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ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Toby Bryce writes cinematic YA thrillers that fuse science fiction, Norse mythology, and survivalist realism. His series The Viking Creed began as a NASA education concept and evolved into a fully written four-book saga that follows a teen gamer turned reluctant astronaut navigating prophecy, power, and planetary survival. Drawing on years of NASA outreach and his MBA in leadership, Toby brings authenticity to his narratives, infusing them with strategic tension, resilience, and high-stakes worldbuilding. His work is influenced by authors like Marie Lu, Neal Shusterman, and Andy Weir, and is written for readers who crave fast-paced fiction with purpose.

THE QUARTET IN A NUTSHELL: SPOILER ALERT
The Viking Creed is a high-stakes, genre-blending YA speculative thriller where Arctic-born teen Runa Erikson—gamertag “Viking”—discovers the world’s favorite online battle game is a covert NASA experiment to test her. But a darker force is in play. The ancient order of Aquila—ruthless, powerful, and cloaked in myth—believes Runa’s Viking bloodline is the key to unlocking the Prophecy of the Talisman, a legend pointing the way to a lost world. The prophecy is real, and so is the Viking Creed—one hundred rules to live, love, and fight by—ancient wisdom that will trace to a world beyond her own. At its heart lies the Ark, the Global Seed Vault—vital not just to Earth’s survival, but to the resurrection of a lost world long buried in the prophecy. To fulfill it, Runa must crack the Creed and leave Earth behind. Aquila will stop at nothing—manipulating, hunting, or destroying Runa—to claim the prophecy and its power for themselves. As Runa and her crew of global misfits shift from simulated warfare to real-world missions, they must protect the Ark from those who would twist its purpose and claim the prophecy’s power. Their journey will take them from the Arctic to orbit—then to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. With everything at stake, Runa must decide whether to obey the Creed she was raised by—or break it to survive. Spanning four tightly plotted novels—Building 9, Game On, Game Over, and Endgame—this series blends Norse myth, climate urgency, and YA dystopian thrill for fans of The Hunger Games, Scythe, and Warcross.

BOOK ONE: BUILDING 9
NASA hijacked the world’s favorite game. Now Runa Erikson is playing for survival.
Runa Erikson thought it was just a game—until NASA made her the experiment. Building Nine isn’t just the world’s favorite online battle game—it’s a secret NASA experiment to test fourteen-year-old Runa Erikson for interstellar travel—and for humanity’s future. Runa—Arctic-born exile, gamer, outsider, and founder of Groundswell, a youth movement fighting to save the planet—has no idea the game was never just a game. When she refuses a multi-million-dollar offer to betray her teammates, she exposes NASA’s secret and becomes a global symbol of rebellion. But the fallout draws a darker enemy: Aquila, an ancient order obsessed with a Viking prophecy—the Prophecy of the Talisman—that they believe only Runa can unlock. Hunted across Earth’s most extreme frontiers, Runa must decide whether to follow the Creed’s one hundred rules to live, love, and fight by, or break them to survive. NASA wants her future. Aquila craves her past. The Creed demands everything.

BOOK TWO: GAME ON.
Kicked out of NASA, Runa Erikson won’t quit—her fight for Earth has only just begun.
Thrown off the astronaut program, Runa Eirikson is racing to save the Ark—while Aquila watches her every move, waiting for her to crack the Creed. Game On begins with the fall of the program—but Runa Erikson isn’t done. Cut from NASA’s official mission, she and her team continue training in secret, determined to protect the Ark and unravel the truth behind the Viking Creed. As she pieces together the Prophecy of the Talisman, Runa discovers the threat is no longer virtual or theoretical—Aquila is real, ruthless, and coming for her. A hidden message from her mother finally releases her from the guilt she’s carried—but it also confirms her greatest fear: Aquila doesn’t just want to use her. They mean to erase her. With allies fading and the prophecy taking shape, Runa must decide who to trust, what to sacrifice, and whether the Creed she’s lived by can still save her.

