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


The Third Planet from Altair (Choose Your Own Adventure, #7)
Title : The Third Planet from Altair (Choose Your Own Adventure, #7)
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0553231855
ISBN-10 : 9780553231854
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 117
Publication : First published April 1, 1979

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.


The Third Planet from Altair (Choose Your Own Adventure, #7) Reviews


  • Kelly H. (Maybedog)

    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

    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

    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

    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.

  • Andy Hickman

    “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

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

  • Katie Kaste

    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.

  • Wade

    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.

  • L

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

  • Ben Nickell

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

  • Dane Barrett

    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.

  • David Sarkies

    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

    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

    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


    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

    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

    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.

  • 'Nathan Burgoine

    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.

  • Jlawrence

    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

    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.

  • Marts  (Thinker)

    What is fun about these books is that the reader actually becomes the story's central character so you get to make decisions and create an adventure. You can end up reading one story in many different ways.

  • Craig Lane


    I recognized this one by the cover. I know I read a bunch of these "Choose Your Own Adventure" books in my youth, but of the titles listed on goodreads, not enough of them are accompanied by scanned covers so I can't remember which ones I actually read without the visual clues.

  • Daesung Park

    My childhood first sci-fi book! (korean edition)

  • Sheila Read

    the adventures that I went through when I was bored I just read these books over and over again you would never get to the end of the story.

  • Rob Turner

    Brought back some great memories. Amazing how hard it is to make it through without dying.

  • Deborah

    I enjoyed this book now just as much as I had enjoyed them as a child. It was nice to have that feeling back. The story entertaining and the choices were realistic for the story.