🛸 THEY CAME FROM THE STARS… AND THEY'RE COMING FOR YOU.Roswell, New a sleepy desert town buzzing with UFO hunters, alien conspiracies, and a dark secret the government will do anything to hide. For James and his younger brother Wes, it was supposed to be a simple family vacation. But the moment they arrive, they’re dodging Men in Black, chased by extraterrestrials, and contacted by a time-bending being from beyond the stars.
In Try Not to In Roswell and Beyond, you control the story. As James, you’ll navigate a mind-warping journey across dimensions, onto alien ships, and into the past—all while trying to protect your brother and survive the impossible. Your only weapon? The skills you picked up mastering the video game Star Pilot. But this is no simulation.
With 22 unique and brutal ways to die, every decision could be your last. Will you get abducted, dissected, blasted, crushed, devoured, or worse? Or will you uncover the truth and escape the alien nightmare?
🚀 A Sci-Fi Thrill Ride for Fans
Interactive fiction and gamebooks
Aliens, space travel, and government conspiracies
The Try Not to Die series and branching survival adventures
This is more than a book—it’s a high-stakes, heart-pounding test of your instincts.
Make the right choices. Escape Roswell. Save the galaxy.
Try Not to Die: In Roswell and Beyond: An Interactive Adventure is a well-written entry in the Try Not to Die series. Apart from the multitude of creative ways to meet your demise, it also features a well-crafted sibling dynamic. As you read, it becomes clear that there is a lot of history between the protagonist and his younger brother Wes. What helps to convey this is that the narrative shows this organically via small interactions, rather than simply telling us via exposition. In addition, the translation device that plays a large part in the narrative is very amusing, as it has its quirks and demonstrates a snarky sense of humor, which is justified by the interesting approach taken by the protagonist.
I also appreciated that there are multiple antagonists who are just as hostile to one another as they are to you. In line with the strong writing on display, you can't play them against one another, and in at least one of the bad endings, their mutual antagonism contributes to your demise. Speaking of bad endings, there were a number of challenging choices where the right decision was unclear. In terms of limitations, while the narrative did employ time travel, it became abundantly clear that it had limitations, such that it couldn't simply fix any problems that arose. This helped make the narrative feel more grounded. In addition, part of the issues in the narrative arose from the use of time travel.
For all the nuance that was present in the book, it also had a healthy sense of humor. I appreciated this, as the narrative could be rather bleak, if one thought about it. A large part of the sense of humor came through in the plethora of pop culture references, and it extended to the good ending, which was a fitting capstone for the book.
I received an Advance Review Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A super-fun blend of sci-fi, horror, and humor- this is one unpredictable and wild ride. (Hints: time-travel, crocodile jaws, and a talking "space fern.")
I really appreciated the references/homages to popular science-fiction stories such as "Men in Black," "Stargate," and "Star Wars," as well as visits to extraterrestrial hotspots, Roswell and Area 51. My favorite "death scenes" involved McDonald's and a dinosaur!
A head-spinning, entertaining read! Let it draw you into its tractor-beam!
This one had me guessing at every turn what could happen. I never expected some of the choices would actually be the right one, because they were so well done it was hard to even tell, but as per usual I try to die instead of making it out because I like to see all of the choices & ways to die while also seeing how the story would go should the wrong choice be made. This book in the series just shows why Mark & all his co-authors are amazing at writing these interactive stories. I look forward to every one & have yet to find one that I dont like.
James is on a family vacation in Roswell, New Mexico. Now, he is on the run from all types of things. Who or what can he trust. Make your choices wisely or face the consequences. Laugh out loud, how did that happen moments.
A fun, Sci-Fi read and I love the interaction, although my choices aren't always the right ones. It is straight into action, full of humour and danger and I highly recommend it. This is one of several TNTD books and they are all definitely worth reading. Read as an ARC and my review is honest and voluntary.
I am a huge fan of these TNTD interactive stories, having read at least ten of them. I was a bit sceptic at first, when I saw this is about spaceships and aliens since I am not a massive fan of the subject. But I still couldn't say no. And I am happy I took the plunge because this one has it all : tension, excitement, gory deaths and lots of humor. I absolutely loved it.
James and his family, including his younger brother, Wes, are in Roswell, New Mexico for the annual UFO festival. His parents are huge fans (and big nerds), but James is more of a video game guy. When strange things start to happen, James and Wes are led through a series of events that could potentially mean the end of the world!
This book was great fun and featured lots of cultural references to Star Wars, Star Trek, MIB, video games and aliens! These added a lot to my enjoyment of this book as I tried to survive all that was thrown at James (and me!).
These TNTD books are great fun! At the end of each chapter, you are given several choices of how to proceed. Based on your choices, you either progress unharmed or you die! If you are like me, you will probably face your demise many times before reaching the end of the book. If you're not adventurous (or you just get tired of choosing the wrong path), there is also a survivor's path that you can read without fear of death!
I look forward to each of these books as the different authors put their spin on a story from their own works. Grab it and TNTD!
Try Not to Die In Roswell and Beyond is a Sci-Fi Horror Interactive Adventure filled with plenty of death scenes and aliens with every choice. Whether you are a Sci-Fi nerd or not, you can’t help but love the snarky humor, brotherly love and creative death scenes that will be found within this out of this world edition to the TNTD Series. Choose well or not, you can’t help but laugh at each crazy yet fun challenging choices of what to do next. As always you will find hours of entertainment and enjoyment in your deadly decisions. I look forward to what Mark has in store for us in the next addition to the series. There is never enough ways for him to kill us all.
I was a fan of Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was a kid and love the idea of an adult horror version of them. I'm not a big sci-fi fan but I decided to give this a go. I was not disappointed! This was a really fun read! James and his brother Wes get themselves into some crazy situations. Each demise was creatively written. I loved Bob. He reminded me a lot of Al from Quantum Leap. I had a blast reading this and look forward to more TNTD books!