40 Fun Facts About Aurora Rising

In Aurora Rising, roughly how long was Aurora O'Malley frozen in cryo-sleep before Tyler Jones found her?

Two centuries pass while she lies frozen in a wreck adrift in the Fold. She wakes to learn that her family and every friend she had are long gone.

In Aurora Rising, what does Aurora O'Malley name the chatty old uniglass that Tyler Jones gives her?

Magellan is an outdated model with a built-in persona so relentlessly chirpy that later units dropped the feature. The squad spends much of the story ordering it into silent mode.

In Aurora Rising, which Academy event does top cadet Tyler Jones miss while rescuing Aurora O'Malley?

The Draft is where graduating squad leaders choose their crews, and the best cadet of the year should have picked first. Missing it leaves him with the recruits nobody else wanted.

In Aurora Rising, which Squad 312 diplomat is the twin sister of squad leader Tyler Jones?

Scarlett is the elder twin by a few minutes and never wanted a military life. She enlisted at thirteen only because she would not let her brother go alone.

In Aurora Rising, what is the proper name of the pirate-run trading hub that everyone calls the World Ship?

Sempiternity began as a single pirate starport and grew as ship after ship bolted itself on. After fifty years the tangle of hulls is as big as a small moon.

In Aurora Rising, the masked leader of the agents hunting Aurora O'Malley is revealed to be which relative?

Her father reached the colony world long before she set out to join him. He was among the settlers infected by the hive mind there, and it has controlled him ever since.

In Aurora Rising, which ancient plant-like hive mind has taken over the lost colony that Squad 312 finally reaches?

The Ra'haam is countless organisms acting as one being, spread by plant growth and thick blue pollen. Its hosts become stronger and faster but lose all individuality.

In Aurora Rising, which member of Squad 312 is absorbed by the alien hive mind as the others escape?

Cat Brannock is infected after her suit is torn open on the colony planet. She holds the hive mind back from inside just long enough for her friends to get away.

In Aurora Rising, which Syldrathi word, loosely translated as beloved, does Kal start calling Aurora O'Malley?

Be'shmai is the word his people keep for a lifelove, and Kal first says it during a bar brawl on the World Ship. No such bond with a human had been heard of before.

Before Aurora Rising, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff co-wrote which bestselling science fiction series?

The Illuminae Files began in 2015, and within weeks Brad Pitt's production company had bought the film rights. The same publisher then signed the pair's new space saga.

In Aurora Rising, which ark-class colony ship vanished in the Fold with Aurora O'Malley asleep on board?

The Hadfield was lost with nearly ten thousand colonists aboard. The disaster brought the age of corporate space exploration to an end.

In Aurora Rising, which planet does Aurora O'Malley insist her lost colony ship was bound for?

Octavia III is the world she spent years training to settle. Official records give her ship a different destination and say no colony was ever founded on Octavia.

In Aurora Rising, Squad 312's sarcastic, exosuit-wearing mechanic Finian de Seel belongs to which alien species?

Betraskan people live mostly underground on their homeworld, Trask, and were the first aliens humanity ever met. They wear dark contact lenses to shield their eyes from light.

In Aurora Rising, which title does the Aurora Legion give a squad leader such as top cadet Tyler Jones?

Alpha is the Legion's word for the legionnaire who plans each mission and answers for the lives of the squad. Only the most talented cadets are admitted to that training stream.

In Aurora Rising, which one-word title does the Aurora Legion give the diplomat and negotiator of each squad?

Face is the title for a squad's smooth talker, schooled in the languages and customs of many species. Squad 312's is its leader's own twin.

In Aurora Rising, what do the Syldrathi call the instinctive lifelong bond that Kal feels toward Aurora O'Malley?

The Pull normally forms between two Syldrathi and is felt by both. Kal refuses to press it on her and is ready to resign from the squad to leave her free.

In Aurora Rising, Squad 312 times its World Ship heist to coincide with which kind of anniversary celebration?

A masquerade ball marks fifty years of the World Ship, and Aurora had already seen it in a vision. Most of the squad attends in costume while Finian runs the break-in remotely.

In Aurora Rising, what lasting change comes over Aurora O'Malley's right eye when her power first erupts?

The iris turns white as she hurls an attacker into a wall to save Kal. She had already watched the very same scene play out in a vision.

Aurora Rising was co-written by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, authors who both come from which country?

Australia is home to both: Kaufman grew up partly in Melbourne and Kristoff was born in Perth. Kaufman spent seven years working as a mediator before she wrote full time.

Which second novel continued the story of Squad 312 for authors Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff in 2020?

Aurora Burning followed the first book by a year, and the trilogy closed in 2021 with a third volume, Aurora's End.

