deserted and the paths are often a little bland. I kept feeling like my adventure was being prematurely cut short and there are more open endings than I care for despite the book looping back into itself on six separate paths. There's very good continuity except for one path where a device doesn't do what it's supposed to and another where I leave the planet but can return as if I hadn't been there before. And the art by Paul Granger is fun and full of zany gadgets (albeit sometimes dated) and cities.

A few other things I noticed: There is a dome in both the planet's desert and in it's ocean. And both times I had the option to cut it open with a laser. One strange ending had the captain asking me to stay behind as an ambassador. He says that he and the crew only have a 20% chance of escaping the planet. But this is never mentioned in any other paths and the ship escapes every time. Plus, the planet is dying. That's kind of the driving force behind the plot. So he must really not care for me very much. Also, you never get to explore the enticingly named 'water moon'. Oh, and the author also uses the term 'bedeck'.

[David Sarkies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apparently Has a Connection with Aliens
24 June 2012

I can't really remember this book but somebody has compared it to the James Cameron movie Aliens. I personally cannot comment on the connection but I am sure it is there (and is most likely to do with the man-eating plants). In this book you are travelling from Earth to the Third Planet from Altair in order to explore the planet. No doubt you are some sort of scientist (though I am not really sure about that) and I guess you also have a hyperdrive or some other faster than light engine, namely because you must cross intergalactic space to get to Altair. I know that I am being picky, but in the end why not.

I guess the one thing that we all like about these style of books is that we are the hero so in a sense it is like we are actually exploring the planet and we are the ones facing the danger. However, unlike real life, if we make the wrong choice we can always go back and make the correct one. I noted some people would read this book over and over again to try and work out which entry goes where and which choices you make to get to a good ending. However I am not entirely sure as to whether there is one correct ending.

What I do get the impression is that since you are the one creating the story there is no overarching plot, and in a way, no correct ending. Not necessarily bad in itself, but I guess a part of us always wants to be able to win and we all want to be able to make the right choices so that we do win.

[Swankivy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this Choose Your Own Adventure book as a child, and it was more up my alley than most of the other ones because I understood and related to the motivation: Mysterious signals are coming from space, and I'm one of the human crew members who gets to go there and check it out. Space exploration was an interest of mine in those days, and I knew enough science to understand what it would mean to go to another planetary system, so I enjoyed the idea. What I didn't like was the consistent use of science fiction clichés. When you're in space, of course you're going to run into a city that's randomly made out of crystal (why?), and some kind of space monster will invariably want to eat you, and you will be in danger because of the presence of antimatter. 'Kay. I also sometimes wondered whether the alternate endings were ever properly tested by the editors of the book, because I was kind of a continuity freak and it bothered me a lot if, for instance, a choice I made sent me to an ending that wouldn't make sense because of something I'd chosen earlier in the continuity. (Like, if I make it to the goal planet and then I follow other paths where I leave, I can sometimes end up landing on the planet again and the narration will clearly indicate that this is my first time.)

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

You are flying through space -- past Mars, Jupiter and Saturn -- toward the third planet from the star Altair. You descend to a strange world of deserted cities, glowing caves and man-eating plants. You are here to find the source of the mysterious signals being transmitted to earth. Depending on how you decide to go about your search, you could be captured by alien beings, flung millions of years into the future through a time warp, or you could witness the creation of the universe. (Product details information from Amazon.com)

I remember reading this particular Choose Your Own Adventure title for the first time not long after watching James Cameron's Aliens on cinema. I was freaked out by the movie (mind you, I wasn't even 10 years old back then), and reading this book gave me the same chill. I mean, being eaten alive by plants? That's horrible!

Saw this very old and battered copy again in my parent's storage room when I returned for Christmas holiday and rummaging through the room to find old car toys.

Looking at the book, puzzled, I really can't remember whether I was able to reach the third planet of Altair or not.

[Truly · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://trulyrudiono.blogspot.co.id/20...

