Be an Interplanetary Spy
Encyclopedia
Be An Interplanetary Spy is a series of twelve interactive children's science fiction
book
s designed by Byron Preiss
Visual Publications and first published by Bantam Books
from 1983 to 1985.
form only, with brightly coloured covers and were heavily illustrated in black and white throughout. Unlike other series of interactive novels such as Choose Your Own Adventure
stories or Fighting Fantasy
gamebooks, each Interplanetary Spy book is made up largely of illustrations in a style that mixes comic book
-like line drawings with blocky, straight edge illustrations matching the graphical quality of video games from the time of publication. Rather than requiring readers to select from various actions and directions, or succeed in dice driven 'combat' to progress through the story, these novels mostly involve puzzle solving. Image-based challenges such as mazes, pattern matching and visualization problems are common throughout the series, with all stories being presented in second person
point-of-view.
By including blank spaces or boxes for writing, puzzles that required pages to be folded over and even a cutout model in one novel (The Star Crystal) the reader was actively encouraged to make changes to the books themselves. Because of this, it is almost impossible to find a copy today in mint condition
.
service and an intelligence agency
. This agency has its headquarters in Sector 666, known as 'The Sector of Illusions'. The reader's character is usually referred to simply as Spy, and the story and illustrations almost always deliberately avoid identifying the Spy's gender or any specific physical characteristics, ensuring the widest possible chance of affinity between the Spy as character and the reader. Individual stories are stand-alone and do not need to be read in any particular order to succeed, however several characters recur throughout the series and earlier events are often referenced later on.
Each novel presents an encapsulated crime or mystery to be solved, and the overall series charts the reader's progress up the ranks with a number of promotions being received over the entire run of novels. Most novels follow the basic format of the reader being contacted by Spy Center who then assign them a mission and usually issue them with an associated disguise. There are often people that the reader must contact, usually spies themselves or else working in league with Spy Center.
The stories are quite linear, with the reader advancing through the set plot by solving a number of puzzles of a 'succeed or fail' style, said failure often resulting in the Spy's death or the story otherwise immediately coming to an end. As such, the reader's choices rarely impact the storyline itself, only their progression through it.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s designed by Byron Preiss
Byron Preiss
Byron Preiss was an American writer, editor, and publisher. He founded and served as president of Byron Preiss Visual Publications, and later of iBooks.-Early life and career:...
Visual Publications and first published by Bantam Books
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
from 1983 to 1985.
Presentation
Aimed at younger readers, these books were published in paperbackPaperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
form only, with brightly coloured covers and were heavily illustrated in black and white throughout. Unlike other series of interactive novels such as Choose Your Own Adventure
Choose Your Own Adventure
Choose Your Own Adventure is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actions and the plot's outcome. The series was based on a...
stories or Fighting Fantasy
Fighting Fantasy
Fighting Fantasy is a series of single-player fantasy roleplay gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volumes in the series were published by Puffin in 1982, with the rights to the franchise eventually being purchased by Wizard Books in 2002...
gamebooks, each Interplanetary Spy book is made up largely of illustrations in a style that mixes comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
-like line drawings with blocky, straight edge illustrations matching the graphical quality of video games from the time of publication. Rather than requiring readers to select from various actions and directions, or succeed in dice driven 'combat' to progress through the story, these novels mostly involve puzzle solving. Image-based challenges such as mazes, pattern matching and visualization problems are common throughout the series, with all stories being presented in second person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
point-of-view.
By including blank spaces or boxes for writing, puzzles that required pages to be folded over and even a cutout model in one novel (The Star Crystal) the reader was actively encouraged to make changes to the books themselves. Because of this, it is almost impossible to find a copy today in mint condition
Mint condition
Mint condition is an expression used in the description of pre-owned goods. Originally, the phrase comes from the way collectors describe the condition of coins. As the name given to a coin factory is a "mint", then mint condition is the condition a coin is in as it leaves the mint...
.
Book Series
The underlying concept of the series is that the reader is a member of an agency known as Spy Center, an organisation that maintains order throughout the galaxy and falls partway between a policePolice
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
service and an intelligence agency
Intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defence. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...
. This agency has its headquarters in Sector 666, known as 'The Sector of Illusions'. The reader's character is usually referred to simply as Spy, and the story and illustrations almost always deliberately avoid identifying the Spy's gender or any specific physical characteristics, ensuring the widest possible chance of affinity between the Spy as character and the reader. Individual stories are stand-alone and do not need to be read in any particular order to succeed, however several characters recur throughout the series and earlier events are often referenced later on.
Each novel presents an encapsulated crime or mystery to be solved, and the overall series charts the reader's progress up the ranks with a number of promotions being received over the entire run of novels. Most novels follow the basic format of the reader being contacted by Spy Center who then assign them a mission and usually issue them with an associated disguise. There are often people that the reader must contact, usually spies themselves or else working in league with Spy Center.
The stories are quite linear, with the reader advancing through the set plot by solving a number of puzzles of a 'succeed or fail' style, said failure often resulting in the Spy's death or the story otherwise immediately coming to an end. As such, the reader's choices rarely impact the storyline itself, only their progression through it.
Titles and Plots
The twelve books, published in timeline order, are:- Find the Kirillian (1983; story by Seth McEvoy; art by Marc HempelMarc HempelMarc Hempel is an American cartoonist/comics artist best known for his work on The Sandman with Neil Gaiman.-Biography:...
and Mark WheatleyMark Wheatley (comics)Mark Wheatley is an American illustrator, writer, editor, and publisher in the comic book field. Wheatley's comic book and pulp creations include Breathtaker, Mars, and Blood of the Innocent, all illustrated by his frequent collaborator Marc Hempel...
