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Exiled to Earth
The reader lives in the Way Far Back, a patch of wilderness on the Planet Orca, where curiosity has been strictly prohibited. When the reader and a friend decide to explore the "forbidden" zone of Orca, the Council sentences them to banishment on the Planet of Curiosity—Earth.
128 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1988
1 person is currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
R.A. Montgomery
156 books121 followersRaymond A. Montgomery (born 1936 in Connecticut) was an author and progenitor of the classic Choose Your Own Adventure interactive children's book series, which ran from 1979 to 2003. Montgomery graduated from Williams College and went to graduate school at Yale University and New York University (NYU). He devoted his life to teaching and education.
In 2004, he co-founded the Chooseco publishing company alongside his wife, fellow author/publisher Shannon Gilligan, with the goal of reviving the CYOA series with new novels and reissued editions of the classics.
He continued to write and publish until his death in 2014.
In 2004, he co-founded the Chooseco publishing company alongside his wife, fellow author/publisher Shannon Gilligan, with the goal of reviving the CYOA series with new novels and reissued editions of the classics.
He continued to write and publish until his death in 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 26, 2024
What's it like to live in a supposedly more evolved civilization than Earth's, one that has so developed beyond the biological impulse for curiosity that the same is declared illegal? This is the premise of R.A. Montgomery's Exiled to Earth. You and your friend Og are secretly exploring a wilderness region called the Way Far Back, but you both are on edge. Not only could there be natural hazards here, but if the Supreme Senate of your home planet, Orca, learns what you're doing, you will be punished. Sure enough, you are found out and then questioned about your trespass, but you aren't sure how to respond to the Supreme Senate's inquiries. Should you claim you were in the Way Far Back alone, or admit Og was with you and risk drawing him into the crosshairs?
Og may not let you take the rap for him; soon you could both be banished to faraway planet Earth—home of a race called humans—as a "cure" for your curiosity. Orcan technology is advanced, but you aren't guaranteed a smooth voyage to Earth, and you may have to save your own lives before setting foot on the planet. If you're too skittish about taking risks with your spaceship, you might wind up back on Orca without ever enduring exile to Earth, but if you came to this book wanting adventure, you should be more daring in how you approach your spaceship malfunctions. There's a wide range of peoples and places to visit on Earth, and this phase of your young life is the ideal time to do so.
You can choose to land your spaceship in Mexico at Chichén Itzá, an ancient icon of religious life where the locals are eager for first contact with an alien race. Be careful: your ship has defense technology beyond anything seen on Earth, and if you deploy it too casually, you'll damage your chance at peace with the humans. You could instead touch down in Washington D.C. in the United States, whose protectors greet your arrival with military exuberance, or China, whose reception is much quieter. Different decisions you make en route to Earth could place you in Russian territory, or with the Asian people of the Himalayas, or to meet the residents of Taos, New Mexico, folks less likely to use military force than in D.C. Never forget why you were sent here: to satiate your youthful curiosity and extend an olive branch to the people of this planet. You might end up Orca's first successful ambassadors to Earth, and set into motion an era of friendship between the two societies.
I checked out Exiled to Earth from my elementary school library many times, but remembered little of it. Now I see why: it's one of the worst books in the original Choose Your Own Adventure series. The premise, reminiscent of Edward Packard's Earth Inspectors franchise (1988-90), is potentially strong, but R.A. Montgomery does nothing good with it. The majority of story options lead to a vaguely genial initial encounter with Earth natives, at which point the narrative ends without anything substantial happening; all the adventure is on the other side of The End. You never learn much of anything about Earth past or present. Worse than this, however, is the attitude the book seems to take toward mankind, as though our values of freedom and individual rights are signs that we're less evolved. On the contrary, I say the Orcans, despite their superior technology, are at the lower stage of societal development. They have outlawed curiosity about life and the universe, assuming they have reached a level of absolute enlightenment and can't learn more; hence, any attempts to improve the society are counterproductive and should be shut down. This story concept would be fine if their hubris were dealt with, but Mr. Montgomery seems to view Earth and the universe through the same prism of arrogance. I see little reason to come back to Exiled to Earth, but it might be good for some slow-paced fun now and then.
Og may not let you take the rap for him; soon you could both be banished to faraway planet Earth—home of a race called humans—as a "cure" for your curiosity. Orcan technology is advanced, but you aren't guaranteed a smooth voyage to Earth, and you may have to save your own lives before setting foot on the planet. If you're too skittish about taking risks with your spaceship, you might wind up back on Orca without ever enduring exile to Earth, but if you came to this book wanting adventure, you should be more daring in how you approach your spaceship malfunctions. There's a wide range of peoples and places to visit on Earth, and this phase of your young life is the ideal time to do so.