Ingat-kau tak boleh mundur! Jadi, berpikirlah baik-baik sebelum kau bertindak. Sekali salah... petualangamu berakhir mengerikan. Tetapi kalau pilihanmu tepat, mungkin kau akan kaya raya, dan bahagia!

Peringatan itu selalu ada pada halaman awal seri Pilih Sendiri Petualanganmu. Buku ini memang unik mengingat cara membaca tak biasa yang disarankan. Jangan membuka halaman secara berurutan, tapi tentukan pilihanmu sendiri. Ada lebih dari tiga puluh akhir cerita yang bisa kita peroleh, sekali lagi tergantung pada pilihan masing-masing.

Salah satu seri ini adalah Planet Ketiga dari Altazair. Pembaca memainkan peranan aktif sebagai seorang astronot.Disebutkan bahwa sejak lama para ahli perbintangan mencoba menangkap pesan-pesan yang berasal dari suatu kehidupan jauh di ruang angkasa luar. Akhirnya impian selama ini terwujud. Observatariun Muna Kea di Hawaii menangkap pesan yang diperkirakan adalah planet ketiga dari Altair, sebuah bintang kuning putih yang berjarak enam belas tahun cahaya dari bumi.

[Julie Decker · Rating 2 out of 5]

You're on the crew to go investigate mysterious signals coming from space--a planet near the star Altair. What choices will you make . . . and will you avoid the danger in a space mission?

There are far too many science fiction clichés in this book. Space is weird and wonderful, but this book is not--it's more like old SF movies, with little imagination. Dangers include trying to escape a space monster who wants to eat you, or avoiding the oh-so-ill-defined ANTIMATTER THREAT. I was also disappointed that sometimes you could get an path that would throw you back to earlier choices and make you repeat yourself. One time I actually got to the planet near Altair, went back into space, and made choices to get me there again by a different route. The descriptions made it 100% clear that the author never intended you to land as a returning visitor, because my character was bamboozled as if it was the first time. Nobody made sure that wouldn't happen, and it bugged me.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up at a garage sale for 25 cents because I used to enjoy reading these types of books when I was younger. I expected a fun read and it was. Explored most of the story branches.

Unlike many game books, The Third Planet from Altair did not feature a long narrative with a bunch of deadly "you lose" branches. This book seemed to have plenty of positive endings, but the paths to reach them were very short. Shallow and wide. As such, the book felt more like an exploration than a challenge. Perhaps this is typical of the Choose Your Own Adventure series, it has been a very long time since I read one, but it felt short and simple compared to other game books from the late 80s and early 90s like Endless Quest, Lone Wolf, or Fighting Fantasy.

Regardless, the book is very imaginative and should be a lot of fun for a younger reader. I got my 25 cents worth and will hang onto it until I have kids.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in the 80s so, naturally, I read a ton of Choose Your Own Adventure books. My friends and classmates would pass them around so I'm certain I read far more than what I listed. "Third Planet from Altair" is one of the ones I owned, and the one I returned to the most. I'm sure I read it several hundred times. I can't recall many details but it was far and away the most dogeared CYOA book I owned. I've tried to get my daughters interested in them but they were never big fans, which is a real shame. The writing may not have been the best but they were certainly imaginative and sparked countless hours of enjoyment.

[Jlawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Choose Your Own Adventure book I ever read as a kid. My little kid mind was blown ("I'm CONTROLLING the STORY!!"), so I have a fair amount of nostalgia for it, but when I pickup my old copy (a hardback that came out before it became part of the 'Choose Your Own Adventure Series') and flip through it a bit, it's still fun, not disappointing. Damn you, alien bacteria!

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like most of the Edward Packard CYOA books, this one was a fantastic work of a powerful imagination. Possible storylines lead to terror, paradise, and transcendence. Dr. Nera Vivaldi stars in this book, as she does in nearly every E.P. SciFi CYOA. She may very well be the first fictional female I had a crush on.