BOOK THREE: GAME OVER
Saving the planet made Runa Erikson the world’s most wanted, as enemies converge and a prophecy seals her fate.
Destiny is a hard thing to run from. After stealing the Ark, Runa Erikson is on the run—hunted by Aquila, watched by NASA, and carrying the weight of the world’s most valuable resource. But protecting the Ark is only the beginning. To unlock the Viking Creed’s true meaning, Runa must follow it to its origin. In the ruins of Varrich, a buried prophecy begins to surface—one that could reshape her future and decide humanity’s fate. Their astronaut training intensifies, shadowed by deliberate acts of sabotage. Aquila is determined to stop her—before she ever leaves Earth.

BOOK FOUR: ENDGAME
Hunted. Betrayed. Alone in space. Runa Erikson is humanity’s last hope.
The prophecy is broken. Her destiny is a lie. But the Creed calls. Runa Erikson is fighting for her life in orbit. The Ark is lost. The runestones are trapped in Satellite 13. NASA’s mission has been hijacked by Aquila—and everything the Creed promised is starting to collapse. Disillusioned, Runa returns to Earth alone, leaving her crew to hide on the Moon. Only then does she uncover a secret that changes everything she thought she knew. Now, to finish what the prophecy began, Runa must return to space, reclaim the Ark, and lead the mission to find the lost world.

BOOK FIVE PREQUAL: The Viking Creed
100 rules to live, love & fight by.
Before Runa Erikson led the mission to Altair, before the Ark was launched or the prophecy uncovered, there was only the Creed—passed down through generations, it whispered of sorcery. Hidden within the Poetic Edda—written after the fall of the Viking age—the Creed recorded a prophecy in dark verse: the story of a lost world, and how to find it. Waiting for someone to decipher it. Now, for the first time, the full Viking Creed is revealed. These are the words that inspired a generation to leave Earth—and save a planet.

"Seek Something, Risk Everything"
"Søk Noko, Risiker Alt"

—The first of 100 rules to live, love & fight by.
The Viking Creed

Contact the Author

PARENTS/EDUCATORS:

THE BOOKS THAT CONVERT GAMERS TO READERS, AND READERS TO RUNNERS

Converting GAMERS 2 READERS is as easy as 1,2,3
(1) Trade with your teen - one chapter for one hour of GAMING
(2) Test them by asking the question below
(3) Repeat


Book (1) BUILDING 9
Chapter	Question	Answer
Prologue	What did the Viking lose in the ocean	The runestone
1. Kill House	Is the fight real or virtual	Virtual
2. Betrayal	Which plan did they go for, A or B	Always B
3. Tough & Competent	Where was mission control	Houston, Texas
4. Silver	Where does Runa Erikson come from	Svalbard, Norway
5. Aftermath	What was the professor looking at in the cabinet	Watches
6. Coyote	What did the professor escape on to Building 9	A bicycle
