Assassin's Creed Book Series Launching This September

Ubisoft and Scholastic have announced a collaboration to launch a new book series based on the Assassin's Creed games. The young adult book series is titled Last Descendants, and is written by award-winning author Matthew J. Kirby. The first book will be released in September this year across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. A second book is scheduled to launch in January 2017.

Last Descendants is described as an action-filled adventure, featuring a group of teens "caught up in the centuries-old Assassin-Templar feud." The first book will be set in present-day with characters venturing into other locales set in the past, including 1860s New York and the Aztec Empire during the Spanish conquest. Famous historical figures that are confirmed to make an appearance include William "Boss" Tweet, Hernan Cortes, and Adelina Patti.

Protagonist Owen will enter a simulation of memories shared within his DNA--similar to how the main characters of the Assassin's Creed series of games experience the past.

Author Matthew J. Kirby is no stranger to writing young adult novels. He was granted the Edgard Award for Best Juvenile Mystery and the PEN Center USA Literary Award for his novel Icefall. Kirby also pens the popular Infinity Ring series.

Earlier this month Ubisoft revealed that there would not be a new Assassin's Creed game release in the main series this year. Ubisoft CFO Alain Martinez elaborated that the company will evaluate the release schedules for every new game on an individual basis. CEO Yves Guillemot said not releasing a new Assassin's Creed mainline game this year would give Ubisoft the time to "[take advantage of all the new technologies."