) — On their first mission of the series, the reader must re-capture an escaped criminal called Phatax, rescue a kidnapped prince and recover a collection of stolen royal jewels with strange powers. ISBN 9780553235067 - The Galactic Pirate (1983; story by McEvoy; art by Hempel and Wheatley) — Monstrous genetic mutations are being used to commit crimes by the space-pirate Marko Khen. The reader must capture Khen and his henchmen, with the help of a biodroid, without harming the rare and "innocent" creatures that have been mutated by the pirate. ISBN 9780553235074
- Robot World (1983; story by McEvoy; art by Hempel and Wheatley) — The reader (disguised as a robot) is sent to a planet where a robotic rebellion has taken place. There they must contact the cyborgCyborgA cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
-scientist Dr Cyberg and defeat the rebellion before the robots begin an interplanetary invasion. ISBN 9780553237009 - Space Olympics (1983; story by Ron Martinez; art by John Pierard and Tom SuttonTom SuttonTom Sutton was an American comic book artist who sometimes used the pseudonyms Sean Todd and Dementia...
) — A galactic olympics of futuristic sporting events has been scheduled to promote peaceful competition but is threatened by the terrorist Gresh and his clones. The reader, under the guise of a competitor, must protect the athletes (in particular the human Andromeda) and ensure the games are completed safely and fairly. ISBN 9780553237016 - Monsters of Doorna (1983; story by McEvoy; art by Hempel and Wheatley) — A mysterious distress message has been received by Spy Center from the outpost world of Doorna and the reader is sent to this distant planet to save the natives from invading monsters. ISBN 9780553239416
- The Star Crystal (1984; story by Martinez; art by Rich Larson and Steve Fastner) — The Star Crystal, a giant glowing gem, is to be awarded to the greatest artist in the galaxy. The reader, in the guise of an art expert, must protect the Crystal and its courier on the MobiusMöbius stripThe Möbius strip or Möbius band is a surface with only one side and only one boundary component. The Möbius strip has the mathematical property of being non-orientable. It can be realized as a ruled surface...
Space Liner during the journey to the award ceremony. Successful completion of this book rewards the character with a promotion to Level 2 Spy. ISBN 9780553239423 - The Rebel Spy (1984; story by Len Neufeld; art by Alex NiñoAlex NiñoAlex Niño is a Filipino comic book artist best known for his work for the American publishers DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Warren Publishing, and in Heavy Metal magazine.-Early life and career:...
) — The reader is sent with Callisto (the spy they met previously in The Star Crystal) after Valeeta, an insectile renegade spy who is causing trouble on the planet Delbor. Clues point to her being in one of two cities which are currently feuding. The reader must capture Valeeta and in the process reunite the cities to unlock an ancient secret. ISBN 9780553241983 - Mission to Microworld (1984; story by McEvoy; art by Niño and Fastner) — The reader intercepts a distress call from the biodroid encountered in Galactic Pirate in apparently empty space and discovers a microscopic world. With the assistance of Dr Cyberg (from Robot World) the reader must shrink themselves to the same scale as the planet and rescue the enslaved natives from the robotic dictator Electron. ISBN 9780553245219
- Ultraheroes (1984; story by Neufeld and Michael Banks; art by Dennis FrancisDennis FrancisDennis Morales Francis is a comic book creator, artist, and writer. He created the Jax and the Hellhound and Major Lancer and the Starlight Squadron comic series that were published by Blackthorne Publishing Inc...
) — Several individuals (including Andromeda from Space Olympics) with special powers are going through a series of training and testing exercises in an attempt to form an elite group of galactic superheroes. However it has been discovered that a saboteur is amongst them. The reader, pretending to be a late recruit, must locate and stop the saboteur under the guidance of Tunk (Callisto's 'pet' in The Star Crystal) ISBN 9780553244250 - Planet Hunters (1985; story by McEvoy; art by Darrel Anderson) — Three criminals have escaped a prison sector of space known as The Outlaw Sector and are collecting planets by shrinking them with a black-hole gun. Disguised as a spaceship hull-cleaner the reader must sneak aboard their ship while it docks and stop them. ISBN 9780553245325
- The Red Rocket (1985; story by McEvoy; art by Anderson) — Two feuding races are about to go to war. The reader must prevent this by locating a treaty lost in an ancient rocket that went to space hundreds of years before. In doing so they uncover the remnants of the robotic rebellion that was quashed in Robot World which they must defeat. After completing their mission, the reader returns to Spy Centre to find it strangely deserted, and must unravel the mystery (made up of puzzles referencing most of the previous books) to receive a promotion to Level 3 Spy. ISBN 9780553250787
- Skystalker (1985; story by Neufeld; art by Brian Humphrey) — A sphere made of the rarest element in the galaxy has recently been discovered, but has since been stolen by the criminal Skystalker. He is unaware however that the sphere contains a substance that could destroy the galaxy. The reader must track Skystalker to an uninhabited 'puzzle-world' and recover the sphere before it can be opened. ISBN 9780553248944
See also
- GamebookGamebookA gamebook is a work of fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making effective choices. The narrative branches along various paths through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages...
- Interactive FictionInteractive fictionInteractive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
- Choose Your Own AdventureChoose Your Own AdventureChoose Your Own Adventure is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actions and the plot's outcome. The series was based on a...
- Fighting FantasyFighting FantasyFighting Fantasy is a series of single-player fantasy roleplay gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volumes in the series were published by Puffin in 1982, with the rights to the franchise eventually being purchased by Wizard Books in 2002...
- Time Machine (novel series)
- Visual NovelVisual novelA is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
External links
- Demian Katz's GameBook WebPage - A comprehensive look at the Be An Interplanetary Spy book series including cover scans, puzzle examples and player reviews.
- Another comprehensive page with additional information