7. Stall	Who was cross with the professor	Director One, Wade Carrera
8. The Hub	Where was the Hub	Beneath Building 9, level -9.
9. Bio Flaw	Who announced that space travel was doomed	WHO, the World Health Organisation
10. Darkness	Where does Runa Erikson live	In an observatory
11. Zone 4	Which zone was safe	Zone One
12. Adventdalen	What mode of transport does Runa Erikson use	Dog Sled
13. Outpost	What did Runa Erikson deliver to the Outpost	Birthday Cake
14. Shrund	What is the Shrund	A crevasse
15. Armageddon	What is the Ark	The global seed store
16. Oval Ultimatum	Who flapped like a bird in the Oval Office	The president
17. Firing Room	Who's office was the Firing Room	Director One, Wade Carrera
18. Viking	What hummed like a swarm of bees	The Ark's control room
19. NASA One	What was NASA One	A jet
20. Playbook	Where was the boy from NASA going	The Ark
21. The Pit	What did Fox meet in the Pit	A polar bear
22. Melt Down	What was going to meltdown	The generator
23. Red Jacket	Who was Red Jacket	Fox Washington
24. Weird Science	What lived in the boxes at KHO	Dogs/huskies
25. One to warn	Why did Runa check the dogs with a gun	To check for bears
26. Tourist Trap	Who did Runa Erikson take prisoner	Fox Washington
27. UNIS	What travelled fast in Svalbard	News
28. Purple Flare	Why did Saskia fire the flare	To raise the alarm
29. EISCAT	What was EISCAT	A radar station
30. Warning Word	What was Runa Erikson's warning word	Polaris
31. Abominable Snowman	Who was the Abominable Snowman	Sergei
32. Gifts	What was Runa Erikson told to leave behind	The rifle
33. Hagglund	What was the Hagglund	A tracked snow vehicle
34. Exodus	What was waiting at the airport	The jet NASA1
35. Mariner	Who was Mariner	Chase Hudson
36. Milkround	What was Milkround	A helicopter
37. Licorice Water	Who was Coolio	The ship's cook, chef, camp boss
38. Rip and Tear	Who was Teflon	The deck boss
39. Bird	Who was Bird	The helicopter pilot
40. The Bin	What was the bin	Dive chamber
41. Aqua	Who was Hershey	The ships radio operator, gaming addict
42. Red Legend	What room was Sing looking for	The captain's library
43. Avatar	What was the captain's name	Voss
44. Runflat	What was wrong with the helicopter	Flat tires
45. Highlander	Who was Highlander	Scott
46. Super Guppy	What was the Super Guppy	An aeroplane
47. Outsider	Which airport did Pearl land at in Scotland	Inverness
48. Finkle	What was Finkle	Scott's home town
49. Talmine	Was was Talmine	A beach
50. Mellness	Why was Mellness special	Spaceport and rocket launchpad
51. Badger	What was Badger	A Landrover / 4x4
52. Eagle Tree	What was Farmer Dod's dog called	Jess
53. Bagpipes	Where did the bagpipes come from	Above the bar
54. Ellington	What was Ellington	An airport
55. Triple-A	What did Triple-A land in	Helicopters
Epilogue	What had NASA done to Season 9	Highjacked the game