You can choose to land your spaceship in Mexico at Chichén Itzá, an ancient icon of religious life where the locals are eager for first contact with an alien race. Be careful: your ship has defense technology beyond anything seen on Earth, and if you deploy it too casually, you'll damage your chance at peace with the humans. You could instead touch down in Washington D.C. in the United States, whose protectors greet your arrival with military exuberance, or China, whose reception is much quieter. Different decisions you make en route to Earth could place you in Russian territory, or with the Asian people of the Himalayas, or to meet the residents of Taos, New Mexico, folks less likely to use military force than in D.C. Never forget why you were sent here: to satiate your youthful curiosity and extend an olive branch to the people of this planet. You might end up Orca's first successful ambassadors to Earth, and set into motion an era of friendship between the two societies.
I checked out Exiled to Earth from my elementary school library many times, but remembered little of it. Now I see why: it's one of the worst books in the original Choose Your Own Adventure series. The premise, reminiscent of Edward Packard's Earth Inspectors franchise (1988-90), is potentially strong, but R.A. Montgomery does nothing good with it. The majority of story options lead to a vaguely genial initial encounter with Earth natives, at which point the narrative ends without anything substantial happening; all the adventure is on the other side of The End. You never learn much of anything about Earth past or present. Worse than this, however, is the attitude the book seems to take toward mankind, as though our values of freedom and individual rights are signs that we're less evolved. On the contrary, I say the Orcans, despite their superior technology, are at the lower stage of societal development. They have outlawed curiosity about life and the universe, assuming they have reached a level of absolute enlightenment and can't learn more; hence, any attempts to improve the society are counterproductive and should be shut down. This story concept would be fine if their hubris were dealt with, but Mr. Montgomery seems to view Earth and the universe through the same prism of arrogance. I see little reason to come back to Exiled to Earth, but it might be good for some slow-paced fun now and then.
August 31, 2016
Because none of my strategies have worked thus far, I decided to go with actual coin tosses. Yes, I dug out a penny from 1967, minted in Denver, and used it to guide me through this book.
Have you ever looked at a penny from 1967 and thought, Man, what adventures you must have had! You've seen so much change in the world. Maybe you were in a young astronaut's pocket, and then that astronaut became the first person on the moon! Maybe you were at Reagan's inauguration! Maybe you were at a Vietnam War protest!
If you're thinking that I might be killing time here with this penny bullshit, you are totally right. This fucking penny led me through ONE decision before ending the story with me stuck in a tree, waiting on a park ranger to rescue me from a giant lizard. One decision. It doesn't get a lot more wrong than that.
I'm beginning to feel at a loss with these books, so what I've done is to check out a little book called The Decision Book: Fifty Models For Strategic Thinking. Is it possible that The Decision Book will hold some keys to victory? Maybe ONE of the FIFTY keys will be one that leads through the door marked VICTORY as opposed to the unmarked door with a Trainspotting bathroom behind it?
We'll see, readers. We'll see.
Have you ever looked at a penny from 1967 and thought, Man, what adventures you must have had! You've seen so much change in the world. Maybe you were in a young astronaut's pocket, and then that astronaut became the first person on the moon! Maybe you were at Reagan's inauguration! Maybe you were at a Vietnam War protest!
If you're thinking that I might be killing time here with this penny bullshit, you are totally right. This fucking penny led me through ONE decision before ending the story with me stuck in a tree, waiting on a park ranger to rescue me from a giant lizard. One decision. It doesn't get a lot more wrong than that.
I'm beginning to feel at a loss with these books, so what I've done is to check out a little book called The Decision Book: Fifty Models For Strategic Thinking. Is it possible that The Decision Book will hold some keys to victory? Maybe ONE of the FIFTY keys will be one that leads through the door marked VICTORY as opposed to the unmarked door with a Trainspotting bathroom behind it?
We'll see, readers. We'll see.
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June 23, 2011Actually 3 1/2 starts. Alex and I enjoyed it. It is so cool to be reading choose your own adventure books with my son. I owned one when I was young and it was a prized book.
November 6, 2016
You are an alien from a distant world.. Choose your own adventure: Exiled To Earth
By R.A. Montgomery
R.A. Montgomery was born March 9, 1936 him and his wife have written lots of books.
He was an author who contributed many books to the ‘choose your own adventure’ series, created in the late 1970s. He died November 9, 2014.
Half way through the book, you get to decide if you want to go to China or the United States of America. I Decided to go to China. I love how you get to pick yourself. It makes the book more interesting. But me and my friend Og landed in the wrong spot we landed in mexico.