In Aurora Rising, which eerie effect do travelers notice the moment their ship enters the Fold?

Loss of all color turns everything inside the Fold gray. The journey also harms the mind more with age, so travelers over twenty-five are advised to be frozen first.

In Aurora Rising, what is the main purpose of the Aurora Legion that Tyler Jones and his squad serve?

Peacekeeping across the galaxy is the Legion's job, from relief runs to talks between species. Each squad holds six specialists so that it can handle a crisis alone.

In Aurora Rising, which four-armed collector, who all but runs the World Ship, owns the statue Squad 312 steals?

Casseldon Bianchi keeps a private menagerie said to hold more than ten thousand species. He wears the only key to his office on a chain around his neck.

In Aurora Rising, which ferocious beast, the last of its kind, guards the back way into the collector's office?

An ultrasaur belongs to a species so vicious that its members all but wiped each other out. Aurora kills this last survivor with her mind to save two squadmates.

In Aurora Rising, which long-vanished race, said to be the first to find the Fold, made the statue Squad 312 steals?

The Eshvaren are known only from the relics they left behind, supposedly a million years ago. Nothing else proves they ever existed, though Kal's people still tell tales of them.

In Aurora Rising, the small tattoo on Kal's brow marks him as a member of which Syldrathi cabal?

Warbreed are the warriors and guardians among Kal's people, marked by three crossed blades. Most joined the renegade faction called the Unbroken, so refugees take one look at his tattoo and distrust him.

In Aurora Rising, which nickname did Squad 312's pilot earn with a flawless result in her flight exam?

Zero is the share of targets she missed in the exam, which made her the best flyer of her year. The squad later names a ship in her honor.

In Aurora Rising, which savage animals attack Squad 312 on the colony planet and rip open the pilot's suit?

Chimpanzees ambush the squad on its way to the colony buildings. The tear in the suit is all the planet's hive mind needs to begin infecting the pilot.

In Aurora Rising, what does the gem hidden inside the stolen statue project when it touches Aurora O'Malley's hand?

A star map appears above the diamond, marking twenty-two planets that each have a natural gateway into the Fold. One is the world her colony ship never reached.

In Aurora Rising, which weapon does Zila Madran turn on the sleepwalking Aurora O'Malley to free a squadmate?

A disruptor pistol does it, and Zila fires several times. She later stuns Aurora again on purpose, having seen that the girl's powers surface when she is unconscious.

In Aurora Rising, which title belongs to the helmeted agent who leads the GIA pursuit of Aurora O'Malley?

Princeps leads agents made identical by gray suits, blank helmets and voice synthesizers. The agency has almost unlimited power to pursue and detain anyone it chooses.

In Aurora Rising, what kind of lucky charm is Shamrock, which Squad 312's pilot keeps on her dashboard?

A plush dragon, green and a gift from her mother, sits on the dash of whatever she flies. After she is lost, the squad keeps it aboard to remember her.

In Aurora Rising, which shipwide system does Squad 312 sabotage during its heist on the World Ship?

Artificial gravity goes down when the squad's bomb detonates. Three of them then slip through the collector's weightless menagerie toward his office.

In Aurora Rising, which office did Jericho Jones, Tyler's late dad, win in a landslide after leaving the military?

Senator Jericho Jones argued for peace with the Syldrathi long before it came, then died flying against their renegades. Tyler wears his senate ring on a chain around his neck.

In Aurora Rising, what did a kindergarten classmate hit Tyler Jones with, leaving the scar through his eyebrow?

A chair, swung by the girl who grew up to be his best friend and his squad's pilot. The two had known each other since they were five.

In Aurora Rising, what left Finian de Seel with the nerve damage that makes him rely on a powered exosuit?

A childhood plague called Lysergia weakened his nerves and muscles. At six he was sent to live with his grandparents on an orbital station, far from his family and friends.

In Aurora Rising, what nickname does the newly woken Aurora O'Malley give her rescuer, Tyler Jones?

Captain Hotness is her label for him before she even learns his name. He has a pet name for the girl he rescued too: Sleeping Beauty.

In Aurora Rising, which creature is tattooed across the throat of Squad 312's heavily inked pilot?

A phoenix soars across her throat, the most prominent of her many tattoos. The hawk on her back copies one that her mother wore.

In Aurora Rising, in which field had Aurora O'Malley won an apprenticeship on the colony she never reached?

Cartography and exploration were to be her work on the new world. She had studied every centimeter of the planet and fought for a berth on the third shipment of colonists.

Which company bought the television rights to Aurora Rising weeks after the novel was published?

MGM Television picked up the book in June 2019, a month after it debuted at number two on the New York Times bestseller list.