Converting GAMERS 2 READERS is as easy as 1,2,3
(1) Trade with your teen - one chapter for one hour of GAMING
(2) Test them by asking the question below
(3) Repeat

Book (2) GAME ON

Chapter	Question	Answer
Prologue	Who was returned to Svalbard	The warrior's son
1 Space Camp	Where was space camp	JSC, Johnsen Space Center, Space City, Houston Texas
2 Friend or Foe	Who said, friend or foe	Huck Chambers
3 Tram Tour	Where was the tram tour	Around Space City JSC
4 Nine	Who is NINE	NASA's inner circle
5 One Ten	Who is 110	NASA's security
6 Wisewoman	Who is the Wisewoman	The professor's colleague, Darcy
7 Mission Brief	Where was the mission brief	Level 3, Stratosphere, the Underworld, Building 9
8 Gameplan	What did Runa press against her lips	The talisman
9 Jarheads	Who were the jarheads	The Triple-A team
10 Hunter	Where did Groundswell eat	Building 11
11 Collision Course	Who was Groundswell supposed to meet	Director One
12 Angels	What was an angel	A satellite catcher
13 Orchard	What was the orchard	An orchard outside Building 9
14 Kill Zone	What was the kill zone	The ring for robot wars
15 BioMed	What happened in BioMed	Groundswell was tested.
16 Midnight Feast	What reptile did Runa battle	An American alligator
17 Gator Bait	Who set up Runa	Triple-A
18 ISS	What is the ISS	International Space Station
19 Soyuz	What is Soyuz	The Russian space capsule
20 Source Rock	Who was the source rock	The professor, Cornelius Allbright
21 Star City	Where was Star City	Russia
22 The Big Ask	Where did the conversation take place	In the hub, level 9, the professor's retreat
23 Sanctuary	What was sanctuary	A simulator
24 Cold Gravity	What color of flames burned with cold gravity	Blue or green
25 Nightmare	Who had the nightmare	Runa Erikson
26 Skins	What were the skins	spaceships in orbit
27 Retro	Where did the retro conversation take place	Sanctuary
28 Farm	What was the Farm	A moon base simulation
29 Secrets	Where did the secrets conversation take place	In Sanctuary, Groundswell's dorm
30 Fracture	What did Groundswell vote on	To continue
31 Folly	What was Chase underwhelmed by	His Vegan food
32 Red Legend	What was Red Legend	The name for a diving operation
33 Galley	What was the galley	The restaurant on the ship
34 Weigh In	Who was weighed in	Chase (Mariner)
35 Orcadian Sagas	What were the Orcadian Sagas	Old books of myth and legend
36 Insomnia	Who was playing video games	Hershey
37 Night Owl	What was the Night Owl	An ROV, submarine, remotely operated vehicle
38 Narrative	Who kept on saying, Dude	Chase Hudson (Mariner)
39 Aquarius	What was Aquarius	A submarine
40 Payload	What was Chase running around	The helideck
41 Miracle	What words were on every sunken ship	Varrich
42 Pirates	Who were the pirates	The Russian mercenaries
43 Analogue Three	Where was analog three	A storage vault for seeds
44 Oasis	What was the Oasis	A room full of exotic plants
45 Doldrums	Where were the doldrums	A period of flat weather and seas
46 Balders Dream	What was Balder's Dream	A myth, legend, poem
47 Celestial	Which location was this scene set	The KHO observatory
48 Standoff	Who was the standoff between	Svalbard's governor and the Russians
49 Polaris	What was 'Polaris'	Runa's warning word
50 Surprise	What did 'gaming is good' mean	The start of a conference call btw Groundswell
51 Dungeon	Where was the Dungeon	Underneath Varrich Castle
52 Poetic Eddas	What were the Poetic Eddas	Myth, legend, poems
53 Bugged	What was bugged	Harrier, the diveship
54 Hollywood	What was like Hollywood	The fake storage vault
55 Deception	Who wore yellow	The inspectors
56 Abort	Who shut down the Ark	WFP, the World Food Program
57 Wall of Woes	Where was the wall of woes	Hotel Kroa
58 Hell Yeah	Who said hell yeah	The crew on Harrier dive ship
59 Valor	What was Valor	A helicopter, aircraft
60 Eiscat	What was Eiscat	A radar station
61 Langoysund	What was Longoysund	A small ship
62 Svalrak	What was Svalrak	A rocket launch site
63 Skol	Where did the chapter Skok take place	Onboard the ship, Langoysund
64 Reactor Room	Where was the reactor room	On the Russian ice breaker ship
65 Lies	Where did the chapter Lies take place	In Kroa
66 White Viking	Who was the White Viking	Fin Gal, the leader of Aquila
67 Armageddon	Who named the Ark Armageddon	The Russians
68 Berget Ice Plains	What did Groundswell cross the ice plains on	Dog sleds
69 Forked	Where did Groundswell hide at the fork	in the snowdrift
70 Ragnarok	What color were the Ark's emergency lights	Red
71 Slope Jet	Who arrived on the slope jet	The Harrier dive ship
72 Forgiveness	Who forgave Runa	Her mother
73 Little Wolf	Who was Little Wolf	Runa Erikson
74 Ice Caves	What did they meet in the ice caves	Old Man Thor, the bear
75 Stone Beach	What were the sculptures made of on Stone Beach	Ice
76 Body Mass Index	Where was the sickbay	Onboard Harrier dive ship
77 Gone	What had gone	Runa Erikson's nightmare.

Converting GAMERS 2 READERS is as easy as 1,2,3
(1) Trade with your teen - one chapter for one hour of GAMING
(2) Test them by asking the question below
(3) Repeat

Book (3) GAME OVER

Chapter	Question	Answer
Prologue	How long had die the Viking rule for	Five hundred years
1 Cat & Mouse	Who played cat & Mouse	Aquila, NATO, Harrier & the Russians
2 Gameplan	How many submarines does Aquila have	Five
3 Stash	What was Groundswell packing	Seeds
4 Beauty & Light	What was Hershey doing when the Captain called	Gaming
5 SvalRak	What was at Svalrak	The launchpad
6 Bright Sky	What did Bright Sky mean	False alarm
7 Riddle	Which room is the chapter set in	The Map Room, or the Captain's Library
8 God Jul	What does God Jul mean in Norwegian	Merry Christmas
9 Firs	What did Runa clad the galley walls with	Pine branches
10 Quadrant	Who gave Runa the Quadrant	Captain Voss
11 Deep Water	What were the men on the forward deck wearing	Horned helmets
12 Ferryman	Where did the Tartan Lady work	Inverness Airport
13 Gathering	Where did Scott's dad work	The Oil Rigs
14 Winter Solstice	What was the Winter Solstice	A festival, sailing regatta
15 Whisky Run	What was the Whisky run	A festival
16 RendezVous	What was the name of the Ferryman's boat	Sea Nymph
17 Rocks of Bruich	Where were the Rocks of Bruich	Varrich
18 Beef Tub	What was the name of the caves	Smugglers Bluff, Beef Tub
19 Slammer	What did McFearson threaten the Ferryman with	A night in the slammer, jail.
20 Incoming	What triggered the explosion	A rocket launch
21 Sacred Place	Where was the Sacred Place	Underneath Varrich castle, in the mountain
22 Blackhouse	What was the Blackhouse	Framer Dod's home
23 Traitor	Who was the traitor	Weasel, McFearson's son
24 Camel Trail	What was the Camel Trail	Mudflats
25 Thousand Lies	Where was this scene set	Mellness launch site
26 Cape Wrath	What did Groundswell huddle around	The radio
27 Morse	What did Groundswell climb	The launch tower
28 The Rising	What did McFearson see through the window	A rocket launch
29 Wow	What blew like tumbleweed	Tents
30 Freedom	What was Freedom	An ROV mini sub
31 Rebellion	What did the Chocolatiers of Cape Wrath wear	Kilts
32 Dynamite	What was the thunder and lightning	Dynamite
33 Rush	What was the rush	The charge of the villagers
34 Thirteen	What happened to the lighting towers	They were pushed over the cliff
35 Boiled	What boiled	Loch Varrach
36 Banter	What did they load onto Badger	Satellite Thirteen
37 Surrounded	What were they trying to open at the launch site	Thirteen
38 Breach	What did Scott block the gates with	The tractor
39 Thaw	Who did Ruan speak to through the fence	Fin Gal, the White Viking
40 Six Sims	What were the Six Sims	Six NASA training simulations
41 Vomit Comet	What was the Vomit Comet	The zero-g training aircraft
42 Revenge	What was Building 21	BioMed
43 Appetite	What was Building 11	NASA's restaurant
44 Sanctuary	What was Sanctuary	A holodeck
45 Orbital Decay	What was suffering from orbital decay	Thirteen
46 Outfitters	What was the outfitters	NASA'S space suit level
47 Launch Abort	What was the Launch Abort System	Rocket launch escape system
48 Interference	Where did this scene take place	NBL Neutral Bouyancy Lab
49 Stingray	What was Stingray	An ROV mini sub
50 Dexa	What was DEXA	A bone scanner
51 Grass	Who controlled Building 9's inner sanctum	Darcy
52 Fear	Who was the future space Overlord	Director One, Wade Carerra
53 Hera	Where was this scene set	Arizona
54 Desert Rats	What dropped like a stone	The desert temperature at night
55 Sandstorm	What created the sandstorm	Valor, tilt rotor aircraft
56 Pegasus	What was Pegasus	Antarctic Base
57 Gel	What was the Gel	Fuel
58 Raid	What was Raid	A supply caravan
59 Prussic	What was Prussic	A knot
60 Hole	What did HOLE stand for	Hell On Living Earth
61 Cold Gravity	Where did they find Cold Gravity	In the Hole, on top of the asteroid crater
62 Harvest	What did the Harvest refer to	The Harvest Rune Stone
63 Concordia	What was Concordia	The Antarctic Base
64 Hologram	Who was the hologram	The professor
65 Atlantis	What was Atlantis	An underwater base
66 Beyond	How far away was Altair	16 light years, half a million years away
67 Fact & Fiction	Where was this scene set	The Farm, beneath Building 9
68 Neemo	What did NEEMO stand for	NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operation
69 Jetpack	What was the jetpack	A backpack mounted space thruster
70 Geezers	What was crashed	The SEV space exploration vehicle
71 Bends	Where is this scene set	Emergency lifeboat
72 Decompression	Who saved Groundswell underwater	Harriers crew, Ace, Blades, & Fingers
73 Canaveral	How did Groundswell get to Canaveral	Bird's chopper
74 Destiny	Where was this chapter set	Cape Caneveral Florida
75 Pilgrim	What was Pilgrim	NASA spaceship command module
76 Epilogue	What was Runa Erikson's mission	To fulfill the prophecy of the talisman.

TOBY BRYCE, indie author, seeks Y.A. agent