Assassins Creed inspires a new YA book series from Scholastic and Ubisoft

Ubisoft® and Scholastic have announced a collaboration on a new young adult book series, Last Descendants, based on the hit video game franchise Assassin’s Creed®.

Written for readers ages 12 and up by award-winning author Matthew J. Kirby, the first book in the “Last Descendants” series will launch simultaneously in September 2016 in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. The second book will follow in January 2017.

Last Descendants is an action adventure, historical fiction saga featuring a group of teens caught up in the centuries-old Assassin-Templar feud. Inspired by the popular video game series, the first book is set concurrently in the present-day, 1860s New York City, and during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. It will feature historical figures including William “Boss” Tweed, Hernan Cortes, and renowned opera singer Adelina Patti, among others.

For those that don’t know, Matthew J. Kirby is the critically-acclaimed author of the middle-grade novels Icefall, which won the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery and the PEN Center USA Literary Award; The Clockwork Three, which was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start; Cave of Wonders from the bestselling Infinity Ring series, and The Lost Kingdom.

His books have been named to the New York Public Library’s 100 Books for Reading and Sharing and the American Library Association Best Fiction for Young Adults lists. Kirby is also the author of the forthcoming young adult gothic thriller, A Taste for Monsters which is due for release in September 2016.

“Collaborating with Scholastic combines our shared passion for storytelling and using history as our playground to bring a new story to life,” said Aymar Azaizia, Head of Content at Ubisoft. “The Last Descendants book series represents a great opportunity to further develop the Assassin’s Creed universe in a way that appeals to both newcomers and existing fans.”

Whilst Scholastic’s Debra Dorfman (Vice President and Publisher, Global Licensing, and Media Consumer Products) said “Assassin’s Creed is an immersive world filled with rich and engrossing historical settings that teens will be drawn to again and again”. Dorfman also pointed out that “Scholastic has a proven track record of bringing major franchises to the publishing world” and emphasized their excitement at bringing Matthew J. Kirby’s books to readers around the world.

 

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Simon Clark

Books Editor. An admirer of songs and reader of books. Simon has a PhD in English and Comparative Literature. All errant apostrophes are his own.