The theme of the book is very fun, cause you choose how the book ends and how everything happens. It’s almost like a game, i thought this book was so fun to read..At the end of the book me and my friend were greeting the earth people and they starting shooting small metal objects at us and they called them bullets. What are bullets? Was the last thing I ever asked.
This book was a fun adventure the whole time i was reading it! Me and my friend Og are a great team. We come from the planet Orca, the planets elders warned us not to go to other planets but me and Og went anyway. We wanted to go explore earth. When we got there we had to decide to go to China or America. We went to China and got lost and ended up in Mexico, as we started heading to China we stopped to greet some earth people. And They greeted us with things called bullets. What a strange way to greet someone.
By R.A. Montgomery
R.A. Montgomery was born March 9, 1936 him and his wife have written lots of books.
He was an author who contributed many books to the ‘choose your own adventure’ series, created in the late 1970s. He died November 9, 2014.
Half way through the book, you get to decide if you want to go to China or the United States of America. I Decided to go to China. I love how you get to pick yourself. It makes the book more interesting. But me and my friend Og landed in the wrong spot we landed in mexico.
The theme of the book is very fun, cause you choose how the book ends and how everything happens. It’s almost like a game, i thought this book was so fun to read..At the end of the book me and my friend were greeting the earth people and they starting shooting small metal objects at us and they called them bullets. What are bullets? Was the last thing I ever asked.
This book was a fun adventure the whole time i was reading it! Me and my friend Og are a great team. We come from the planet Orca, the planets elders warned us not to go to other planets but me and Og went anyway. We wanted to go explore earth. When we got there we had to decide to go to China or America. We went to China and got lost and ended up in Mexico, as we started heading to China we stopped to greet some earth people. And They greeted us with things called bullets. What a strange way to greet someone.
July 2, 2018
Alien kids visit Earth. Results from the various paths:
Mexicans welcome them with open arms.
Buddhist monks welcome them with open arms.
The Chinese military welcomes them with open arms.
Literal terrorists welcome them with open arms.
Americans murder them on sight.
Come the fuck on, R. A. Montgomery.
Mexicans welcome them with open arms.
Buddhist monks welcome them with open arms.
The Chinese military welcomes them with open arms.
Literal terrorists welcome them with open arms.
Americans murder them on sight.
Come the fuck on, R. A. Montgomery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2021
I have never been good at these
September 27, 2018
Ugh, where to even start? I picked this book up out of a (possibly missplaced) sense of nostalgia for the series, expecting the exotic adventures I remembered from my childhood. Sadly, while the description promised outsmarting an oppressive regime and surviving a mysterious planet Earth, it was mostly talking heads. None of the plots were compelling, few of your choices resulted in logical outcomes, and the end of your "adventure" is where most children's adventure books would begin. None of the "stories" could even count as proper stories. Not to mention the serious credibility issues; every government except the U.S. welcomed the alien visitors with open arms (even China, another global superpower), despite the fact the Elders warned the child explorers that none of the expeditions to earth returned. Honestly, for most of Earth's history, strangers arriving in your country with promises of peace and help are usually there to enslave you. Earthlings wouldn't be leery of the alien kids out of ignorant cruelty, but from basic survival instinct. However, these Earthlings had no skepticism whatsoever, and saving the world apparently has more to do with chanting and emanating "love for all living things" than actually tackling problems head-on. Don't let the spunky alien girl (who isn't even in the book) on the cover fool you; the only thing this book acutally saves is...who am I kidding? The only way it could save anything is by being recycled. Remember, kids, love for all living things means nothing unless you actually do something to demonstrate it, like recycling paper or even trying to solve a problem in your own neighborhood.
December 29, 2011
Delightful! Really, the only great thing about these books is the fun in choosing your own ending; the story and writing isn't anything to be impressed about, but that's ok. I went through all the possible combinations, and there were fourteen endings- only one was death!
March 6, 2009
Not *quite* as fun as I remembered, but still pretty good.
December 30, 2011
My ending was lame!
April 20, 2015
I never knew what was going too happen next thats why i liked it!
August 19, 2015
An entertaining read that reminded me of my childhood :)
April 19, 2016
Right, Wrong you decide a well written story but you have to choose which line it goes down... but not all of them end pretty.
September 29, 2015
I loved the choose your-own-adventure books during my early years, and believe these are a great set of books for those who are new to reading their own books.
April 16, 2018
This book made me feel nostalgic, because i, as a kid loved these type of books. I'd spend hours spending time trying to figure out every possible ending before putting it down.
August 20, 2019
A curious ban
Scientist, diplomat, death
There’s more than enough
Scientist, diplomat, death
There’s more than enough
November 12, 2019
It’s the cutest one!!
June 19, 2023
Contains all of Montgomery's favorite cliches except cryptids.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews